The Hope of the Senju Clan
by Aragon Potter
Summary: What if instead of Kushina being Naruto's mother and through a trick of fate Naruto's mother was Tsunade after a drunken night with Minato in which Naruto becomes both the heir and hope of the Senju clan. Find out what life would be like now for Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Hope of the Senju**

**Chapter One: Mistake.**

This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns

"_Thinking_"

Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!

It was late in the evening and the sun was setting in the west, two figures could be seen traveling along the road that leads from the border of Kawa no Kuni (River Country) to Tanzaku Gai; a small but lively town that was a fair distance from Konoha.

One of the figures was a tall male standing about six foot four. He seemed to be in his early forties or so, although he carried himself as someone half that age. He had extremely long, spiky white hair tied into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face, red lines that ran down from his eyes, and a unique head protector with the kanji of 'oil' printed across the metallic object upon his forehead.

This man was Jiraiya the famed Toad Sage of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja), a former student of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage (Third Hokage), Shinobi no Kami (God of Ninja) and the Professor. Jiraiya is also the author of the popular adult fiction book series called Icha Icha and is a self-proclaimed super-pervert.

The man walking next to him was roughly five foot eleven and looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. He wore a standard Konoha ninja uniform, a flak jacket, with a short-sleeve long white coat with red flame adorning the edges. He had bright blue eyes and spiky blond hair that reached down to chin-length strands that framed both sides of his face. He was considered quite handsome by the fact that many women were often infatuated by his looks alone.

This man was Namikaze Minato, the famed Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash), Yondaime Hokage (Fourth Hokage), and former student of Jiraiya.

The two men were on their way back to Konoha after successfully negotiating and signing an alliance with Sunagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Sand) and its leader the Yondaime Kazekage (Fourth Kazekage).

The reason as to why it's just the two of them since in most cases whenever a Kage leaves his or her village, he or she would have a couple squads of ANBU or Jōnin level shinobi to act as their guard detail. However since it was Jiraiya the Toad Sage who is traveling with the Hokage, it was decided that a Jōnin or ANBU guard detail would be unneeded; since only a fool would even think to attack two Kage level shinobi when they are together. Especially since these two shinobi are the Yondaime Hokage, the era's strongest shinobi currently in existence and Jiraiya the Toad Sage who is said to be the strongest member of the Densetsu no Sannin.

"Well Minato, we at least made it to Tanzaku Gai, guess we won't have to sleep out in the forest on the ground tonight." Jiraiya spoke jokingly.

"Right you are Sensei, of course we could've gotten back with my **Hirashin no Jutsu** (Flying Thunder God Technique) but, I'd rather take my time and not go back to that paperwork while I can. Once we get into town we'll go book a room in a decent hotel, then we can go down to a local bar and celebrate to the new alliance," replied Minato.

"Now you're talking! Heck, we may even get you lucky tonight," Jiraiya replied as he smacked Minato on the back eager to have some sake.

Soon enough the two ninja found a decent hotel and booked a room, after which they went to the best bar near their hotel and unexpectedly met up with an familar face at the bar.

The person they found in the bar was a cream blond haired woman with hair tied into a long ponytail that reached down to her lower hip with chin-length strands framing both sides of her face, a diamond shaped mark on her forehead, and brown eyes. She's about five foot four and wore a green robe with a kanji for "Gamble" on it. Underneath her robe she wore a white sleeved shirt along with black short pants with a matching waist sash. But her most prominent features are her extremely large breasts (which were about one hundred six centimeters). She's what most individuals would call extremely beautiful.

"Hime! My it's been awhile! I didn't expect to see you here tonight." cried Jiraiya

The woman that Jiraiya called out to was none other than Senju Tsunade, The Slug Princess; the only female member of the Densetsu no Sannin; the last living member of the Senju Clan; granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage (First Hokage); Grandniece of Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage (Second Hokage); former student of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. She was also credited as being the most beautiful woman in the world. It was thanks to her efforts in healing and curing poisons that Konoha was even able to win the Second Great Shinobi World War, earning her the title of being the greatest Iryo-nin (Medical-nin) in the elemental nations.

When Tsunade turned to see who called at her, the woman expected to see a debt collector. However she was instead greeted to the sight of her old teammate Jiraiya and his former student, the current Hokage, Namikaze Minato .

"Jiraiya, Minato! What are you two doing here?" asked Tsunade as she set down her saucer of sake.

"Minato and I just arrived in town just a little while ago, after we finished today's trek through Kawa from Suna on negotiating an alliance between Suna and Konoha." replied Jiraiya.

"So I take it that the negotiations went well, since you must be down here to celebrate?" queried the Slug Princess.

"Yeah, they ended fine, although the negotiations were tough thanks to the Yondaime Kazekage. He kept on trying to make the alliance favor Suna more rather than making it equal to both villages. It also didn't help that he made several snide remarks about Konoha being too soft and weak," said Minato with a frown.

He didn't like the Yondaime Kazekage much, he often found him to be a rather cold and, uncaring individual. Especially with the way he ignored or passed off his pregnant wife, three year old daughter and, two year old son as if they were nothing to him.

It was at this point that Minato finally noticed the young teenage girl who was quietly sitting next to Tsunade. The girl in question looked to be about fifteen and was holding a small little piglet in her arms. She was named Shizune; Tsunade's apprentice and niece of Tsunade's late lover, Katō Dan a renowned Shinobi of Konoha.

When Minato saw her, he greeted the raven haired adolescent kindly which caused her to blush slightly, then she bowed and greeted him by referring to him as, "Hokage-sama," to which Minato just brushed her off and told her to call him Minato, not by his title since they weren't currently in Konoha. This of course caused Shizune to blush deeper at calling probably the strongest Shinobi alive in such a familiar way.

The two men sat down on the bar stools with Minato on Tsunade's right and Jiraiya sitting next to Minato, this prompted Tsunade to continue the conversation.

"So, who's looking after the village while you're away? Surely you didn't leave the village in the care of those old fossils Koharu, Homura, Danzō, or anyone else on the council?" asked Tsunade since she never did like those three power hungry fossils. This was because most of the time they acted like they knew better than everyone else and would often try to usurp other people's authority, especially the Hokage's if they didn't agree with his decision. While they couldn't officially do anything, they could definitely bring on the guilt and play on people's emotion to get the rest of the council to change their minds. Danzō was exceptional at doing so.

"Nah, we left sensei in charge until we get back." said Jiraiya to which Tsunade just nodded.

"So, Minato how is life being Hokage?" she asked while taking a sip of her sake.

"Hard! Especially with all the paperwork I have to do and all the meetings I have to attend with the council. It doesn't leave me any time for a social life either." replied Minato as he took a sip of sake.

"What about that cute little red head ANBU girl from Uzushiogakure (Hidden by Whirling Tides) you were seeing? Kushina, wasn't that her name?" Jiraiya asked.

"It kind of didn't work out, I wanted to start a family with her but two years ago she told me that she wanted to focus more on her career rather than having a relationship with me." Minato answered with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry to hear that, brat." he said regretfully at the failed relationship between the Uzumaki girl and his student.

Minato just brushed Jiraiya off saying that it was ok and that he was over her anyway.

"So…"drawled a slightly drunk Tsunade, "I guess that means that you're back on the bachelor market for all those eligible ladies out there who want to be the next Mrs. Namikaze." she finished with a smirk.

"I guess you could say that, and would you be among those ladies Tsunade-hime?" asked Minato with a slight smirk as he took another sip of sake.

"Hah! You wish, brat." laughed Tsunade as she took another large sip of sake from her saucer before refilling it.

Over the next four hours the three talked about different things and people in and out of Konoha. Shizune had left two and a half hours ago to go to sleep, meanwhile Jiraiya had passed out drunk on the bar stand with drool leaking from his month. Tsunade and Minato continued to talk with one another, ignoring the snoring and drooling Jiraiya. As they talked they continued to drink more sake, becoming so intoxicated that the two Kage level Shinobi began to flirt with one another.

"You know Tsunade, I had the…biggest crush on you when…I was a Genin." slurred Minato.

"Hiccup! Well I'm honored Minato-kun." Tsunade slurred her reply.

The two continued to flirt back and forth like this until Tsunade suddenly spoke. "Maybe we can have our own little party… back at my room…to celebrate Konoha's new alliance with Suna." giggled a fully inebriated Tsunade like a little school girl.

"Lead the way, hime." said the equally intoxicated Hokage.

Soon enough the two drunken shinobi staggered away from the bar, leaving the passed out Jiraiya on the bar stand. He would be promptly thrown out on the street soon after they left when the barman decided to close up. The two soon reached Tsunade's room at the same hotel and entered the room where upon they quickly and drunkenly began removing each other clothing and proceeded to "examine" one another in heated passion.

For most of the night moans, grunts, and giggling could be heard coming from Tsunade's room and did not stop until very late in the night.

-Next morning in Tsunade's room-

Late the next morning, Tsunade slowly woke up with a groan due to the massive hangover that she was currently feeling and the light blaring from the sun in her eyes so she turned over facing away from the window.

"_Ooooohhhh! My head…that's the last time I am going to celebrate with Jiraiya and Minato like that," _thought Tsunade.

It was as she was at this moment that she noticed that she was stark naked after her realization slowly hit her, she then heard another groan coming from next to her.

When she opened again her eyes she was greeted with the sight of a nude male back facing her with bright blond spiky hair.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed Tsunade as she jumped out of the bed and pulled the bed covers with her to cover her modesty. As soon as she pulled the bed cover, the man next to her jerked over the side an fell off the bed and onto the floor causing him to groan again but this time in even more pain.

After a minute or so the mystery man slowly got up from the other side of the bed, holding his head from the painful hangover that he had from drinking so much the previous night, and from the large bump that was forming on his head after hitting the floor.

It was as the man stood up that Tsunade realized who the man was.

"MINATO?" Shouted Tsunade loudly.

Minato cringed at Tsunade's loud voice, due to a throbbing pain in his head. It was when he gained his bearings and looked at Tsunade that a confused look swept across his face.

"Tsunade, what are you doing here in my room?" asked the confused Hokage.

"Your room? This is my room you baka! I should be the one asking that not you! Not to mention why are you in 'MY' bed naked!" said Tsunade and she pointed at him angrily.

"Huh?" said Minato as he looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed naked as a jaybird. Upon seeing this, the young man turned bright red and quickly grabbed a nearby pillow to cover "Little Minato".

"What happened last night? The last thing I can remember, the two of us were drinking and talking while sensei was passed out drunk." groaned out Minato as he held his head due to the hangover.

"The last thing I remember was…" said Tsunade as she tried to remember what had happen last night, when suddenly hit her when their activities came back in a series of fast flashbacks. After which the female Sannin suddenly turned bright red in embarrassment as she continued to recall the previous night's activities.

Ironically enough, as Minato watched Tsunade's face turning various shades of red, he too began to remember what they did last night; causing him to also blush bright red from embarrassment.

Quickly enough an angry Tsunade looked back up at Minato and pointed accusingly at him.

"You damn bastard! You took advantage of me when I was too drunk to think straight!"

"Me! I wasn't the one who was flirting like a hormonal fan girl at the bar! You were the one who started it all!" Minato defended.

"Don't you dare try and blame me! You admitted it yourself that you had a thing for me since your Genin days last night! That's when you decided to take advantage of me when I was drunk!"

"Hey now, I wasn't the one who invited me into your room. It was all your idea to come to your room. So if there was anyone who was taken advantage of, it was me as you had your way with me playing doctor an patient in the bed sheets!" said Minato who was pointing accusingly at her.

For the next ten minutes the two continued to try and place the blame of the events from last night on one another, but eventually they settled on an agreement that it was both their faults. They then hurriedly got dressed and decided that they would keep what happened last night a secret between the two of them. Especially from a certain super pervert they both knew, knowing that if he ever found out, he would never let either of them live it down and they would most likely end up in his next book.

After a few minutes, Minato quickly left Tsunade's room and decided to head back to his room, hoping that Jiraiya had not gotten up yet.

Just as he was about to open the door a voice cried out to him.

"Hey Minato!"

When Minato turned around he saw Jiraiya coming towards him from the stairs leading to the ground floor of the hotel.

"Hey Minato! Glad to see that you're up; I figured you'd still be sleeping like a stone from all the drinking last night. You were about to come look for me weren't you?" spoke Jiraiya as he came up to his former student.

"Uh…yeah, that's right sensei." Minato said slightly nervously and secretly glad that his sensei was not in their shared room to find that he wasn't there at all last night.

"It seems that I was left passed out in the bar by myself, I was thrown out on the street where I just woke up a little while ago," continued Jiraiya, at which he began to narrow his eyes at the young Hokage.

"So why didn't you bring me back to our room last night?"

"Well…uh…you see…the thing was…uh." stuttered out a nervous Minato while trying to come up with a good excuse, and failing quite miserably in the process.

It was at that time when Minato was trying to think up of an excuse that Jiraiya detected a certain scent coming from the young man's person.

"Minato, what is that smell coming from you?" asked Jiraiya as he came uncomfortably close and began to sniff Minato clothes.

"Is that perfume I smell?"

Minato began to get even more nervous as he silently cursed himself for not showering, realizing that he must have gotten some of Tsunade's perfume on his clothing when he was with the her. He knew that if his sensei recognized the smell he would quickly realize what happened last night, in which case Minato his world would offical end

To affirm Minato's fears, a knowing perverted smirk appeared on the Toad Sage's face.

"Listen sensei, I can explain..." began Minato as he tried to come up with a believable excuse as to why he had Tsunade's perfume on his clothes on the spot.

"What's there to explain? You got lucky in bed with some hot young lady from the bar last night, didn't you brat?" asked Jiraiya with a perverted grin forming on his face.

"Huh?" was Minato's intelligent response as he had clearly expected his former teacher to say something entirely different.

"Come on Minato, I can smell the perfume coming off your clothes. You got lucky with some hot young girl from here. If you had just told me that from the start, I would have understood. So who is she? Was it that smoking hot young bar maid that winked at you last night when she served us sake or was it one of those sexy young ladies at the nearby table who were eyeing you? Come on you can tell me," asked the grinning Jiraiya as he nugged his elbow into Minato's side, wanting to hear all the details for his next book.

"Uh yeah, you're right sensei. I guess I can't hide anything from you." said Minato as he let out a silent sigh of relief. Jiraiya had not recognized the perfume even though he still came very close to the truth.

"So are you going to tell me how it was or who you were with last night?" asked Jiraiya as he gently elbowed Minato in the side again, all the while grinning like the super pervert he was.

Deciding to change the subject quickly, Minato acted fast. "Maybe later sensei, but how about we get going? If we leave now, we can reach Konoha before nightfall." The two began walking.

As Minato walked down the stairs Jiraiya in super pervert mode, followed closely behind him trying to get the juicy details of what happened last night from his former disciple.

"Come on, brat! At least tell me who she was. Is she a blond, a brunette, or a red head? Is she a moaner or a screamer? At least tell me if I know her. Come on, brat, tell me that at least." pleaded Jiraiya.

Minato just ignored his sensei's pleas, all the while thinking. "_If only you knew sensei. If only you knew._"

-Two months later-

Currently Tsunade was lying down on a bed in a hotel that she and Shizune stayed at for a while, Shizune was using medical jutsu to run a medical scan on Tsunade, where her hand was resting above Tsunade's navel, sending sends small pulses of chakra to examine any irregularities. She was doing this because she was the only one that Tsunade trusted without question.

After Shizune had finished her scan on Tsunade, she confirmed what Tsunade believed when she realized that she missed her period…she was pregnant.

Tsunade bolted up and quickly put on her clothes back on.

"_When I find that bastard, I'm going to kill him, revive him, then kill him again!_" thought an angry Tsunade.

"Shizune, get ready to leave. We're heading for Konoha" Tsunade ordered angrily.

This of course shocked her apprentice, not because her master had spoken angrily at her, but because she had said that they were going to Konoha, the very place Tsunade swore she would never step foot in again.

"B-B-B-B-But w-w-w-why sensei?" stammered a shocked Shizune.

"Because I'm going to kill the father of my child for knocking me up" Tsunade replied angrily as she stormed out of the room for her homecoming.

N/A. Well that the first Chapter of my new story the Hope of the Senju Clan. Please tell me what you think of the story and if you have any suggestions to make please go ahead since I welcome them all and I always read and reply to my reviewers.

Also, as for those who have read my other story, "The Raikage," do not worry as I have not given up on it. It's just that I'm still waiting on my beta to send me back the chapter that I sent him but I will have the next installment up as soon as I get it back.

Please read and review

I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can.

Beta'd 4/21/2011 Greed03114 and 3/3/2012 Toofine 89 and 5/9/2013 StatixFieryRage.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Two: Reaction.**

**This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking_"

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

It was a typical peaceful day in Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and there was a nice, cool, gentle breeze coming in from the west.

At the main gate entrance were two Konoha Chunin. Both were relaxing and enjoying the warm and peaceful day by leaning back on the two rear legs of their chairs and resting their legs on the desk of the entrance toll.

"Ah! This is the life, isn't it?" said one of the Chunin.

"Yeah, nothing to do but relax, enjoy the sun, and let life pass you by slowly," said the other.

"True... But I would still give a lot for something interesting to happen," replied the first Chunin.

"You know the old saying, 'Be careful for what you wish for because you just might ge-'" started the second Chunin but stopped when he felt the ground shake beneath him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw something that made him pale and freeze with fear; Senju Tsunade stomping towards them like some wrathful giant. For every step she took, the ground would crack in small spider web like patterns and as she headed towards them they swore they could see a black aura around her that spoke of slow, agonizing pain and death. But the thing that freaked the two Chunin out the most was the disturbing red fire in her eyes that would have sent even the bravest and mightiest Kage level shinobi running for the hills at the very sight.

Scurrying behind Tsunade was a young teenage girl with short black hair who was carrying a small piglet in her arms and seemed to be trying and failing to calm down a vengeful Tsunade. As she and Tsunade passed by the Chunin, they saw that they were heading towards the Hokage tower and also heard Tsunade saying something about killing some bastard and mentioning all the different ways she was going to do it. As her form disappeared into the distance, the two Chunin quickly broke out of their stupors.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful what you wish for?" said the second Chunin.

The first Chunin just nodded dumbly and said, "Who do you think pissed her off that much to come back here?"

"I don't know but may Kami have mercy on his soul for Tsunade-sama will not," said the second Chunin.

At which point both men shivered at the thought of what Tsunade would do to that poor soul and began to silently pray for the man who was about to painfully enter the next life at the hands of a vengeful Slug Princess.

(In the Hokage Office)

Minato was currently sitting at his desk, discussing some matter about the village with Sarutobi and Jiraiya who were sitting across from him when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, causing him to shudder slightly.

"Hey Minato, are you ok? Is there something wrong?" asked Jiraiya seeing the slight shudder in Minato's shoulders.

"I don't know. I just felt as if someone had just walked over my grave," answered Minato.

Before either Sarutobi or Jiraiya could reply to Minato's comment they heard loud noises coming from the other side of the double doors to his office.

"I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS IN A MEETING WITH KAMI HIMSELF I'M GOING IN THERE AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" shouted an angry female voice that was familiar to the three men.

After which the three could hear various noises coming from behind the doors. There were the sounds of scuffling, things breaking, bones breaking, a man screaming in pain, and a woman screaming in abject horror. After which the double doors were knocked off of their hinges as one of the ANBU guards from outside was thrown into it and flew out the window that was behind Minato, the double doors chasing after him, causing the three men in the office to duck both man and doors as they sailed over their heads.

As they raised their heads, they were greeted with a sight that would have put the Shinigami to shame; a vengeful looking Tsunade with fires of unholy rage burning around her form and licking away at the ceiling. The sight was made all the worse for Minato since Tsunade had her eyes set on him. Minato could swear that if looks could kill, he'd be nothing more than a smoking crater right now.

Behind Tsunade the three men peered out into the waiting hall outside the Hokage office. The place looked as if a bomb had gone off with cracks, dents, and holes on the floor, ceiling, and walls. They saw the secretary running around the corner, trying to get as far away from the walking hurricane as fast as humanly possible while the other ANBU guard was currently groaning in pain on the floor. None of the men could blame him since he now looked like a human-sized pretzel with his arms and legs clearly being broken and bent in a position that were simply not natural for any person to be in. Directly behind Tsunade was Shizune who had grabbed onto the back end of Tsunade's green robe trying to hold her back and calm her sensei down and failing at doing either.

At which point Tsunade locked eyes on Minato, raise her hand and pointed accusingly at him.

"THERE YOU ARE YOU BASTARD. WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR BALLS THROUGH YOUR ASS!" roared the furious Senju, causing the three men to subconsciously take a step back in fear and cover their manhood's at the image their minds had conjured up due to such a threat.

Suddenly, two more ANBU members who were stationed in the office and had hidden themselves in the rafters of the office appeared in front of Minato as to protect their Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama, please stop your advance towards the Hokage or else we will have no choice but to use forc-" spoke one of the ANBU but froze mid word when Tsunade locked eyes with him and saw nothing but promises of pain, suffering, and a dash of living hell on earth in those honey coloured orbs.

Tsunade turned her glare to the second ANBU; the man could swear that Tsunade's eyes were drilling holes into his head. After which she spoke in a tone of voice that all but guaranteed pain and death if he did not listen and obey.

"If you and your friend here know what is good for you, the both of you will move and stay out of my way because if you don't, I will do a far worse to you two than what I did with your friend back there when he '_tried_' to get in my way." Without removing her gaze from them, she pointed back at the ANBU behind her that was now a human pretzel and was still groaning in pain. "In which case by the time I'm done with you, the medic-nins won't be able to tell the differences from your asses to your heads and you will both be choking on your own balls."

When the two ANBU looked at what had become of their comrade, they quietly gulped, looked at one another, and pondered their choices. The first was trying to defend their Hokage with their lives like any true ANBU member in which case they would most likely be killed or suffer a worse fate than the one that their comrade behind Tsunade had endured. While the second choice was that they could move aside and let Tsunade through where she would proceed to dismember and most likely kill their Hokage but they would live.

The choice was clear. The two ANBU silently nodded in agreement and as if they could read each other mind they then turned to Minato who was behind them and spoke together

"Forgive us Hokage-sama but we enjoy living too much and having our body parts the way they are now," spoke the two ANBU together at which point they both used **Shunshin** to get the pretzel shaped ANBU and then used **Shunshin** to make their escape.

(Author Note: Do You Blame Them?)

"_Cowards! Whatever happened to protecting and serving the Hokage with your lives?_" Minato thought angrily. Although at the way that Tsunade was looking at him he was starting to think that the two ANBU members might have had the right idea since he was wishing that he was anywhere but here right now.

As Tsunade took two steps towards Minato and was about to reach over his desk to grab him by the collar and begin wringing his neck, Jiraiya bravely or foolishly (Author Note: depending on who's point of view it was) interposed himself between Minato and the wrathful Tsunade.

"Hey now Hime, calm down and tell us what's going on? I don't know what you think Minato did to you, but I really think he's gotta be innocent. He's been here the whole time and he would never do anything bad that would get you mad at him. I know him." said the Toad Sage, trying to calm his angry teammate down. Although as he tried, he recalled only one other time seeing Tsunade this mad; the only time he ever peeked in on her when she was in the Konoha Hot Springs.

"HERE THE WHOLE TIME? HERE THE WHOLE TIME EXCEPT FOR THAT NIGHT AT TANZAKU GAI WERE HE GOT ME DRUNK AND WE SPENT THE NIGHT AT THAT SHITTY MOTEL WHERE HE KNOCKED ME UP!" shouted the furious Tsunade

"Huh…?"said the stunned Jiraiya who did not quite believe what he just heard and was soon joined by Sarutobi and Minato who were equally stunned.

"ARE YOU ALL DEAF OR ARE YOU ALL TOO THICK HEADED TO UNDERSTAND! WELL HERE IT IS PLAIN AND SIMPLE SO THAT EVEN YOU CAN UNDERSTAND; THAT BASTARD STUDENT OF YOURS GOT ME PREGNANT!" roared Tsunade.

This of course got an immediate reaction from the three men. Sarutobi's jaw hit the floor and his eyes were the size of saucers. Jiraiya was doing a perfect imitation of a gaping fish since his brain was on shutdown mode due to it not being able to compute what he had just heard. While Minato… he just fainted.

Shizune who was watching the whole affair could not blame the three men's reaction since her own was very much similar theirs.

To say that Shizune was shocked when her sensei first told her that she had slept with the Yondaime Hokage (Fourth Fire Shadow) and was now carrying his child; something that many women all over Konoha would have loved to have done, would be like saying that Jiraiya was only a little perverted.

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama, please calm down. All this stress can't be good for the baby," Shizune pleaded.

Surprisingly, this comment seemed to have gotten through to Tsunade. She started to calm down a bit and take a deep breath.

Quickly Sarutobi got over his shock and went over to Minato to awaken the young Kage.

When Sarutobi woke Minato up and helped him up onto his feet, Minato then looked at Tsunade

"Y-Y-You're p-p-preg-pregnant?" said Minato who was still in shock.

"Isn't that what I just said you baka!" said Tsunade angrily, wanting to gauge his eyes out with a blunt senbon.

"B-B-B-But y-you can't be- I mean," Minato stuttered. "The_ "incident_?" I-we-there's no way…..that you got-"

"TELL THAT TO MY FUCKING UTERUS YOU BASTARD!" bellowed Tsunade as she took a step around Jiraiya, who was still doing his fish imitation, towards Minato as she was ready to kill the Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama, PLEASE!" begged Shizune. The brunette was fearful as to what the stress would do to not only the baby but to her sensei as well. Even the little piglet Ton Ton was trying to get its master to calm down by pulling at Tsunade's high heeled shoes.

At which Tsunade started to calm herself down once more by taking deep breaths and counting to ten.

It was at this point that Jiraiya's brain started to reboot where he quickly appeared in front on Minato on bended knees and started crying tears of joy.

"Minato, my boy! I never thought I could be more proud of you than when you created the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** (Flying Thunder God Technique) or when you became Hokage, but I am! You have surpassed me yet again and did what I could never do: YOU SLEPT WITH TSUNADE!" said the crying Toad Sage as he continued to weep tears of pure joy. "PLEASE! Tell me what it was like to partake in the fruits of those heavenly bosoms of hers, and was she a moaner or a screamer? Please! I need to know!" begged Jiraiya who grabbed onto Minato's coat while still on bended knees, inspiring both Sarutobi and Minato to have large sweat drops at the back of their heads.

At which point Jiraiya suddenly stood up and went into a thinking pose. "Although now that I think about it I should have known that Tsunade liked younger men since there had to be a reason as to why she never seemed to fall for my manly charms. But, still, I never took Tsunade as a cougar (1)," said Jiraiya out loud.

This, of course, had not helped Tsunade to keep her calm. She was barely containing her temper after Jiraiya began to beg for information on their night together. The fact that she was also in the beginning of her first trimester where her emotions were beginning to go out of whack, and she had already suffered some mood swings earlier to prove that, was not helping matters either. With all of that combined when Jiraiya had made the remark of saying she was a cougar it was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Sarutobi smacked his palm to his face and covered his eyes. Partly out of embarrassment since Jiraiya was never one of his brightest pupils and partially because he wouldn't have to see the dismemberment and murder of someone he considered a son at the hands of someone he considered a daughter, because of what the pervert had said. Tsunade pounced on Jiraiya like a real live cougar while screaming out, "Pervert!" and proceeding to beat him within an inch of his life.

Minato, who was still in shock at what Tsunade had told him, spared a small part of his mind to feel sorry for his sensei since, technically, it was his fault that his sensei was being beaten up. The self-proclaimed super pervert was screaming out in pain and begging for mercy, receiving none as Tsunade continued to beat the sage to within an inch of his life.

After about ten minutes or so, in which Tsunade had mauled Jiraiya to a point that he didn't even look human anymore and shouldn't even be alive by all rights, Shizune had finally been able to calm her down again.

It was after this that Minato spoke again, "A-are you sure? I mean-well, of course you're sure, you're a med-nin, but how-I mean, well, of course I know HOW technically but don't you have-er-do, or…well-By all that's holy, what are we going to do?" cried Minato as he held his aching head in frustration from the information overload at what was happening right now.

"You'd better not be thinking beyond, 'How are we going to explain this to the council or everyone else in the village?' because if you're thinking of me getting rid of it-!" said Tsunade as she felt her temper rising again and the growing need to neuter the blond haired man with a dull scalpel and no sedative.

"NO! I would never think of ever forcing you to get rid of it!" said Minato quickly since he had always wanted to start a family -although this wasn't the way he had imagined doing it.

Thankfully, Minato's quick response was able to soothe Tsunade's rising anger a little and sate her desire to castrate the younger man at the very least.

"Well then, you better not be thinking, 'Who's it going to live with?' because I'm not going stay in this cursed village! I have already lost nearly everyone I ever cared about to it and I'm not going to lose my child to it as well," spoke Tsunade with perseverance, after which both Minato and Tsunade began to "discuss" - more like argue - what they were going to do.

As Tsunade and Minato were "discussing" what they were going to do, Sarutobi watched them and could not help but grin. While this certainly threw a major wrench in the works of both Minato's and Tsunade's lives and plans for the future, it just might prove to be a really good thing for both of them.

Since, with a child, Tsunade might finally come out of her depression that she had been spiralling down since the loss of her lover, Dan, and her little brother, Nawaki. Sarutobi knew that when she was with Dan that they both had often talked about having children and that Tsunade had wanted nothing more than to start a family with him, although when he died so had that dream. Now it seemed that fate had decided to finally give his former student some measure of happiness by giving her the chance to be a mother. Even though he knew that Tsunade would be disappointed that it was not Dan's child she was carrying, it still did not change the fact that it was HER child; she would never get rid of it and would love it all the same. Sarutobi also knew that with a child there was a good chance that Tsunade might return to Konoha. He also knew it would not be right now, but given time she just might. Sarutobi knew from personal experience that the power of love between a parent and its child could heal almost any emotional wound.

Sarutobi thought that this child could also help Minato out as well since he had never gotten over the loss of his parents last year. They had been killed by Iwa assassins who had somehow managed to sneak into the village and kill his parents as retaliation for a major defeat that Iwa had suffered at Minato's hands. Although Minato had killed the one's responsible, it still had affected him greatly. What was not widely known was that he was secretly afraid to start a relationship with anyone since he took the blame for being unable to protect his parents and had the fear of the same thing happening to another person he loved. After the event it had taken awhile for Jiraiya to get Minato out of his depression, but the blonde had never been the same. But, like Tsunade, perhaps this child could also help heal some of Minato's wounds.

Sarutobi grinned a bit more when he thought of the child more and about how powerful the child would be considering their pedigree since it's great, great grandfather was the Shodaime Hokage (First Hokage), it's great, great uncle was the Nidaime Hokage (Second Hokage), its mother being the Slug Princess and strongest kunoichi alive, and its father being the legendary Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash) - the Yondaime Hokage (Fourth Hokage). With just both its parents being Kage level shinobi alone the child would be powerhouse, a monster (in a good way), a Hokage in the making that could very well surpass all the previous Hokages. The former Hokage then began to imagine holding an amazingly strong little warrior with god-like chakra control on his knees and it made him smile all the more. As he thought about this, however, he also thought of something else that made him frown.

Deciding to make himself known to the bickering duo, Sarutobi cleared his throat loudly so that they would take notice of him.

"Now that I have you attention, I believe that there is a matter that you are forgetting that is of great importance and that we should discuss," said Sarutobi.

"What is it then?" asked a still fuming Tsunade.

"Your child or, to be more precise, its life," said the former Hokage.

"Huh?" both Minato and Tsunade said in unison.

"Tell me, Tsunade, does anyone else know that you are pregnant with Minato's child or even that you are pregnant at all?" asked Sarutobi.

"Other that you, Shizune, the pervert here, and this bastard, then no," said Tsunade pointing at Jiraiya and then at Minato respectively.

"Good," replied Sarutobi.

"Good...? Why is that good?" asked a confused Tsunade.

"Your child's life would be in great danger otherwise is why. Since something like this will not remain a secret forever. From the moment it is born into this world, your child will have a target placed on it by other villages, organizations, and factions of shinobi inside and outside of Konoha who will target it as well. They will attempt to kidnap your child in the hopes of holding it hostage to force you to do what they want or to train it to fight for them. Other villages may just kidnap it and use it for breeding to rebuild the Senju Clan in their country because even today your clan's power and prestige is still well known and respected all over the Elemental Continent. Many villages would love nothing more than to have that at their disposal. Also those very same villages and organizations may even decide to send assassins and have your child killed so as to prevent the very same thing from occurring here in Konoha. And let's not forget that both you and your Clan still have many enemies out there that would like nothing more than to end the Senju bloodline once and for all or would just like to hurt you by killing the child," spoke a serious Sarutobi.

This of course made Tsunade go white in fear, not for herself but for her child. She had not really thought of the dangers her child would be in by her simply being its mother. She instinctually wrapped both her arms around her abdomen as if trying to protect the unborn child from the dangers of the world at large.

"And when word gets out that Minato is the father, the child will be placed in even greater danger. Since like with Tsunade, outside forces will do everything within their power to turn or eliminate him just like your parents Minato." This caused a pained look to cross the young kage's face. "And don't forget Iwa would be at the top of that list since they would love nothing more than to kill your child and end your line as revenge for what you did in the war," finished the former Hokage.

"So what do we do then? Because if you're saying that I have to abandon my child then you hav-" growled Tsunade as she was about to ready to lay out the old man if he was suggesting what she thought he was but before she could finish Sarutobi interrupted her.

"No! No, of course not! Tsunade, I would never think of asking you and Minato to do such a thing," Sarutobi quickly said, seeing where his former student line of thought was going. As a father he knew how painful it would be to ask a parent to give up its child, Sarutobi himself would sooner rip off his own arm than give up any of his own children and he would never ask someone else to do something that he himself could not.

Also, he knew that if he did force her to give up the child she would never forgive him and that the heartbreak of losing her child would most likely send her into an even deeper depression, one that she would never recover from and would inevitably cause her to drink herself to death, something that Sarutobi would never want for Tsunade.

Besides, he knew Tsunade would protect her child no matter what and from whoever tried to harm them. Sarutobi knew from past experience that there was nothing in this world more dangerous than a mother protecting its child - especially if that mother happened to be Tsunade - and may Kami have mercy on whatever foolish soul that tried to do the child harm since Tsunade most definitely would not.

"What I mean, Tsunade, is that we have to be careful and plan out what we should do. That's all. If we don't, we could be putting your child in danger. That is all I'm saying" said Sarutobi.

"He's right, Tsunade, we have to be careful, for our child's sake at least. Perhaps you could come back to the village an-" said Minato before being interrupted.

"NO! I told you before I will not stay in this accursed village. Short of Shizune (2) and this child I've lost every single member of my family and Clan to it. I will not lose another person to this village again." stubbornly said Tsunade and stomped her foot down on the floor, causing the room shake and making her point clear.

"But Tsunade, you can't go around traveling while you're pregnant. What if you were attacked? Or something happens and we weren't there to help? You're putting OUR child in danger, so please think what is best for our child," pleaded Minato.

"I said no and that's my final answer."

Sarutobi then decided to interrupt again and prevent another argument from happening.

"Perhaps there can be a compromise," spoke Sarutobi, at which point both Minato and Tsunade looked at the former Hokage.

"Like what?" asked Tsunade.

"For the past several years the small nearby farming village of Mihara has sent several requests to us asking us to send a medic or medic-nin to their village. Their village has no real doctor to treat the injured and sick and they usually have to travel here to get any help or they have to send someone to bring back medical aid. Now, if they had their own doctor to train someone there, then they could help themselves. My solution is that you two," he indicated Tsunade and Shizune, "go there where you can help the people and train someone to help with their minor illnesses and injuries that they suffer there. In doing that, there should be little to nothing for you to do. Also, since the village is near us and our patrol forces have routes near it, help can quickly arrive quickly and with little trouble if something happens to you while you are there. Not to mention that if Minato gives you one of his special kunai he can use his **Hiraishin no Jutsu** to immediately teleport there at any time or when you need help. Thus, you each get what you want. Tsunade does not need to stay in the village like she wants, but she is near enough so that help can arrive quickly if she needs it like Minato wants. Also, the village of Mihara even gets what they want, so it's a win-win for everyone," stated Sarutobi as he picked up his pipe from the floor from where he had dropped it when he first heard that Tsunade was pregnant with Minato's child. He then lit it and started to puff smoke out and let the calming scent of tobacco filter through his nostrils.

After Minato and Tsunade heard Sarutobi's solution, they thought about it for a few minutes and both nodded in agreement with finding it fair and acceptable.

"Fine then. I'll just get some things from the hospital before I head out to the village to set things up. If I need anything, I'll send one of my slug summons to tell you," answered Tsunade.

"Before you go Tsunade, take this," said Minato as he took out one of his Hiraishinkunai from his pouch and giving it to her. She took the kunai and nodded her thanks. After which she then left, and walked out of the office through the broken doorway with Shizune and her pet piglet Ton Ton following close behind.

Once Tsunade had left and was out of earshot, both Minato and Sarutobi let a sigh of exhaustion. Their talk with Tsunade and the bombshell she had dropped drained them both more than they had thought possible. Jiraiya, on the other hand, was lying forgotten in a heap till he started groaning in pain. He was covered in black and blue bruises and bumps and his arms, legs, and back were in a myriad of shapes and angles that were clearly not natural and looked extremely painful.

Both Minato and Sarutobi wondered how the super pervert was even alive after what happened to him and if he had some kind of bloodline limit that was the was the source of his ability to survive after that kind of beating he had just received as well as the past beatings that he had suffered from Tsunade and other women when he peeped on them.

"Minato, I think you should take him to the hospital where they can at least 'TRY' to fix him, though we may have to ask Tsunade to do so if they cannot," said Sarutobi.

"Yeah, although it is his own fault that he usually ends up like this. These kind of things would never happen to him if he could just control those perverted urges and thoughts of his," said an exasperated Minato.

"True but if he didn't then we wouldn't have those books of his that we both like to read. Besides, I'm told that an artist must suffer for his art and Jiraiya often refers himself as an artist and his novels as art," said a smirking Sarutobi where Minato just smirked back and used the **Shunshin** to quickly take Jiraiya to the hospital.

"_We certainly live in interesting times, huh?_" thought Sarutobi with a slight chuckle as he looked out the window.

N/A

(1). Not the big cat, Cougar is also a nickname given to the type of woman at about 40 years of age or older who exclusively pursues very young men.

(2). Shizune would have been Tsunade's sister in-law or something close to that, had her and Dan married

Well that's another chapter done. Hoped you all liked it and the next chapter will be about the attack on Konoha and Minato sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto.

Also, for those of you who are asking me if Naruto is going to have Mokuton, the Nidaime Water abilities, or any other abilities you will all find out what he will have in the next few chapters.

Please read and review since I like to know what you all think of the story so far and if you have any suggestions about the story that might improve it or make it more interesting please say them since I open to any and all suggestion will reply to you on my opinion on them since I always reply to my reviewers.

Also please note that Flames are unwelcome and will be ignored since if you don't like my story, then stop reading it since I force no-one to read any of my stories.

Next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it up.

Beta'd by Greed03114 04/27/2011 and then by Toofine89 3/13/2012

Toofine89's note: It's going to be some time before all the chapters are beta read and updated. Regardless, the story is awesome if you can get past the grammar and I encourage you to read and review as stories like this come along only once in a blue moon. In fact, if you are willing to waste your life by reading fanfiction the way I do, then this is one of the best wastes of time possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Three: Attack.**

**This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Summon speech**_"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

For the next nine month Tsunade helped the people of Mihara with their small illness and the injuries that the people got from accidents when farming. Also during that time Tsunade help train a local girl in the village in healing.

The girl name was Kara who had surprising good knowledge in herbs where she could easily tell what certain herbs were good for some illness and injuries. During their stay Tsunade and Shizune help train the girl in how to treat people with different illness and injuries and how to mix the herbs correctly. The girl was a quick study and after a few months the girl was good enough that she could easily handle any of the small illness and injuries that happen around the village. But even so both Tsunade and Shizune helped out whenever they could.

During her stay Tsunade found her temporary life in the village quite peaceful and relaxing, and as the time went on she began to show signs of her pregnancy although when she did she quickly used her Genjutsu skills to hid her pregnancy and only released it when she was in private, since she did not what any of the villagers or anyone else know that she was pregnant expect those that knew already.

During those nine months Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Minato all visited Tsunade either one at a time, or two at a time or even all together by having Minato transport them to her through his **Hiraishin no Jutsu **since they did not want to attract attention by going back and forth to Tsunade. Since Minato had made up an excuse as to why Tsunade was in the village and then left again, the excuse was that Tsunade had somehow found out that Jiraiya created a character in his next Icha Icha novel that he had based on Tsunade in which the character would then fall in love with a white haired Toad Magician where they would have wild frenzy nights together which was why she came to the village to beat the crap out of him for doing it and then tell him to burn the script for the book or she come back to kill him. The story was quickly accepted since everyone knew about how Tsunade would often beat up Jiraiya for his perverted habits (not to mention the Jiraiya perverted ideas), it was even made more believable when Minato arrived in the hospital with at badly beaten Jiraiya who had to spend a while in intensive care due to his injuries.

During those visit they notice that Tsunade had a sort of glow around her one that only women could get when they were pregnant with a child and were happy, they also notice that she seemed happier than she had been in years since she smiled more often. To their surprise as well they learned that Tsunade had given up drinking since she did not what to take any chances in doing the baby any harm to it. Also during their visits the three men were also victims of Tsunade's mood swings during her first and third trimester in which case Tsunade could be happy in one moment, anger the next or crying her eyes out in which case Jiraiya and Minato seemed to be usually be at the receiving end of Tsunade angry mood swings where they would often have to visit the hospital for broken noses, broken jaws, black eyes or concussions, while Sarutobi and Shizune usually dealt with a weeping and crying Tsunade and confronted her. Also the three men notice during the first trimester and throughout the rest of the pregnancy Tsunade breast's seemed to have gotten bigger when they asked, Shizune had informed them that during pregnancy women breast's get bigger due to hormonal changes in which breast's swell so that they can swell up with milk and be able to feed the baby with it when it was born. This of course caused Jiraiya to go all perverted and make comment about how if Tsunade breast's got ant bigger then she wouldn't be able to stand up straight let alone move unfortunately Tsunade had heard him which resulted in Jiraiya spending two months in intensive care again.

During the second trimester of the pregnancy Tsunade asked Shizune to do a scan and find out what gender the child was going to be where they found out that Tsunade was going to have a son which had caused Minato to faint again when he heard. Soon after Minato somehow convinced Tsunade to name their son Naruto after the main character of Jiraiya only book that wasn't porn "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi". They also agreed to make Jiraiya, Naruto Godfather and Shizune his Godmother and Sarutobi, Naruto official Grandfather since he was the closest thing to a father that Tsunade had since her own father died during The First Great Shinobi World War. Both Jiraiya and Shizune were more than happy and proud to be Naruto Godparents and Sarutobi was honoured to be little Naruto official Grandfather since he had always wanted to be one.

A few months later Tsunade water broke and she went into labour and was secretly transported to a private room in the Hospital that had been sealed off from everyone except for Tsunade, Minato, Jiraiya, Shizune and Sarutobi. So that Tsunade could give birth to her child by Shizune without anyone finding out about it, when Minato found out he believed that this would be that happiest day of his life in which it would be and it would be also his last.

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Tsunade as she was giving birth

"Come on Tsunade you're doing fine" said Minato as he stood next to Tsunade

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!...DAMN YOU MINATO YOU BASTARD THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" roared Tsunade at the Hokage as she crushed his hands (when he was holding hers as a signs of support) making him fall on his knees.

"That it Tsunade-sensei you're nearly there, I'm starting to see its head" Shizune who was in front of Tsunade helping with the birth.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!...HURRY THE HELL UP AND GET IT OUT OF ME!" shouted Tsunade.

"Come on Tsunade your nearly finish just a little more and it be all over" encouraged Minato.

"I WOULDN'T BE EVEN IN THIS MESS IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU, YOU BASTARD" screamed Tsunade as she raised her free hand and went to hit Minato in the face

But before she could hit him Minato quickly used **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Substitution Jutsu) to replace himself with the nearest thing to him which unfortunately was Jiraiya who was then sent through the wall by Tsunade punch when Minato replaced himself with Jiraiya.

"_Sorry sensei better you than me_" thought Minato sympathetically as he look at the Jiraiya shaped hole in the wall and saw Jiraiya legs sticking out of the hole and was on his back laying on the floor in the room (That was luckily empty) next to theirs groining in pain from Tsunade hit

Minato was then pulled out of his train of thought when Tsunade screamed again "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! GET THIS FUCKING BRAT OUT OF ME BEFORE IT KILLS ME"

"That it Tsunade-sensei it almost out just one more push and the baby will be out" said Shizune

"Come on Tsunade you heard her just one more push, just one more you can do it" said Minato

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!...SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!...THIS IS YOUR FAULT! BESIDE YOU TRY AND PUSH THIS BRAT OUT SINCE HE JUST WON'T COME OUT!, AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Tsunade

After another minute or so of screaming from Tsunade and one big final push Minato and Tsunade then heard the small cry of a baby. After which Shizune then cut the umbilical cord and quickly rapped the baby in a small blue blanket, after which she then went to Tsunade to give her the baby.

"Lady Tsunade, allow me to introduce you to your son Senju Naruto".

The tired but happy Tsunade then took the still crying baby in her arms "Hello little one," cooed Tsunade as she brushed her hands over the baby bright blond hair and round face and smiled down on him.

Soon baby Naruto stopped crying as it looked at its mother to show his bright sapphire blue eyes after which he smiled back making him look all the more adorable to everyone in the room.

"Look he has Minato eyes not to mention his hair and his face looks like Minato in a way" said Jiraiya who had come out of the hole that Tsunade punched him through and came to see his newly born Godson.

"Yes but he had Tsunade nose, chin and ears and his skin colour is more lighter shad like Tsunade and his eyes are the same shape as hers" spoke Sarutobi as he came over to see his Grandson (in all but blood).

"He beautiful sensei" gushed Shizune as she look down on her Godson and wiggled her figure over baby Naruto face who was following her finger around with his eyes

"He is isn't he" answered Tsunade she smiled down at her adorable son as if he was the most beautiful and precious thing in the world which he was as far as she was concerned

"Don't you agree Minato" asked Tsunade as she continued to look down at her son and smile

"Definitely, and when he gets older he will be a killer with ladies with hundreds of them chasing after him" chuckled Minato

"Huh! Like any of those little hussies or tramps are good enough for my sweet little Naru-chan, and like I let any of them even try and sink their claws on him" huffed Tsunade and continued to look down at her baby who smiled back and even gurgled a bit as if laughing.

This of course caused a series of chuckles to come from the others at the image of Tsunade being an over protective mother and chasing away all the teenage girls that would chase after a teenage Naruto.

"Tsunade-sensei if I may I like to take Naruto to the babies ward where I can make sure that he is ok, also I like to give you a sedative that will make you sleep for a while so that your body can rest and recover from the strain of giving birth", said Shizune.

"Fine Shizune but I don't want anyone but you touching my Naru-chan is that clear" said Tsunade tiredly since she was indeed tired from giving birth

"Of course I wasn't going to let anyone go near him anyhow" said Shizune as she went and gave Tsunade a quick sedative before taking baby Naruto from the already drowsy Tsunade who then fell asleep

"Come on little man come to your Shizune-hakubo (Aunty Shizune) let your Kaa-san rest" said Shizune as she walked out with baby Naruto along with Minato, Jiraiya and Sarutobi out of the room.

As they left the private room Minato quickly sealed it with a special blood seal that would keep everyone except Shizune, Jiraiya, Sarutobi and himself from entering the room.

When Shizune went down the hall to go to the baby ward so to do a check up on baby Naruto both Jiraiya and Sarutobi congratulated Minato again on now having a son.

"Well now Minato my boy, congrats are in order you have a son, so how does it feel to be a real father now" said Jiraiya

"Good, if feels good" said a smiling Minato

"I happy for you Minato you make a fine father I'm sure, although things may get ruff between you and Tsunade as to how you two are going to raise young Naruto, but I sure that you can reach some sort of agreement" spoke Sarutobi who was now puffing him pipe

"Thanks Sarutobi, hopefully everything will work out ok" answered Minato

"Well now I think it time to celebrate, how about we head back to your home Minato and break out that bottle of rare sake you got from Mitsu no Kuni (Honey country) that you said you would save for a special occasion. Since I'm sure that you agree that this is a fitting occasion for it and it would be a shame to let that fine bottle of sake go to waste since Mitsu no Kuni always makes the sweetest and finest sake anywhere" spoke Jiraiya.

"I have to agree with you on that one sensei, would you care to join us Sarutobi?" asked Minato.

"I be delighted Minato" answered Sarutobi since he would be more than happy to celebrate the birth of Minato and Tsunade child with Minato, not to mention share that bottle of fine sake with them.

But before the three men could leave a young ANBU with a dog shaped mask and spiky silver hair appeared in front of them and spoke.

"Hokage-sama we have just received reports that the Kyūbi has appeared nearby and is on its way here to the village".

"WHAT? The Kyūbi?" said Minato to which the ANBU just nodded.

"_Dammit, why now of all times, especially since Kushina-chan is away on a mission_" Minato thought angrily after which he then spoke.

"Dog!, Sound the call for all Shinobi forces to get ready for an attack, Sarutobi head to the tower and help organise our forces from there, Jiraiya-sensei. I need you to help organise the evacuation of the civilians and get them to the shelters as quickly as possible, while I help set up the frontline defences outside the village. Since we can't have the Kyūbi reach the village or it will destroy it", ordered Minato with authority that showed why he was the Hokage.

"Hai" all the men responded and quickly went to do what they were ordered to do.

"_It seems that Konoha is now facing it darkest hour, lets us hope that the Will of Fire will not be extinguish this night_" thought Minato worriedly as he **Shunshin **away and went out to set up the frontline of defence for Konoha.

-One hour later at the front defence line -

Only a few miles away from Konoha was the front defence line where most of Konoha Shinobi's were gathered to defend their village and it did not take long before the Shinobi's stationed there came face to face with the Kyūbi no Yōko (The Nine Tailed Fox), the greatest of all the Bijū (Tailed Beasts) and the most feared, whose strength was so great that a single swipe from just one of its Nine Tails could raise _Tsunamis_ and flatten Mountains.

But the Shinobi's stationed there held their ground for they knew that if the demon broke through then their village would be destroyed and their families would be killed.

The Konoha Shinobi's fought as best they could against the demon by firing Jutsu's and throwing weapons at the great demon but the demon either was not effected by their attacks or would just heal from any wounds that were caused by their attack which were minor, the most that Konoha Shinobi's were doing were slowing the creature down and even then it was costing them lives of many of their comrades.

After about two hours of fighting the demon was nearing Konoha and could be clearly be seen from the walls of Konoha.

It was there that Jiraiya and Sarutobi were standing watching the battle with growing concern for they knew that if something was not done soon then the Kyuubi would reach the village and it would be destroyed. As they watch the battle they were soon joined by the ANBU captain who was currently commanding the frontline defences and was called back by Sarutobi to report, the ANBU captain wore a Tiger shaped mask.

"Tiger report what going on" ordered Sarutobi.

"Hai, currently over half of our main forces are either dead or wounded and we are being pushed back further and further, at the current rate our defence line will be completely destroyed in about forty minutes or an hour at best" replied Tiger.

"Where's Minato? He was supposed to be out there leading the defence forces" asked Jiraiya since he had grown concern at what happen to his former student when he did not see Gamabunta or any of the other great Battle Toads battling against the Kyūbi.

"The Hokage-sama was with us when we first clashed with the Kyūbi but after about twenty minutes into the battle he told me that he was leaving me in charge of the defence forces and ordered me to have our forces hold back the Kyūbi for as long as possible. When I asked where he was going he informed me that he was returning to the village to prepare a Jutsu that would stop the Kyūbi." answered Tiger.

This of course confused both Jiraiya and Sarutobi since they were unaware of any Jutsu that was powerful enough to stop the greatest of all the Bijū's.

But despite their confusion Sarutobi quickly decided to take charge of the situation.

"Tiger! I want you to head back to the frontlines and continue to have the defence forces to hold the Kyūbi back until the Yondaime Hokage arrives" ordered Sarutobi in a commanding tone of voice and with a powerful aura around him. One that Jiraiya had not seen in his former sensei in many years which reminded him of why his sensei was called Shinobi no Kami (The God of Shinobi).

The ANBU captain quickly saluted the former Hokage acknowledging his orders and **Shunshin **back to the frontlines. After Tiger disappeared Sarutobi turned to Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya! I want you to head to the frontlines as well and summon Gamabunta and try help the defence forces hold back Kyūbi for as long as you can. I will go back into the village and try and find Minato and get him back to the frontlines so that he can use that Jutsu that is suppose be able to stop the Kyūbi ".

Jiraiya nodded in acknowledgment and was about to head to the battlefield when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"That won't be needed Sarutobi since I'm already here".

At which point the two Shinobi's turned around to see Minato behind them holding his two hour old son Naruto in his arms.

"Minato...! Where the hell have you been? And why the hell have you brought Naruto here? Do you want him to get killed? This is no place from him and where is Shizune?" cried Jiraiya.

"I sent Shizune to help out with the wounded in the Hospital since the Hospital staff need all the help they can get with all the wounded coming in from the frontlines, and I told her I take care of Naruto" answered Minato.

"But still that does not explain why you brought Naruto here?" said Sarutobi.

"The reason I brought him here is because he is going to save Konoha from the Kyūbi" replied Minato.

This cause a confuse look to appear on the two older men faces, in which Minato decided to explain further.

"Naruto is going save Konoha by becoming the host of the Kyūbi since I plan to turn Naruto into a Jinchūriki by sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto and therefore stopping it and saving Konoha".

This of course caused the Jiraiya and Sarutobi to gasp in shock.

"Minato you can't, this is your son for Kami sake" cried Jiraiya.

"I know but I have no other choice" said Minato sadly.

"Minato how do you even intend to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto since the Kyūbi is wild and too powerful for any normal Fūinjutsu to allow the Kyūbi to be sealed into Naruto. The only person who had the power to suppress a Bijū and seal it away in something when it was wild was the Shodaime Hokage (First Hokage) and even then he had his Mokuton ability to help him do that", spoke Sarutobi.

"I plan on using one of the Uzumaki's Clan's Fuinjustu (Sealing Technique), once that Kushina taught me, the **Shiki Fūjin** (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) it should be powerful enough to seal the Kyūbi away" spoke Minato.

This of course, caused the two men to gasp again in shock.

"Minato you can't you know what will happen to you if you use that Jutsu" said Jiraiya, who was familiar with the Fuinjutsu and what it did.

"Yes I know, I will die".

"But still how can you seal the Kyuubi into Naruto, from what you told me of the Jutsu you seal the soul of the person into yourself where the Shinigami would then consume both you and the other soul" said Sarutobi.

"I will split the Kyuubi's charka in two where the Yang half will be sealed within Naruto with the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki** (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) while the Yin half will be sealed with me with the **Shiki Fūjin**. This will make sure that the evil influence of the Kyūbi will not affect or corrupt Naruto as he grows" replied Minato.

"But still Minato this is your son, you know what kind of life Jinchūriki's have, they are either turned into human weapons or they are treated like the worse kind of trash or outcast in most places because of people fear of the demons inside of them. If you have to seal the Kyūbi in a child then at least let seal the Kyūbi in another child" said Jiraiya.

"How can I ask another family to give me one of their own children to turn into a Jinchūriki when I myself cannot with my own son, Besides you can't hope to image how hard this is for me to do sensei, I know full well what kind of life I may be condemning him to but I have no choice" rounded Minato on Jiraiya angrily which cause him to cringe and step back and then lower his head in shame since he knew Minato was right after which he then looked up.

"If that the case then show me how to do the Jutsu and I do it, since you will need to be there for Naruto when he growing up to protect him and be a father for him" said Jiraiya.

"No let me do it since you are both still young while I'm old man" said Sarutobi.

"Thank you both but I will do" said Minato.

"But-" said Jiraiya but before he could continue Minato interrupted him.

"Sensei, I'm the Hokage and it my duty to protect the village and if anyone is going bare the responsibility of placing this burdened on Naruto it has to be me, Besides the altercation that I have to make on the Jutsu to allow me to seal the Kyūbi into Naruto and the seal itself is too complicated for Sarutobi to do not to mention he too old. Since it would probably take all my strength to do it and it would take too long to teach you sensei to do it correctly since if you make one mistake you could kill Naruto and release the Kyūbi again", said Minato.

Both Jiraiya and Sarutobi could only sigh in defeat knowing that he was right and that they could not talk Minato out of it.

They then spent the next ten minutes helping Minato to get everything ready so that Minato could seal the Kyūbi into Naruto. After which when everything was ready the two men stood next to the young Hokage to say their goodbyes.

"Goodbye Minato you are indeed the finest Hokage that Konoha ever had" said Sarutobi mournfully as he shook hands with Minato.

"Thanks Sarutobi" said Minato.

"See ya brat, I going go to miss you, no sensei could ever ask for a better student than you and I'm proud of you" said Jiraiya as tears where threatening to fall as he gave Minato a fatherly like hug.

"Thanks sensei, you were the best sensei that anyone could ask for, and that why I want to ask you to do me one last favour".

"Anything, just name it".

"I have drawn a "key" to the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki**, into abdomen of the scroll toad Gerotora. The "key" will allow you to either strength or weaken the seal since over time the seal will weaken by itself hence the "key" will let you strength the seal, also it will allow Naruto to complete a special Jutsu that only he will be able to use. Also I want you to train Naruto when he gets older since he will need to be strong one day to fight the threats that he will have to face one day", spoke Minato.

"You got it Minato" replied Jiaiya.

"Sarutobi if you do not mind I have made you the executor of my estate and have left everything to Naruto and when he is old enough and strong enough, I what you to give him what is rightfully his which includes the scroll on how to use and create the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** which is sealed in my private safe in my scroll room, in my family estate. There are also a few others things in my will that I would like you to do after my death if you can", said Minato.

"Of course Minato I will make sure that your wishes are followed" replied Sarutobi.

"Thank you" said Minato as he then went to look down at his sleeping son one last time.

"Goodbye Naruto, know that I love you with all my heart and that my only regret is that I will not see you grow up to become the fine man I know you will become" said Minato sorrowfully as he kissed his sleeping son goodbye on his forehead, after which he then turned his back to Naruto, Jiraiya and Sarutobi so that they could not see the tears that were falling from his eyes.

"_And know how sorry I am from placing this heavy burdened on you, but it is the only way I know how to save Konoha from the __Kyūbi_ _and protect it from the threats that will come in the future. For Konoha will need the power of the __Kyūbi_ _on its side if it hopes to survive the dark forces that are to come and I can't trust anyone else with its power, other than you Naruto, as I know you will rise to the challenge and become the hero that you are_", thought Minato.

"Sarutobi there is one last thing I would like you to do please tell the people that my last wish is that Naruto is to be seen as the hero he is for containing the Kyūbi and protecting them from it, and if they should not please make sure that both he and his mother are safe", asked Minato.

"I shall" said the mournful former Kage as he lowered his head along with Jiraiya since they we about to see a good friend die.

Minato then look back one last time and smiled.

"Don't look so down guys since it probably best that this Jutsu is going to kill me, since I probably die later on anyhow, since once Tsunade-hime finds out what I'm about to do I'm certain I wouldn't survive her wrath, and she probably kill me in a far more painful and slower way than I would ever care to imagine".

This of course caused both Jiraiya and Sarutobi to chuckle slightly knowing how true that was. After which Minato then headed off to the battlefield.

When Minato was near the frontlines he then did a few hand seals and cried **Kuchiyose no Jutsu **(Summoning Jutsu) in which a giants cloud of smoke appeared and when it cleared people could see Minato standing on a hundred meters high Giant Toad who wore yakuza gangster like robe, with a pipe in his mouth, a huge dosu (Yakuza sword) on his back and had a large scar that went down his left eye. This Toad was Gamabunta the Toad Boss, the strongest of all the Toad summons.

"_**Minato what going on why did you summon me?**_" asked the Gamabunta.

"I summon you here Gamabunta to help me fight the Kyuubi" said Minato.

"_**Minato you can't expect me to defeat the **__**Kyūbi **__**for as strong as I am the Kyuubi is far stronger**_" spoke Gamabunta.

"Yes I know that is why I plan to seal the Kyuubi into my son Naruto with a special Jutsu that I created although to do so will kill me" answered Minato which both shocked and sadden the toad Boss since he was very fond of Minato.

"_**Are you sure that there is no other way to stop it?**_" asked the Toad Boss sadly since he already knew the answer anyhow.

"I'm afraid not" said Minato sadly.

"_**Very well then if this is going to be our last battle together then let's make it one for the History books, and know that I miss you brat, both the Toad Clan and I were proud to call you our summoner**_" spoke Gamabunta.

"And I was proud to be able to summon you" replied Minato, after which the two of them went forward.

Minato the quickly ordered the Shinobi's below to fall back to the village which they did and watch as their Hokage and his summon did battle with Kyūbi.

For several minutes Gamabunta dodged the tails from the Kyūbi after which he then cried out.

"**Suiton: Teppōdama no Jutsu** (Water Style: Liquid Bullet Jutsu)".

Which hit the Kyūbi dead on but it did not do much other than make the Kyuubi wet.

The Kyūbi then countered by launching its tails at Gamabunta again which resulted in Gamabunta having to dodge them again and even draw his dosu to deflect some of the tails. After which Gamabunta then found an opening in the Kyūbi attack and launch a powerful slashing attack at the Kyūbi which it was just able to dodge but resulted in the Kyūbi having a large slash on its side.

"_**Ha! Take that you Nine Tailed Freak**_" cried Gamabunta with a slight smile which quickly ended.

Since unfortunately the wound did not last long as the Kyūbi healing powers quickly healed the wound.

The Kyuubi then responded with opening it large mouth and began to gather raw chakra from its body and from the air around it and focused it into a single compressed ball where it then released it into one massive blast of energy causing a massive explosion.

"_**SHIT!**_" shouted Gamabunta as he saw the incoming attack and tried to dodged the attack.

Which luckily Gamabunta did by jumping up into the air but he had just barley dodged it, the resulting explosion from the blast was enough to devastate a large portion of the surrounding forest around Konoha and caused a large amount of debris to fly through the air and onto the village cause much damage to the village.

"Gamabunta! Let's try a little teamwork" said Minato.

"_**Right let's do it**_" replied Gamabunta after which he then cried.

"**Gamayudan** (Toad Oil Bullet)!"

While at the same time Minato cried "**Katon: Endan **(Fire Style: Flame Bullet)!"

The oil that Gamabunta fired, acted as an accelerant, and provided more fuel for the fire attack that Minato fired, in which it created an conflagration of far greater power and magnitude than a normal fire attack in which like a flamethrower the fire attack flew towards the Kyuubi an hit it.

The fire attack quickly covered the Kyūbi body which caused the demon to scream out in pain and anger.

When The Konoha Shinobi's saw this they cheered loudly, believing that the demon had been killed, but the celebrations did not last long as a massive blast of chakra exploded from the Kyuubi and extinguished the fire covering its body and causing a small creator around it where trees near the Kyūbi were blown away and many nearby Shinobi's were thrown away as well.

After which everyone could see the massive black charred burns on the Kyūbi body making it look like a black fox instead of its original red colour. They then saw the Kyūbi red charka covering its body in which it began to heal the burns that covered its body.

But before its wounds could fully heal Gamabunta quickly jumped towards the Kyūbi and grabbed hold of the demon in which a struggle of dominance began.

But this struggle was just a delaying tactic so to keep the Kyūbi in one place and allowing Minato to be close enough for him to use the **Shiki Fūjin**.

"_**Now Minato!...While I have it, use the Jutsu while you have the chance**_" cried Gamabunta as he struggled to hold the Kyūbi.

"Right, and thank you Gamabunta" said Minato as he did the seals and cried out.

"**Shiki Fūjin!"**

The Shinigami then appeared behind Minato, its arm then came out of Minato chest in which it then went into the Kyūbi and split's Chakra in two. The Yin part of it Charka was sealed into him, while the Yang part was sent into baby Naruto where the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki** appeared on him.

"_It done!_" thought Minato with a sad smile as he felt the Shinigami pulling his soul away "_I leave the rest as well as the future of Konoha to you Naruto, I know you will not fail me"_.

After which the Shinigami then consumed the soul of the Yondaime Hokage as well the Yin part of the Kyuubi chakra, sentencing them to an eternity of battle with each other in its stomach.

After which the great Yondaime Hokage died with a smile his lips leaving the future of the Konoha and the world in the hands of his son.

After the Yondaime Hokage died the Kyūbi body fell to the ground after which all of it remaining Charka erupted in one massive shockwave which forced Gamabuta back a bit and caused the remaining Konoha Shinobi's to fall to the ground as well as cause a large amount of damage to the village as well.

"_**You were truly the greatest summoner that we Toads have ever had brat, even greater that Jiraiya and hopefully your son will become just as great as you if not greater**_" said Gamabunta sadly before returning home in a puff of smoke

Soon after the remaining Konoha Shinobi's gathered around the body of the fallen hero and took him back to the village to be buried as the hero that he was.

-Two days later -

Two days after the Kyūbi attack the village was buzzing with activity with everyone busy with helping with repairs to the village that had been damage due to the debris that had been caused by the Kyūbi attack and the damage that had been caused when the massive shockwave of charka erupted after the Kyūbi had been defeated.

But even as the people were busy working their mood was still sober since it was only yesterday that the funeral of the Yondaime Hokage and the other Shinobi's that fought and died at the battle had happen. In which there wasn't a person in the village who didn't lose a family member, friend or loved one in that battle, not to mention the loss of the village greatest Hokage and hero had greatly affected the people and the Shionbi's of Konoha.

After the battle it was decided by the Fire Daimyo and the Grand Fire Council that Sarutobi would retake his position as the Sandaime Hokage (Third Hokage). Also at the end of the funeral Sarutobi announced that Yondaime Hokage had defeated the Kyūbi by sealing it spirit into the body of a young child and that the Yondaime Hokage had asked for the child to be seen as a hero. But as the old Hokage had feared the wounds that the Kyūbi had caused by killing so many family members, friends and loved ones had caused the people to focus their anger and sorrow at the child where many people shouted for the child to be killed claiming that Kyūbi would take over the child and kill them all, while others were just looking for a chance to get their revenge on the Kyūbi.

But all this was stopped when the Sandaime released a massive amount of kill intent on the people and Shinobi's there causing all to cower at the old Kage killing intent. The Sandaime then spoke at how ashamed he was at how the people reacted and how they dishonoured the Yondaime memory and sacrifice which had caused many to lower their heads in shame while most just ignored since they were still angry at the Kyūbi.

It was then that the Sandaime declared a new law stating that if anyone ever speaks out or mention the Kyūbi and the child container especial to the younger generation they would be charged with treason and would be executed immediately without trail. Hence the secret of the Kyūbi was made an S Class secret.

-In Tsunade Private Hospital room -

Currently still lying on her bed was Tsunade who was still resting from giving birth to baby Naruto since Shizune had to give her some more sedative since she found that Tsuande body had been under more stress than they thought and needed to rest more.

This was why Sandaime was now sitting next to Tsunade since she was now due wake up, the Sandaime did not have to wait long though since after waiting for about five minutes or so when Tsunade began to wake up. When Tsunade woke up she was still drowsy from the sedative, but when she saw her former sensei her eyes quickly sprung open.

"Sensei what are you doing here? Where Shizune? Where Naru-chan? Where my baby?" said Tsuande panicky as she looked around since she did not see either of them

"Tsunade please relax you need to rest, Both Shizune and Naruto are fine" said the Sandaime trying to calm down Tsunade which he was thankfully able to do after a minute or two

"Now Tsunade there is something I need to tell you, it seems that the birth cause a lot more stress to you than we had though and you have been asleep for two days. Also when you were put to sleep we came under attack by the Kyūbi "

This of course shocked Tsunade but the Sandaime continue before she could give a response to what the Sandaime said

"But thankfully we were able to survive the attack and defeated the Kyūbi."

Which of course shocked Tsunade even further since she could not believe how the Kyūbi was defeat since its power was legendary. No-one short of her Grandfather could defeat the Kyūbi and even then he hand his Mokuton powers to do that.

The only exception was one Kunoichi named Uzumaki Kushina, who possessed a special Chakra that allowed her to supress Biju Chakra and used it in conjunction with her Chakra Chain technique to restrain the creatures.

This of course made Tsunade wonder how they were able to defeat the Kyūbi, since last she had heard Kushina was away on a mission, but before she could ask the Sandaime spoke as if reading her mind

"We were able to defeat the Kyūbi thanks to Minato who was able use a special Jutsu he created that allowed him to rip the Kyūbi soul out of its body and seal the its soul into a child that was just born at the time, that child I am sadly to tell you was your son Naruto"

At the very moment that the Sandaime finished speaking, the room quickly became flooded with a massive amount of Killing Intent, which caused the Sandaime to buckle a bit from it and was struggling to breath due to the sheer thickness of the Killing Intent.

"THAT BASTARD!...I KILL HIM, I MAKE HIM WISH HE WAS NEVER BORN, I WILL RIP HIM APART TILL THERE NOTING LEFT OF HIM, HOW DARE HE DO THAT TO OUR CHILD, MY CHILD!" roared Tsunade as she started to get out of the bed where an aura of absolute fury and rage surrounded Tsunade, which would have made even Kami himself cower in fear of her wrath

"Tsunade please calm down there are still things that you don't know yet and that you need to understand" pleaded the Sandaime as he blocked Tsunade path out the door and grabbed hold of her stopping her from leaving the room and destroying everything in her path in her vengeful quest to try and find Minato and splatter him all over Konoha

"I UNDERTAND EVERTHING PERECTLY THAT BASTARD SEALED A BIJU INTO MY CHILD AND TURNED HIM INTO A JINCHURIKI, AND YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO HOW THEY ARE TREATED IN MOST PLACES, AND WHEN I FIND THAT BASTARD MINATO I WIL-" roared Tsunade but before could finish what she was ranting the Sandaime spoke up

"Tsunade, Minato dead!"

"W-W-Wh-What?"

"Minato is dead, the Jutsu that he used to seal the Kyūbi into Naruto cost him his life" answered the Sandaime to which he then explained how the **Shiki Fūjin** worked

When the Sandaime finish explaining what happen in the battle against the Kyūbi and how the **Shiki Fūjin** worked, Tsunade just growled in frustration at how she did not get to at least kill Minato herself for turning her son into a Jinchuriki, but then decided to that she could curse his soul into the to the lowest pits of hell later, right now she wanted to be with her son.

"Sensei!...Where Naru-chan now?" she asked since she was worried for her son safety.

"Do not worry I have Shizune and Jiraiya watching him at the Namikaze estate" replied the Sandaime.

"Can you take me to him"

"Of course"

After they stopped talking Tsunade quickly got out of her Hospital gown and quickly got dressed into her normal attire. The two of them then left the room and snuck through the village making sure that no one saw that Tsunade was here, after which it did not take long for them to reach the large mansion that had belong to the Namikaze family since the founding of the village.

The mansion was built behind the Hokage monument and was hidden from view by the tree line in front of it; the mansion had a large open garden in the front of it and behind it with an outdoor swimming pool. While the mansion itself was a large marble stone building with four floor levels and hundreds of windows and a large double door entrance which the walkway from the gate lead to. The mansion was also large enough that it could hold up to sixty people easily. The Namikaze family had built the mansion when the village was first founded, the Namikaze's were not a Shinobi Clan or family they were simply a merchant family who had come when Konoha was built and did well for themselves, they were also the wealthiest merchant family in the village due to owning over fifty-one percent of the businesses in the village hence they controlled the majority of Konoha trading infrastructure. Minato was the first member of the family to become a Shinobi but despite him being a Shinobi he was also skilled in running businesses since his parents trained him to be able to run the businesses should he need to. Hence when Minato parents were killed all of this and everything else that belong to the family went to Minato since he was the last Namikaze alive.

But despite owning all this Minato had not lived in the mansion for many years preferring to live in a medium size apartment in the village since he wanted to have his own space and independence after he became a Chunin. Even after the death of his parent he still refused to live in it due to the fact that his parents had been murdered there and could not bring himself to live there even if he sealed up the room where they were murdered. But despite this he still used the family library and built a room to store all the scrolls on different Jutsu's he had gathered or created over the years.

When they entered the mansion Tsunade and the Sandaime went into the main living room where Jiraiya and Shizune were taking care of baby Naruto. When Tsunade saw Naruto with Shizune she quickly raced over to her child and took him from Shizune and held him close to her as if he would be taken away from her if she loosened her hold on him.

"My baby!...Thank the stars that you're ok" cried Tsunade as she looked down at her sleeping baby she notice the three whisker markings on both sides of his cheek

"Is this result of the sealing?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya

"Yea it is, but don't worry about it he won't be sprouting any fox ears or a tail, it normal to see a trait like that in Jinchuriki since it sort of a way for people or other Jinchuriki's to tell what Bijū they are holding. Also don't worry about the Kyūbi harming him in any way since Minato place the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki** on him and their art many seals stronger than that."

Jiraiya would have continued in his praise of Minato skill as a sealing master but stopped when Tsunade started to growl at him praising Minato in what he did to her son.

Jiraiya wasn't surprise that Tsunade felt this way since he knew that even despite his good intentions Minato had placed a very heavy burden on his son, and he doubted Tsunade would ever forgive Minato for what he did to Naruto.

"So what happens now?" asked Shizune

"It simple we're leaving, I not going to stay here and let my son become the village outcast simply because of what that bastard did to my son. Since I have no doubt that the villagers and many of the Shinobi's here will claim he is a demon and attack him" snarled Tsuande daring either Jiraiya or the Sandaime to say otherwise

Jiraiya remained silent since he agreed with what Tsunade said in how the people would react, while the Sandaime just sighed since he saw how the people reacted to the news that the Kyuubi had been sealed into a child.

"You don't have to worry Tsunade I will not stop you from leaving in fact you have my full support to leave the village with Naruto" spoke Sarutobi

This of course surprised both Tsunade and Jiraiya since the fully expected that their sensei to try and argue with Tsunade decision and try and convince her to stay and give the people of Konoha a chance, stating that they would come around.

"What the deal sensei? I always picked you as an idealist" asked Jiraiya

"I am but the truth is I know in my heart sadly that if Naruto stayed he would be an outcast and I promised Minato that I would do everything in my power to see that both Tsunade and Naruto would be safe and the best way to do that is to have Tsunade leave the village with Naruto" answered the Sandaime

"But wouldn't they see him differently if you announce his heritage to the people since surly people wouldn't think him a demon or hate him for what he contains if they knew that he was Tsunade-sama and the Yondaime son, since other than Tsunade-sama he is the last Senju alive and the son of Konoha's hero" said Shizune

"Although that could happen that would just place Naruto in danger since word would leak out eventually to other villages and Shinobi groups that Tsunade and Minato had a child and that child contains the most powerful of all the Bijū's inside him. Hence if certain people found out about this or our enemies for that matter they would stop at nothing to capture Naruto and use him for their own means or kill him to prevent him from being a threat to them, and since Konoha military strength is too weak to fight off these forces and protect Naruto at the same time it is best that he not here." answered Sarutobi

"But I heard that you forbid anyone speaking of the Kyuubi sealed into a child and besides you did not say who the child was hence no one knows that Naruto is the container, couldn't you just reveal Naruto's heritage to them without revealing the fact that he has the Kyūbi sealed into him", asked Shizune again

"That would not work either since people would notice the markings on his cheeks and the Shinobi's that have knowledge in sealing would easily connect the dots due to his age and the markings themselves and realise that he contains the Kyūbi inside him in which word would then spread and leak out to those forces that would attack us. Also even if we were able to keep the secret about him containing the Kyūbi and just reveal his heritage to the village the same forces may still attack us just to kidnap or kill Naruto since he is the son of the two strongest Shinobi's alive and the heir to one of the strongest Clans to ever live. Hence Konoha would still be attacked by those forces, not to mention we would have to worry about factions inside Konoha itself", said Sarutobi.

Which got a confused look from Shizune, but understanding ones from both Jiraiya and Tsunade, where Sarutobi decided explain what he meant to Shizune

"It simple if the people of Konoha knew that Naruto was Minato and Tsunade son they would treat him like royalty and spoil him rotten, in which Naruto would become spoilt and arrogant child and believe that just because he is the heir of a powerful Clan and is descendant from powerful Shinobi's he will think the he will just get power and strength handed to him on a silver platter without truly earning it and not value hard work, determination and training. Hence he would also look down on others and believe he is better than everyone else just because who he is related to. Also there would be several factions is Konoha who would seek to use Naruto due to the power an influence his heritage would give him. The most notable of those Factions would be Danzo (which caused Jiraiya to frown and Tsunade to growl at the mention of the old War Hawk). Since he has already petition to me to give him custody of the child containing the Kyuubi so that he can train the child to become a Shinobi, in which under Danzo care I am certain Naruto would become a emotionless boy who would answer only to Danzo himself. Not to mention if Danzo found out that Naruto not only contained the Kyuubi but was also Minato and Tsuande son he would want to gain control of Naruto even more. Since Naruto would have significant political influence in Konoha as the son of Minato and the heir of the Senju Clan not to mention he will have enormous control over Konoha economy as the heir to the Namikaze family since fifty one percent of the business in Konoha belong to the Namikaze family, and if you combined all that with Naruto having the power of the Kyuubi as well, then with Naruto Danzo would then have more than enough power to take complete control of Konoha and rule it his way which would be disastrous for Konoha. The same thing would happen as well if we just relived Naruto as Tsunade son and keep the fact that Minato was his father secret". When the Sandaime finish his explanation Shizune could not help but shudder at the very thought of Danzo being Hokage since she was very familiar with is reputation as a cold manipulative war monger who would turn innocent children into emotionless killing drones to serve him.

"Like I'd ever let that one-eyed bastard even touch a hair on my Naru-chan, I'll rip out his remaining eye and arm myself, if he even tried" snarled Tsunade, since she did not want to shout and wake up Naruto while he was sleeping.

"That is why it is best that you both leave the village for now at lest and I believe it would be best that you both keep a low profile. Since if people saw you with a child it would rise people suspicion and they would figure out that you had a child and it would cause trouble before we would be fully prepared to handle it" said the Sandaime.

Tsunade just nodded in agreement since she had already planned to keep a low profile.

"Is there anything else sensei, because I like to get out of here as soon as I can" spoke Tsunade.

"Yes there is something I like to say, now as Jiraiya already knows before Minato died he left me as executor to the Namikaze estate in which he has named Naruto as heir to the Namikaze family fortune as well as everything that he owned".

"Won't the council try and seize it for themselves since Minato-sama is dead and they believe that Minato-sama has no heir" asked Shizune.

"They have already tired but I overruled them since I'm the executor of Minato estate hence they cannot touch it and they never will since as stated in Minato will Naruto will inherit the Namikaze family fortune and mansion when he eighteen and would take full control of all the businesses and everything else belonging to the Naimkaze family when he twenty-one" replied the Sandaime

"Speaking of which who will manage the business that belonging to the Namikaze family since I doubt you will sensei" said Tsunade

"They will be handled by Seiwa Genji who helped Minato Father manage them when he was alive and who managed them when he died and Minato inherited them. So you need not worry since Genji was a good and loyal friend to Minato father and to Minato as well and he will see to it that those businesses are run correctly. But he will still be kept in the dark about Naruto being Minato son just in case he accidently lets it slip or someone tries to gain information from him", answered the Sandaime

"Also I believe that you should know Minato has requested in his will that I have all your depths paid off through the Namikaze fortune (shocking Tsunade and Shizune) and before you try and refuse you need not worry about them affecting Naruto inheritance since even as high as your depths are they won't make that big of a dent in the family fortune since the Namikaze were they wealthiest family in Konoha. Minato had also set up a trust fund for Naruto which will be paid monthly to you and should be enough to allow you, Shizune and Naruto to live simple but comfortable lives even as you travel around which I sure you will be doing." spoke the Sandaime again

After a few minutes both Shizune and Tsunade got over their shock and as much as Tsunade hated to she was grateful for Minato getting rid of all her depths for her. But even still she would never forgive him for turning their son into a Jinchuriki regardless of how noble or selfless his reasons were.

"Well if that all Sensei I think that once Shizune gets everything we need to take care of Naruto we leave tonight and get a head start before anyone see's that where here" said Tsunade

"There is one last thing I would like to say Tsunade" said Sarutobi which caused Tsunade to raise her eyebrow "I know that you have good reasons to keep Naruto away from Konoha but I would like you consider to allow Naruto to become a Shinobi of Konoha when he old enough or a lest give him the option to" said the Sandaime and before Tsunade could argue against it he continued "Before you speak against it Tsunade you have to remember that the blood of some of the greatest Shinobi's in the world including yourself runs through Naruto's veins. Hence being a Shinobi is literally in Naruto's blood and I highly doubt that you could stop him even if you tried to. Naruto has the potential to become as great a Shinobi as your Grandfather the Shodai, your Great Uncle the Nidaime and his father Minato were, maybe even greater than them all. In which he would need to have the support of a strong village like Konoha since many will come after Naruto. Not to mention there are things here like the scroll to the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** that rightfully to Naruto and if he does not claim them. Then his fortune will fall into the hands of the greedy fools in the Civilian Council and the various Jutsu's that Minato had collected and created over the years would then fall into the hands of people like Danzo. Hence I don't need to tell you, how much harm Danzo could do with something like the **Hiraishin no Jutsu** in his hands", said Sarutobi.

Tsunade just frowned after hearing what Sarutobi had said and as much as she hated it he did have a point.

After a few minutes of carefully thinking Tsunade spoke "I won't make any promises about letting Naruto becoming a Shinobi for Konoha sensei but I will think about it, and in the very least we will return just to collect Naruto inheritance and keep it out the hands of the Civilian Council and Danzo".

"That all I ask Tsunade", said the Sandaime with a smile.

"I think I will head out as well sensei, since I think it best that I go out and travel and reconnect with my spy network. So that I can keep an hear open for any organisations and other forces that may one day come after Naruto due to him being either the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi or as Hime and Minato son", spoke Jiraiya

"Very well I wish you both luck" replied the Sandaime

"Don't worry Sensei we keep you posted on how we are doing" said Tsunade to which the Sandaime just nodded

Three hours later when the night had fully settle in Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Naruto (who was being carried by his mother) snuck out of the village without anyone seeing them leave.

As they left the Sandaime Hokage was looking out the window of his office and at the Star filled night sky. "_I look forward to when you return Naruto, for I have no doubt we be seeing greats things coming from you just like your mother, your father and your ancestors" _thought Sarutobi with a slight smile as he then turned at look at the pictures of his predecessors the Shodaime and the Nidaime and his successor the Yondaime all of them being blood related to Naruto.

After of few minutes of just looking at them Sarutobi decided to head home and go to bed his and get some sleep.

N/A

Well now that another chapter complete in the next few chapters it will be about Naruto growing up with Tsunade and Shizune and Jiraiya whenever he pops in and it be a couple of chapters before Naruto goes to Konoha.

Also before anyone starts stating in your reviews saying not to do a chapter for every year I won't I will be only doing only a couple of chapters on certain years like when he one or two then in the next chapter will skip to when he five or six and another when he eight or ten I haven't fully decided on what to do yet but Naruto will go to Konoha when he twelve.

Please read and review since I like to know what you all think of the story so far and if you have any suggestions about the story that might improve it or make it more interesting please say them since I open to any and all suggestion and will reply to you on my opinion on them since I always reply to my reviewers.

Also please note that Flames are unwelcome and will be ignored since if you don't like my story then stop reading it since I force no-one to read any of my stories.

Next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it up.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Four: Breastfeed.**

**This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

"Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah," babbled baby Naruto as he finished eating his mashed banana with his fingers and got about half of it around his face and on his bib.

"Good-boy Naru-chan, you ate all you bananas. Although you got at least half it on your face and clothes you little devil you," cooed Tsunade as she went to pick up Naruto out of his high chair and smiled at him.

"Ma, ma, ma, ma, ma," babbled Naruto as he saw his mother coming to pick him up to which he giggled as she lifted him out of his chair.

"You're a messy little boy aren't you aren't Naru-chan," Tsunade continued to coo as she looked down at her messy son who just giggled more, then put one of his fingers in his mouth to make himself look innocent and more adorable.

She just shook her head a smiled slightly, "You're just like your father, a real charmer when you want to be." Naruto laughed and clapped his small hands together as if agreeing with her.

"Shizune! I'm going into the next room to change Naru-chan out of his messy clothes; will you please clean his high chair up and put it away while I'm doing that?" Tsunade called as she went to the next room.

"Certainly Tsunade-sensei," Shizune answered from the kitchen.

As Tsunade was changing Naruto out of his dirty clothes, she thought about when she left Konoha and when Naruto was born.

During that time not much had happened since Tsunade made sure to keep a low a profile. This past year she had traveled mainly around Fire Country and the other smaller nations with baby Naruto and Shizune. They would stay in small villages, towns, or cities for a few months before they would move off again not wanting to attract unwanted attention.

When they traveled or was not in the privacy of her current home, she would put a special henge over herself and Shizune to change their appearance to everyone but Naruto so that he would not get scared or confused when he did not recognize them. This was to make sure that if someone was looking for them, they would be unable to know where to start looking.

As they traveled to different places she would offer her services as a healer to people with different illness or injuries. Though she did not need the money since the money Minato had set up for Sarutobi to send them through her Slug summons was enough to allow them to live simple but comfortable lives. Tsunade did it because it made her happy and gave her something to do when not caring or playing with Naruto.

Also during the year, Naruto was growing up to be a very active child. He loved to play around in his play pen with his different toys and when he started crawling about three months ago he could hardly stay in the same place for too long. He would also grab anything he could get his hands on and that he could put in his mouth. On more than one occasion, Tsunade and Shizune had just barely stop Naruto from swallowing or choking a coin, a marble, and other small objects.

He also had a knack for getting into trouble. On several occasions Naruto somehow climbed up onto a chair, table, or even a shelf whenever he saw something he wanted on them. This resulted in him nearly falling off and getting hurt each time but thankfully Tsunade or Shizune where able to catch him and keep him from getting hurt. Though Tsunade nearly had a heart attack each and every time it happened. It was after the second one of those incidents that both Shizune and she decided that one of them would always have Naruto within eyesight for their own peace of mind.

After Tsunade finished changing Naruto, she lifted him up in her arms and cooed "Now that you're nice and clean again, you're a handsome boy. Aren't you my little Naru-chan?" Naruto just replied by squealing in delight and clapping his hand again.

Tsunade then went out to the main room where Shizune was just finishing putting away Naruto's high chair. She then went to sit down on a chair and began to loosen up her robes and lowered the strap to her bra to expose her left breast. She then brought Naruto up to it so that he could start feeding. After which Shizune then went to another chair opposite Tsunade and began to read a new medical book she had recently bought.

It was just about five minutes after Tsunade began that someone suddenly came through the open window that was next to her. With Tsunade so engrossed with feeding Naruto and Shizune in her book, both of them failed to notice the "intruder". When the "intruder" saw Tsunade's current manifestation and what she was doing he suddenly let out a large cry.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

After which the "intruder" was sent across the room by a massive nosebleed and hit the wall hard knocking the "intruder" out.

When the two women heard the cry and the thud of the "intruder" hitting the wall, they both immediately sprung into action. Tsunade went into a protective stance covering Naruto who was crying after being interrupted from his feeding time, while Shizune went into an offensive stance wither her senbon needles out and ready.

When the two women looked over at the unconscious "intruder", Tsunade growled under her breath angrily and began muttering curses upon seeing whom their guest was. Said "intruder" was twitching a little with blood coming from his nose and a very perverted smile on his face and drool coming from his mouth.

"Of all of people and of all times," Tsunade said sourly as her right eye twitched several times, "HE had to show up unannounced!"

"Jiraiya-sama," Shizune said a bit worriedly as she went over to the now unconscious Toad Hermit.

"Shizune, leave him until I at least finish feeding Naru-chan. The last thing I need is that perverted Toad watching me as I'm feeding the baby," Tsunade angrily said as she tried to calm down the still crying Naruto.

Shizune just nodded in acknowledgment and went into the kitchen to get a few things to treat the Toad Hermit while her sensei finished.

- (Twenty Minutes Later) -

After Jiraiya had regained consciousness and his composure, long after Tsunade had fully fixed her robes, Tsunade tried to force Jiraiya to clean up the mess he made but Shizune volunteered to do herself, saying that she didn't want to risk Naruto catching anything from him.

Tsunade was sitting at a table with Naruto being cradled in her arms and Jiraiya was across from them. He was smiling as he looked at them since the memory of Tsunade breastfeeding Naruto was still fresh on his mind.

"Why are you here anyway Jiraiya?" Tsunade inquired with a slight frown. She was still a bit annoyed with him for arriving unannounced in the way he did.

"Can't a man come every now and then to visit his godson?" asked the smiling sage.

"Not in the way you do," Tsunade deadpanned.

"Ah! Hime, don't say that you make me feel unwanted. Besides if I had announced my arrival then I wouldn't have been treated with the heavenly sight that I saw not long ago," Jiraiya replied grinning like no tomorrow.

"The boy's living a _genuine_ privilege that is not given to _just_ anyone. I envy his good fortune."

Tsunade frowned and snarled at Jiraiya not missing the perverted meanings behind his statements while Shizune looked at the older man in disgust.

"If I wasn't holding Naru-chan right now you would be half way flying to Suna right now" Tsunade said through narrowed eyes.

Jiraiya just chuckled nervously and decided to change the subject as to why he was really here.

"Alright hime, all joking aside, your right there is a reason why I'm here," Jiraiya spoke, all humor leaving his face.

Immediately Shizune and Tsunade straightened up and began to listen intently to what Jiraiya had to say.

"As you both know, I left the village to reconnect with my spy network to keep an ear open for any news about anything that may concern you or the gaki here," Jiraiya said while motioning to Naruto. Both of them nodded since they knew this, although Tsunade did frown at Naruto being call a gaki but decided to let it slide for now at.

"Currently the other villages are watching Konoha closely to see how badly the military strength was hit during the Kyuubi attack and the loss of Minato. Thankfully sensei's been able to keep the other villages in the dark about how badly Konoha was hurt, so as far as the other villages are concerned Konoha is still strong. Plus, Konoha's alliance with Suna is also another thing to make the other villages hesitant to try anything. So I don't believe that they'll try to attack the village," Jiraiya informed to which Tsunade just nodded for him to continue.

"Also, no one knows about you having Naruto, so I don't think you have to worry about anyone coming after him anytime soon. But you should still lay low like you've been doing since we don't want any trouble, especially at this point and time," to which Tsunade was in complete agreement.

"Another thing I learned just last month, some new group is coming out. They're keeping below the radar so to not attract attention and are highly secretive. From what my informants tell me they'll be big trouble in a couple of years."

"What do you mean by that," asked Tsunade.

"The group is currently made up of six missing-nin and not you're run of the mill missing-nin. These guys are all S Class missing-nin," replied Jiraiya.

This shocked both the women present. S Class missing-nin was the highest types of Ninja's there were, except for few others who was credited with being given a double S Class rank; those being Tsunade's Grandfather Senju Hashirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hashirama's arch rival and nemesis Uchiha Madara, and Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato.

It made Tsunade especially worried since shinobi of that caliber rarely ever try to work together since they usually end up fighting or killing one another. The only way for any of them to willing work together would be if they were being lead by someone stronger than any of them. Tsunade was worried because anyone that was able to get five other S Class missing-nin working together would have to be incredibly powerful.

"Do you know who the members are?" Tsunade asked.

"I known one member but that's it. The rest I don't since like I said, the group is highly secretive," responded Jiraiya.

"Who is the member that you know of?"

"Our old teammate, Orochimaru."

Tsunade frowned upon hearing this. Although she was not there when Orochimaru treasonous acts were revealed by Sarutobi, she had heard about them not long after. Although she had severed her ties with Konoha, his betrayal still hurt her, he was still her friend at one point.

"I'm surprised he would be willing to work with others again considering he usually prefers to work alone," spoke Tsunade.

"My guess is it was a matter of convenience. They most likely protected him and helped him elude the Oinin and us. But knowing Orochimaru he'll most likely betray them like he did us when it suits him best" Tsunade just nodded her head in agreement.

"So what exactly do they call themselves? Surely their group goes by some kind of name and what exactly do they want since S Class missing-nins wouldn't really work together without some kind of reason?" Shizune asked.

"They call themselves the Akatsuki and you can recognize them by what they wear. They all dress in the similar outfit, each member wears dark cloaks with red clouds with a red interior, a chin-high collar, and wear a conical straw hat with small spike-like balls hanging down to cover their faces. As for their plans, I don't really know for certain but from what my sources tell me they're going after Jinchūriki. To be more precise, they're after the bijū's inside the Jinchūriki," Jiraiya answered, shocking both women and causing Tsunade to hold onto Naruto tightly.

"A-a-are y-you certain Jiraiya?" asked a worried Tsunade to which the sage just nodded.

"My advice Tsunade is that if you ever see anyone who matches the Akatsuki description, get out and run as far away as you can. Although you could possibly take on and beat one of them but these guys travel in pairs. When you see one, the other is not far behind and not even you could take on two S Class Nin by yourself and protect Shizune and Naruto simultaneously."

Tsunade could not help but reluctantly agree with what Jiraiya had said.

"Do you know what they want the bijū's for?"

"No I don't but what ever it is I bet it not good but despite this there is some good news, since they have no idea about who the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi is. Sensei's keeping a tight lip on it all. They know for sure that the Kyuubi is sealed into a child but they don't known which one and not counting Sensei we're the only ones that know that Naruto is Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi. As long as that is kept a secret, they shouldn't come after him."

This of course gave Tsunade some relief but the nagging fear in the pit of her stomach was still there.

"Also from what I have gathered they won't make any real move against any of the other Jinchūriki for a while since they are still trying to recruit more members for their group and funds for financing the operations what ever they are. It'd be a few years before they make any real move against anyone and it means we still have time to prepare Naruto," which got a look from Tsunade that said he better not be talking about what she thought he was thinking of

"Now Tsunade don't give me that look, I know you don't want to hear this but you have to since it for Naruto's good as well as everyone else's. The Akatsuki members are no amateurs. They will eventually figure or find out that Naruto is the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi and when they do they will come after him. So when Naruto is old enough we will have to train Naruto to be a Shinobi." At this point Tsunade was about to interrupt, telling him no but before she could Jiraiya cut her off and continued,

"Tsunade, like sensei said, Naruto has the blood of some of the strongest shinobi to ever exist running through his veins with you being among them as well. I doubt you could stop him from becoming one and the stronger he becomes the better his and our chances are against the Akatsuki when they do finally come. Also Naruto will have to learn sooner or later that because of whom he is who he related to and what he is, he will always have to watch his back. There will always be those who will want to either use or destroy him because of what he may one day become," said Jiraiya with finality.

After Jiraiya finished speaking, Tsunade remained quiet and just looked down at her son who had finally stopped squirming and was falling asleep in her arms. As she did she found herself silently cursing Minato for the one thousandth time for turning her son into a Jinchūriki. After several minutes of just looking down at her sleeping son, Tsunade finally looked back up at Jiraiya. When she did Jiraiya saw a look of determination in her eyes that he had not see in many years

"If that's the case, then so be it. When he is old enough, we will both train him. If any of these Akatsuki bastard try and take my son from me they will have to go through me first and they will find out first hand why I am a Sannin" said Tsunade with a fire of determination in her eyes.

Jiraiya saw this and just smiled and nodded. He could see that the love she had for Naruto and her maternal instincts to protect her child had reignited Tsunade fighting spirit, one that he thought had long been extinguished.

Shizune herself also made a silent vow as well to help with Naruto's training. Although she was not as strong or knowledgeable as either Jiraiya or Tsunade, she would help to protect her godson in what ever way she could.

- (That Night) -

Tsunade was sleeping peacefully in her room. All was serene until Naruto started crying in his crib. Tsunade woke up to this and got up off her futon.

Going over to Naruto, Tsunade picked him up and held him, resting his head on her shoulders while gently rocking him in her arms. Naruto soon calmed down and quieted much to Tsunade's delight.

After another minute, Tsunade said thoughtfully, "I bet your hungry my little Naru-chan."

Tsunade sat down on her futon with Naruto and prepared to breastfeed him.

Just as she was about to open her night kimono, the door to her room opened, revealing Shizune cradling something in her arms.

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sensei," Shizune said,

"I came in earlier to change Naruto's diaper when you where sleeping and I was just bringing him back now. I didn't want to wake you."

Tsunade then saw that Shizune was cradling a fully awake Naruto in her arms. When the Slug Sannin saw that she knew that something was definitely wrong with this scene.

"Wait a minute," Tsunade exclaimed.

"If that's Naruto, then who am I-"

Looking down at her arms, Tsunade saw that she was cradling a wooden log in her arms.

While cradling the log, she turned and saw 'Naruto' quietly attempting to crawl and sneak away from her towards the opened window.

As 'Naruto' was making his way towards the window, he then felt an extreme bloodlust approaching and coming from behind him as well as the sickening cracking of knuckles that became infamous whenever Tsunade was about to dish out pain a lot of pain.

As he fearfully and slowly turned his head, he thought of one word that he thought might have saved him with puppy dog-eyes and the sucking of his right thumb, "Mama…"

Sadly it did not work and Tsunade sent him soaring out the open window where she quickly followed after him.

The same small figure came crashing hard into the ground, forming a crater in it. The figure transformed back into his real self and was in much pain. He felt several of his bones break and was sore all over.

"…Oooooooww…," Jiraiya mourned.

"…So close…Damn that Shizune! I was just a few seconds away from Paradise…and I was really looking forward to having some of that good stuff she treats Naruto to…"

But before Jiraiya could finish what he was saying he suddenly felt a dark shadow hovering over him as well as a familiar bloodlust and killer intent on him again. He slowly and fearfully turned around and was again faced with Tsunade who had a sadistically sweet smile on her face again.

"You didn't think you get off that easy did you?" Tsunade asked rhetorically as she hovered over him.

As she came closer to him, Jiraiya could only whisper one word,

"Mercy."

But sadly for the Toad Hermit there would be none

For about ten minutes, terrifying screams of pain and abject misery could be heard by all who were still awake.

- (Several miles away) -

A young couple who were quietly looking up at the full moon and a bright star in the night when suddenly the women pointed up at a small object was soaring through the air.

"Look, it's a shooting star lets make a wish."

"I don't think that a shooting star, sweetheart," said the man

"Then what is it," asked the women

"I don't know?" he replied when suddenly a loud ear splitting cry.

"YA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!"

- (Several miles further away) -

The "shooting star" then came crashing hard into the ground, forming yet another crater.

The shooting star was in fact Jiraiya who slowly crawled out of the crater before checking himself for whatever additional damages that was done to him by Tsunade's beating and as a result from the impact to the ground.

In any case, he was in for a long crawl back to Tsunade house and a whole world of pain.

- (Meanwhile back where Jiraiya first landed) -

A very pissed off Tsunade was standing out side the first crater Jiraiya landed in and looking up at the night sky.

"Dam perverted excuse for a life form," Tsunade stated.

"I just might kill him if he pulls that stunt again."

After which she then went back to the house to kiss her son goodnight before going to bed again.

- (One month later) -

A month after Jiraiya came to give to his news on the Akatsuki and his failed attempt to be breastfed by Tsunade, things settled down again. The house even had one new occupant, said occupant being Jiraiya. He had decided to stay for a little while to spend some time with his godson and get to know him a little. In which case, he acted as part time babysitter whenever Tsunade and Shizune were out helping to treat the villagers.

Both women agreed to allow Jiraiya to baby-sit on the condition that he not try and corrupt Naruto into becoming a pervert like him under the threat of castration and disembowelment with dull kunai and bare hands.

It was after a long day from healing a large number of people who had traveled from the outer parts of the village to get Tsunade to treat their various ailments that when she and Shizune came back to the house to find Jiraiya watching Naruto. The baby was playing with three small summon toads that Jiraiya had summoned for Naruto to play with which Naruto loved doing since he would waddle after the toads as they hop around the room with him trying to catch them.

When Naruto saw his mother and Shizune he squealed happy and waddle over to him mother to hug her and as he went over to her he said "Mama" which surprised them since they did not expect Naruto to be speak this way for few a more months. Since he had shown no real signs of trying to speak other than babbling

Tsunade then picked up Naruto and asked

"What did you say Naru-chan?"

"Mama" repeated the blond baby.

This caused her to hug and cry in joy for her son at speaking his first real word.

"What a smart boy you are Naru-chan you only started walking a few weeks ago and now you're starting to talk."

"Naruto can you say Hakubo (Aunty)? Can you?" asked Shizune as she gained Naruto attention.

"Nee-chan, nee-chan," Naruto said.

"I doubt you'd get any better than that Shizune," Tsunade chuckled.

"Oh well I guess being his Nee-chan isn't so bad," replied Shizune as she grabbed little Naruto nose and wiggle it a little which made him laugh

"Hey Naruto do you known who I' am? Do you?" asked an excited Jiraiya when he came up to Naruto to find out what he'd call him.

"Pervert, pervert." replied Naruto as he pointed at Jiraiya causing the sage to face fault and Shizune to giggle loudly while Tsunade smiled and laughed even harder.

"That's my little boy, such a smart boy just like his Kaa-chan," laughed Tsunade as she turned around to go into the kitchen with Naruto.

"I resent that remark, I'm not a pervert," cried Jiraiya as he stood up.

"Then what are you?" asked Tsunade turning around slightly "I'm a super pervert" grinned Jiraiya after which an annoyed Tsunade elbowed him in the face and sent him flying to the other end of the room, resulting in him hitting the wall.

"Dam pervert" muttered Tsunade was she went to the kitchen with Naruto and Shizune following closely behind.

- (One Month later) -

Currently Jiraiya was in Tsunade's house watching over Naruto again. Tsunade and Shizune had gone out to a small farm several miles out of the village to help the daughter of the farmer who was severely ill and in need of treatment.

As he was watching Naruto he was also trying to come up with new ideas for his latest book but unfortunately he was having a severe case of writers block. After a while he decided to take a walk around the village since he thought that the fresh air and exercise would do him good and reenergize his writer's imagination.

As he walked around the streets of the town carrying Naruto, many young girls and women came over to him when they saw him carrying him. They started to surround them, commenting on how cute he was and adorable his whisker marks made him.

Soon enough Jiraiya quickly realized that Naruto was a babe magnet and began cursing himself for not thinking of the sooner.

After the women that had surrounded him and Naruto left, Jiraiya quickly ran to the village hot springs entrance where he knew that most women came out at this time to go home for the night and quickly put his plan into action.

When Jiraiya saw a group of women coming out of the hot springs he quickly acted as though he was about to enter himself.

Jiraiya began to hum when the women ran toward him commenting on how cute Naruto was.

"Yes ladies, he is very cute isn't he?" queried Jiraiya.

"Is he yours?" asked a random woman.

"Why no he isn't, he's actually my godson."

The women then began to swoon over Naruto commenting how adorable he was with is whisker marks or how beautiful his eyes were and asking more questions about him to Jiraiya who was far to busy looking at their breasts to answer any of their questions.

As all this was happening Naruto grew more and more confused as to why all these strange ladies where surrounding him. Unfortunately, the confused look that appeared on his face made him all the more adorable to the women who began to pinch his cheeks and ruffle his spiky hair

Jiraiya smiled as he continued to ogle the swooning and silently thanked Kami for his godson's cuteness. Things seemed as though they were only going to get better when Naruto tried to grab onto the women finger with his small little hand which earned him even more attention from the women.

"Oh he's trying to grab my finger, he's so adorable isn't he." said a brunette woman.

Naruto who was still a little confused at where he was but when he looked up to see his godfather smiling back at him. He immediately giggled and decided to enjoy all the attention and began to bounce up and down in his godfather's arms which only made the women attract to him even more.

Jiraiya couldn't believe that Naruto could get him this much action and made a mental note to hint to Tsunade that he could watch him whenever she needed him to.

Jiraiya began to think about how he could milk this even further when he suddenly remembered the time when Naruto wouldn't stop crying when he first baby sat for Tsunade and he summoned a toad which he almost squeezed into oblivion.

Jiraiya smirked and patted himself on the back for his brilliant thinking and then quickly summoned a small toad and ordered the toad to hop into Naruto's view.

While Naruto was hoping up and down in Jiraiya's grasp, the toad jumpped onto Jiraiya's shoulder. Naruto immediately stopped bouncing when he saw the toad and began to reach for it.

The women awed at Naruto's actions and became even more infatuated with the young boy when he was able to get a hold the toad and begin hugging it for dear life.

Unfortunately as Jiraiya was busy trying to make his move on the young village women, Tsunade and Shizune were entering the village after finishing with helping to treat the daughter of the farmer.

They then decided to head for the hot spring to relax a little before returning home since they believed that they deserved a little down time after helping the young girl.

When they were nearing the hot spring entrance they saw a large group of women surrounding a tall white haired man with a small blond haired boy in his arms who was squeezing a poor toad to near death. Tsunade quickly realized that the blond boy was her son and the tall white haired man was Jiraiya. She then quickly realized that Jiraiya must have been using her son to attract women, when she realized this one thing was on her mind.

"_Kill Jiraiya…slow… and painfully…._"

As Jiraiya was about to make a move on the women, he suddenly felt a sense of dread wash over him and realized that his teammate must be somewhere near by.

Jiraiya's fears were confirmed when he turned around and saw Tsunade stomping right towards him with a very angry Shizune right behind her. She too knew what Jiraiya was doing with her Nephew/Little Brother/Godson and for once she would not try and calm Tsunade down, she would actually help her "Kill" Jiraiya.

"Hi Saaya (1) what's up?" asked a very nervous Jiraiya.

"Oh not much, I was just coming back from helping that young farm girl who got ill and decided to come her to relax a little and then I saw you and Naru-chan here. I was just wondering why you were here when I thought you be at home," said Tsunade all too sweetly for Jiraiya taste.

"Oh….well you see…..eh…I just wanted to spend some time with him…. and ….eh!…..as you can see he is very happy," spoke Jiraiya nervously as he tried to come up with a good excuse so to avoid being beaten to a pulp by Tsunade and probably Shizune as well.

When Tsunade looked at Naruto, he was indeed happily squeezing a poor toad to death.

"Well Jiraiya tell your friend's goodbye because we need to get Naruto back home before it gets too late since it's nearly his bed time," said Tsunade with a look in her eyes that promised pain when they got back.

Jiraiya informed the women that he and Naruto had to go and all the women sighed though knowing that the boy's mother wanted him home. So they reluctantly said goodbye to the pair.

"So Saaya lets get going," said Jiraiya

"Oh I agree whole heartedly," said Tsunade who took Naruto away from Jiraiya who began to walk away.

"And just where are you going Jiraiya?" said Shizune who was twirling her Senbon needles which made Jiraiya very nervous.

"Back to the house like you said."

"Oh! We have a much quicker why for us to get there," said Tsunade.

Tsunade and Shizune each then placed their hand on Jiraiya's shoulders and the four of them were **shunshin'd** back home.

"Well Tsunade I should get going, you can put Naruto to bed and I'll go myself since I better get back on the road again," Jiraiya quickly said and tried to get away but Tsunade grabbed him by the collar and forced him to the ground.

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and then told Shizune to put Naruto to bed while she had a "_talk"_ with the terrified Toad Sage.

Shizune left the room with Naruto who was cuddling the toad while Jiraiya pleaded with Tsunade.

"Shizune, before you put Naruto to bed see if he might be hungry," said Tsunade as she began to crack her knuckles

"I will Sensei but please save a piece of him for me, please," Shizune replied as she went to the next room.

"I'll try but no promises."

"Hime, I'm sorry I just wanted to take Naruto to meet some new people, that's all I swear," pleaded Jiraiya on bended knees.

"I see. Jiraiya I would like you to meet someone that you are very familiar with."

"Who?"

"The end of my fist."

After which for the next hour screams of pain from a certain super pervert could be heard for several miles around.

N/A

(1). The Name Tsunade goes by while she stays in the village since she dose not want to attract attention by using her real name

Well now that another chapter for the Hope of the Senju Clan done hope you enjoyed it the next chapter will be when Naruto is five or six and I will show some of the abilities he will have

Please read and review since I like to know what you all think of the story so far and if you have any suggestions about the story that might improve it or make it more interesting please say them since I'm open to any and all suggestion and will reply to you on my opinion on them since I always reply to my reviewers Also please note that Flames are unwelcome and will be ignored since if you don't like my story then stop reading it since I force no-one to read any of my stories One last thing for any fans that like my Raikage story please note that the next chapter will be up on Sunday and will be action back with plenty of interaction between characters

Next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it up


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Five: Hidden Surprise's.**

**This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/ Reading"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Summon Talking"**_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

Currently sitting down on the porch of her new temporary home was Tsuande drinking a small plate of sake.

As he looked out to the trees near to her, she saw her son five year old son Naruto, whom she had been watching for the past four hours running up and down the tree he had been climbing by channelling his Chakra from his feet.

Tsuande could not help but smirk at all the energy that her son had, most kids his age wouldn't have enough Chakra to go up even a quarter ways up the tree, let alone be able to channel their small Chakra reserves to their feet and even try to walk up the tree.

They had began Naruto training when he was four and slowly increased the training little by little. At first they only had him running, but soon after they started him to teach him to read and how to channel Chakra, do different exercises and wear weights.

It had been a trouble getting him to settle down enough so to teach him to read, since like when he was a baby Naruto was still a very active child who did not like to stay still long. But eventually they were able to get his interest into reading by having plenty of pictures with animals on it since he enjoyed animals. Over time Naruto gained an interest in reading especially if the books had pictures in it.

Also when they started to train Naruto in his Chakra training they learned that the best way to teach him was to visually show and explained it to him, so to keep his attention since he could be easily board.

But even still when Naruto started to train to control and use his Chakra they learned two things. The first was that he had very high Chakra reserves for a boy his age.

Currently Naruto's Chakra level was that of a young Genin and although that dose not seems very high, the fact that a four year old boy had that level was astounding. When Tsunade asked Jiraiya about this he said it was not unexpected for Jinchūriki's to have high Chakra levels. Due to them having a demon spirit inside them where their bodies would adapted to handle the strain by having their Chakra coils thicken and reserves become larger, so they can handle the excel Chakra that would come from their Bijū's after being diluted by their seals.

The second thing they learned was that Naruto had inherited her natural flawless Chakra control. They learned this when Naruto was given his first Chakra control exercise and to keep a leaf stuck on his head in which he got it on the first go after it was explained to him. It was proven even further when he was able to channel his Chakra to his feet and walk up on a tree with just his feet.

This was surprise since in most cases whenever someone had large Chakra reserves their control was not very good. While when someone had excellent Chakra control they had small reserves, but Naruto had both without either of the negative affects.

When Tsunade and Jiraiya and learned this it pushed away any remaining doubt about Naruto being a highly skilled Ninja one day.

The reason why Naruto was doing the exercise now was to help increase his stamina (not that it needed much improving since Naruto proved to be a stamina monster), and in the increase of his Chakra reserves while at the same time keeping his control high as well.

"Ok Naru-chan that enough for today, why don't you take a break for today since you don't want to overexert yourself by training too much". said Tsunade as she saw her son was getting tired

"But Ka-chan….pant!...... I can…….. pant!.........still……pant!.......keep going……pant". said the clearly tired by

Tsunade just smiled at her little boy trying to act tough "I know that Naru-chan but why don't you and me go into town and have an ice-pop since it such a warm day and as a reward for working so hard".

At this little Naruto smiled and jumped up and yelled happily at having a treat after which he and his mother went down town.

Not long after Naruto and Tsunade where walking through town each licking an ice-pop. Tsunade had her special Genjutsu on where everyone in town saw her as a medium sized raven haired woman with blue eyes, while Naruto just saw her as she usually was.

As they walked by Tsunade saw an open Casino and decided to have a look around, where she and Naruto went in.

Although Tsunade had swore not to gamble away their money like she use to before she had Naruto she did do a small bit of gambling by doing the slots and only spending a small amount.

As they walked around the slot area Tsunade saw a quarter on the ground and picked it up. She then decided that one go at the slots wouldn't hurt, just when she was about to put in the coin Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"Ka-chan what are you doing?"

"I'm just playing a game that grown up's play for fun" replied Tsunade since it was kind of true.

"Can I play?" asked Naruto who was still licking his ice-pop.

At first Tsunade would have said no since Shizune would most likely lecture her about giving Naruto her bad gambling habits, but she decided that one go at the slots would not make her Naru-chan at addict.

"Ok Naru-chan you can have one go ok". said Tsunade to which the young boy just nodded

She then showed him where to put the coin and then held him up so he could pull the lever.

The reels in the machine started to spin for a few seconds before they started to slow down where the first one stayed on the gold coin image, the second stayed on another gold coin and was followed by a third gold coin. After which the slot machine started to light up the bells in the machine started ringing as well, where coins then started to fall out the machine.

"Naru-chan you won" cried a shocked Tsunade

"I did? Yea!" said the boy happily "Can I do it again?" he asked

"WWWeeeeelllllllll……..Why not it couldn't hurt" said Tsunade thinking Naruto might as well as used his lucky streak while he had it.

For the next hour Naruto kept playing the slots and every time he won. It was unbelievable Tsunade had never heard at anyone being so lucky at gambling before in her life

"_Figures, while I get all the bad luck when it comes to gambling but my kid has all the luck in the world and is natural gambler. This must be kami bitch slapping me again like this". _though Tsuande annoyed

It was as she was thinking this that Tsunade quickly decided to try something else to see how lucky her son really was.

"Hey Naru-chan how about we go try another game?" said Tsunade

"Okay"

After which Tsuande quickly brought all the buckets that she had gotten to carry the coins Naruto won and ground them to be exchange for chips. After then she then brought Naruto and the chips to the crap table where she simplified the rules, where all he had to do was throw the dice and try and keep getting good numbers like seven with the dice.

After Tsunade had placed Naruto bets for him he began to throw the dice like he was told and like with the slots Naruto kept getting the numbers he needed and was cleaning house at the crap table.

"My little Naru-chan a gambling genius!" cried Tsunade happily has she hugged he son tightly when she was seeing how much money her son was winning.

Naruto just struggled to breathed has his mother smothered him in between her to large mounds (much to the envy of the men who were watching Naruto play).

After the dealer at the crap table had told them that they could no longer play there Tsunade decided to take their winnings (a stagger 20 million ryo in chips) and went to the roulette table and put Naruto gambling luck to the true test.

"Ok Naru-chan this is simple all you have to do is tell Ka-chan what number to pick and money we put the money on it ok. Remember what Ka-chan said earlier it all or noting" said Tsuande to which Naruto in understanding.

Tsunade the place the boxes full of chips on the table and just when she was about to ask Naruto what number a familiar voice shouted out which make her cringe

"SENSEI!"

Several Minutes Earlier

Shizune was travel through the streets with her shopping with TonTon and was on her way home when she suddenly saw a large group of people in the local casino.

As she walked by she her some people mutter about some women and her kid were cleaning up in the casino.

Deciding to have a look she went in, and when she did she saw the women was none other Tsunade with Naruto betting at the roulette, at which point she cried out angrily to her sensei.

"HHHeeeeeeyyyyyy………Shizune how it's going" spoke Tsunade like a kid who had its hand caught in the cookie jar

"I was fine until I came in her to see what all the fuss was about and found my sensei using her son for gambling" spoke Shizune angrily

"Oink !" cried TonTon angrily at her mistress

"Hey, Hey ,Hey now Shizune calm down it not like that you see, after Naruto's training I decided to treat him to an ice-pop and when we saw the casino I came to have a look and I found a quarter on the floor. After that I was just going to have one go when Naru-chan said he wanted to and I let him, thinking it wouldn't do any harm. When he did play he kept wining and wining at the slots and then at the crap table, he a gambling genius and has more luck than a four leaf clover". said Tsuande trying to explain herself

"I don't what your reasons are you had no-" said Shizune angrily before she was interrupted by Tsuande

"But he won over 20 million ryo already"

"I don't care if he won-" said Shizune before she stop and spoke again "t-t-twenty m-m-million r-ryo" to which Tsunade just nodded

Shizune was close to fainted when she heard this, but before she could the man a the roulette table spoke

"All bets are closed, one straight-up bet"

At which the two women turned to see that Naruto had made a bet by himself

"Naru-chan what did you do?" cried Tsunade

"I did what you said Ka-chan, I went all or noting and beat all the money on number two red" replied Naruto happily which caused his mother to cry in frustration and making her cruse herself for her poorly chosen words

As the roulette began to slow down the two women were biting their nails out of pure nervousness while Naruto just looked on happily not truly understand what he had just done. As the ball began to slow down further and was hoping along the other slots.

"I can't watch" cried Shizune as she closed her eyes as her nerves couldn't take the suspense, and was quickly joined by Tsunade as she too closed her eyes, along with TonTon who was lying down and using her hooves to cover her eyes.

As Tsunade did she just saw the ball hoping into 00 black and thinking that they lost Tsunade was ready to hear the man say the house won.

But instead of that the man said "Two red player wins and has broken the bank"

At this Tsunade popped open her eyes and saw that the ball had indeed landed on two red and it must have hopped out of 00 black rights when she closed her eyes and hopped into two red.

Tsunade quickly raced over to her son and started to smother him in between her giant mounds again (much to the envy of the male population again) and cry at how happy she was and proud of her little gambling genius son.

Shizune on the other hand just fainted since when she heard that Naruto one she quickly calculated that on the odds of 36 to 1. Multiplying that to the twenty million that Naruto had won and bet in a single straight-up bet, which added up to Naruto wining over 720 million ryo.

After they had got all the winning they cashed out and sealed all the money into a scroll and quickly left. If they had stayed they would have seen the Casino owner crying since his Casino was ruined now.

When they got home Shizune berated Tsunade for taking Naruto and having him gamble for her, and told her that she was forbidden to take Naruto to a casino ever again (much to Tsunade annoyance. She also had the money that Naruto won sent to Sarutobi so he could put it in Namikaze account since the money was his since he won it all. Although Tsunade did cry at the lost of all the money and all the things she could buy with it.

Konoha The Next day

Currently sitting at his desk The Sandaime Hokage was reading Jiraiya newest book Icha Icha Violence since today was one of the few days that he had no paperwork.

As he was reading there was a sudden poof and when he looked away from his book he saw one of Tsuande Slug summons on his table with a scroll on its back.

"_**Greeting Hokage-sama I have a message from Shizune-san**_". spoke the small slug

"What you that message be then?"

"_**She would like you to put the money in this scroll into the Namikaze family account**_".

"If I may ask how much is in this scroll?" asked the old Kage as he took the scroll.

"_**720 million ryo**_". replied the slug summon plainly.

"Okay that 720 mi-" said Sarutobi as he was about to stand up when he suddenly realised what he heard and fell down on the ground with pure shock, he quickly stood up and look directly at the slug sum and shouted. "HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET 720 MILLION RYO".

"_**Young master Naruto won it all when Tsuande-sama took him to a local Casino**_". replied the Slug summon.

"She took a five year old boy to a Casino and he won over 720 million ryo by himself". replied Sarutobi in disbelief to which the summon only nodded.

"What they hell is she teaching that boy" sigh the old man who was now trying to think how he was going to explain this massive input of money to the bank manger let alone Seiwa Genji (The man who mange's the Namikaze accounts businesses).

After which the summon just left and the old Hokage got out of his seat to go to the bank and as he did he could not help but chuckle a little.

"_It seems that young Naruto has not inherited you bad luck at gambling Tsunade, in fact he has the direct opposite in terms of gambling and you. I look forward to what other surprise's young Naruto will have for us when he comes to Konoha" _though Sarutobi

One Month Later

Currently Tsunade was sitting in the living room reading a medical book in her new house (since they had to move out of the last town they were in, due to the fact that a five year old kid winning 720 million ryo kind of draws attention to you).

As Tsuande read the book she could not but sigh, since today was her birthday and the only one who remembered it was Shizune who got her this book. Although she was grateful for the book and that Shizune remembered her birthday, she was still a bit down since Shizune was the only one who remembered. Hence it would have been nice for someone else to remember and get her something like a nice bottle of sake, chocolates or flowers even.

Just as Tsuande was about to continue to read her book she suddenly heard a shout.

"Ka-chan, Ka-chan where are you" cried Naruto

"I'm in here Naru-chan what wrong" answered Tsunade

When Tsunade answered Naruto quickly ran across the corner to enter the living. When Tsuande saw Naruto she also saw him carrying a small Prunus Serrulata Bonsai tree in a small flower pot.

"Here Ka-chan, Happy Birthday" said Naruto holding the small Bonsai tree to his mother

At first when Tsunade saw the small tree she did not know what to say, but she soon got over her surprise and took the Bonsai tree from her son and looked at it. The small tree had smooth bark with pink and with cherry blossom flowers surrounding its small branches, all in all it was a very beautifully tree.

Tsunade then began to get teary eyed and quickly put down the Bonsai tree and then grabbed Naruto into a smothering hug, to which the poor boy could barely breath.

"Thank you Naru-chan this is the best gift I've ever gotten" said Tsunade as she hugged her son tightly, who despite being nearly crushed to death by his mother smiled and making his mother happy.

After a few minutes Tsunade let go of Naruto and put her Bonsai tree on the windowsill, after which she then turned to her son.

"Naru-chan who told you it was my birthday was today?" asked Tsunade since she knew Naruto could not of know it and someone must of told him and she had a guess who.

"Shizune-nee-chan told me last week". answered Naruto confirming what Tsunade guessed.

"And did she give you to the tree to me as a present" asked Tsunade since she suspected that this was Shizune way of cheering her up a bit, but to her surprise Naruto shook his head.

"No I got it myself". answered Naruto

"Then did she give you the money or it". she asked since with the small little bit of pocket money she gave Naruto a week, she knew he did not have enough money to buy it himself, but to her surprise Naruto shook his head again.

"No, I grew it" replied Naruto.

This of course confused Tsunade but then frowned.

"Naru-chan, now don't lie to me".

"But I'm not, I did grow it myself". said the boy

"Naru-chan, I know full well that you can't grow a tree like that in just one week". replied Tsunade frowning more since she did not like her son lying to her.

"But I did Ka-chan, I really did, I tried doing it all week by myself when I bought seeds for it from the flower lady with the pocket money I had, and I finally got it a little while ago". said the boy earnestly since he did not like being called a liar or having his mother angry at him.

"Then show me Naru-chan" said Tsunade as she folded her arms since she did not really believe him

Naruto then nodded and lead his mother outside, where he then took out a seed packet for the Bonsai tree from his pocket shorts. After which he then dug a small hole in the ground and put the seed into it after which he then covered it with the soil he had dug out when making the hole.

After which he then put both his hands over the spot he put the seed in and then started to channel his Chakra into the ground where the seed was.

What happen next made Tsunade go wide eyed and start gapping like a fish out of Water.

Since as Naruto was channelling his Chakra a small sapling appeared between Naruto hands and started to grow bigger and bigger until Naruto stopped. Where once he had and stepped away, Tsunade saw a small but fully grown and equally lovely Prunus Serrulata Bonsai tree standing next to him.

"N-N-Naru-chan……..h-h-how on earth……..d-d-did you d-do that" said the stunned Tsuande

"Shizune-nee-chan told me about how Great Grandfather Hashirama could grow big giant trees with just his Chakra. I tried that but I couldn't get it so I got bought some seeds and used my Chakra to make it grow bigger. It took me a few days but I was able to do it today and once I did I came to give you your gift". said Naruto as if it was noting and did not truly realise what he had done.

When Naruto finish explaining Tsunade just continued to gap

"_Mokuton! Naruto has the power to use Mokuton, but how? that ability was lost when Hashirama- ojiisan died and no-one in our Clan has ever been able to use ability since. So how is Naruto able to do it, dose it have something to do with the Kyuubi, I need to get Jiraiya here and now_" though Tsuande after which she quickly put on a happy face

"I see Naru-chan that a very nice trick you learn by yourself, why don't we go inside now and have a nice bowl of Ramen, ok".

"Yeah Ramen" cried Naruto Happy since he loved Ramen (Naruto wouldn't be Naruto without his love for Raman)

"Oh and Naru-chan, lets keep you little trick our little secret for now ok" said Tsunade

"Okay" said Naruto not really understanding after which he and his mother with inside

A Few Days Later

After a few days since the incident with Naruto using Mokuton, Tsunade was able to make contact with Jiraiya through her summons and told him that she needed to speak to him imminently. Soon after Jiraiya arrived in the town that they were staying in and came through the window right when Tsuande, Naruto and Shizune along with TonTon were finishing lunch.

When Jiraiya entered the room he was quickly covered in smoke, after which once it lifted they could se he was standing on a medium size toad.

"Listen up, you chicks! Open up your beady little eyes and take a good look! Behold the Divine Ninja Jira-" spoke Jiraiya as he was doing his introduction dance, but before he could finish Naruto spoke up

"Hi-ya Ero-sennin"

This cause Jiraiya to lose his balance and fall flat on his face on his face in front of them, this in turned caused everyone to burst out laughing at Jiraiya expense.

"I told you brat……..Stop calling me that!" whined Jiraiya at his wounded pride since his "cool" introduction dance was ruined by Naruto outburst.

"But why, both Ka-chan and Neee-chan say that you're a pervert and you said it yourself you are a pervert and you are a sennin, so that means your Ero-sennin". said Naruto

"He got you there pervert" chuckled Tsunade while Shizune giggle and TonTon "Oinked" in agreement

"I'm not a pervert………..I'm a super pervert" cried Jiraiya and he did a ridicules looking pose which caused everyone else to have a large sweat drop behind their heads

Jiraiya then decided to change the subject from him and to why Tsunade had wanted to speak to him so badly

"So hime what is so urgent that you needed to see me so quickly" asked Jiraiya

"Naru-chan can you show "Ero-sennin" your little trick" asked Tsunade who was smirking at Jiraiya indignant yell.

"Okay" replied Naruto as he, TonTon, Shizune, Tsunade and Jiraiya went outside, where Naruto then dug another hole in the ground next to the Prunus Serrulata Bonsai tree that he grew earlier for Tsunade.

After which he then repeated the same process as he did before when she showed it to his mother. When Shizune saw this she could not help but be surprise since although Tsunade had already told her of Naruto abilities, it was still surprising to see Naruto being able to use the same legendary ability as The Shodaime Hokage.

But as surprise as Shizune was Jiraiya was utterly flabbergasted since even though Naruto was The Shodaime Great Grandson, he never expected for Naruto to have the The Shodaime Mokuton abilities. Since it was long believed that despite it having all the characteristics of a bloodline it was never classified as one, since neither Tsuande, her brother nor their father or of The Shodaime other relatives had inherited it hence it was just believed to be a mutation.

"_This changes everything_" thought Jiraiya

"Naru-chan you go play with TonTon for a little while I talk to Jiraiya ok" said Tsunade as she smiled down at her son.

"Okay Ka-san, come on TonTon lets play tag and your it" said Naruto as he ran off.

TonTon just went "Oink and went off to play with Naruto.

When Naruto and TonTon had left Tsunade then turned to Jiraiya with a serious look on her face.

"You can see why I wanted to talk to you immediately" said Tsunade and turned to face Jiraiya, who had an equally serious face and just nodded on what Tsunade had said since he was in deep thought.

"Jiraiya! Is this an effect of the Kyuubi being inside Naruto" asked Tsunade

"No I don't believe so since although there has never been a Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi before. I'm still certain that isn't a side effect of Naruto having the Kyuubi inside of him since it doesn't match the abilities that the Kyuubi is known to have. Although Jinchūriki's are each given special abilities by their Bijū's, for example the Ichibi no Shukaku Jinchūriki's always have the ability to control and manipulate Sand. But in Naruto's case no, since the Kyuubi abilities have no connection to Nature or Mokuton but your Clan dose, hence I believe Naruto has just reawakened the Mokuton ability".

"But how is that possible? Mokuton is a mutation that only appeared in my Grandfather it isn't a bloodline" replied Tsunade

"Well it seems that we were wrong, since it the only answer as to why Naruto has it" spoke Jiraiya

"Then why is it that my Grandfather was the only person to be able to have it, why didn't my father, Nawaki, myself inherit it from him or any of the other members of my Clan have the ability to use Mokuton as well". asked Tsunade

"The only reason I can think of is something that I read awhile back when I was training in Myōbokuzan. During which I came across an ancient record written by a sage long back when the Great Shinobi Clans were only being founded. In the scroll it spoke how when the bloodlines were first showing up, it said that the bloodlines were unstable and many of the children of bloodline holders did not receive their parent's bloodline. It was not until a few generations more after the first bloodline holders of each bloodline did the bloodlines finally stabilise so that the other generations of the Clans would have them. This can explain how not everyone in a Clan with a bloodline can receive and use their Clans bloodline, since it may have not stabilise in certain people. The Uchiha Clan is a prime example of this since only a quarter of its members can use the Sharingan, since it was only the ancestors of that part of the Clan who bloodline finally stabilise enough for it to be passed down to them." spoke Jiraiya and continued

"My guess is that your Grandfather was the first person to be born with the Mokuton ability and like with the first bloodline users, the Mokuton bloodline was too unstable to be passed on to his descendants like your father, your brother and you Tsunade. But it seems that the Mokuton ability has finally stabilised with Naruto hence why he's the one to have it". finished Jiraiya

Tsunade just nodded since it made sense and as a medic she knew a lot about genetics, and how some genetic traits are not always inherited by everyone in a family or Clan especially if certain genes were unstable.

"I'm also afraid that now with Mokuton, Naruto is in even greater danger than he was before" spoke Jiraiya again which Tsunade frowned and nodded in agreement, while Shizune just looked confused and decided to ask why.

"But Jiraiya-sama why is Naruto now in more danger with Mokuton?"

"The reason is because when word reach's the other villages and certain organisations like the Akatsuki they will come after Naruto, since he would be very useful to the Akatsuki, with his Mokuton powers. Especially if he is properly trained in it, he could help the Akatsuki greatly by subduing the other Jinchūriki's, by using his Mokuton powers to suppress their Bijū's powers, making them easier for the Akatsuki to capture them. Not to mention other villages would want him to use him as a weapon to use against other Jinchūriki's, since the power of The Shodaime Mokuton is well know by all, where it could match even the Sharingan in terms of powers and certain special abilities. They would want it even more if I'm right about the Mokuton finally stabilising and becoming an official bloodline where Naruto could pass it on to his future children. In which case they would use him as a breeder to make entire Clan of Mokuton users, where they would have an entire Clan with the power to suppress Bijū's and controls them. Something that many villages would stop at noting to have and if they could not have it they would have Naruto killed to keep others from having that kind of power".

"It would be even worse if they found out that Naruto was also the Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi the strongest of all the Bijū's. Because if you combine the power of a Jinchūriki that contains the strongest of Bijū's inside him, with the power of Mokuton which can suppress Bijū's powers and control them, you get a force that could be virtually unstoppable. In which every village in the Elemental Continent would be after Naruto and wouldn't stop until either they kidnap him and gain control of him or kill him and keep him from becoming a major threat to them. The Akatsuki would even pounce on him with everything they had since Naruto could very well ruin what ever plans they have with the Bijū's". spoke Jiraiya

Shizune paled at the thought of her Godson/little brother/nephew being in now greater danger than before. Tsuande just frowned deeper and nodded in agreement since she had come to the same conclusion as Jiraiya had when it came to Naruto new ability when she waited for Jiraiya to arrive.

"So what do we do now". asked Shizune

"We have to increase and speed up Naruto's training more than ever now, since in a couple of years Naruto will need to be as strong as he can be to fight off enemies that will be coming after him sooner or later". said Jiraiya

"Should we inform The Sandaime Hokage about Naruto having Mokuton" said Shizune

"No we keep him in the dark about it, since the fewer people know about this the better; since there might be a chance that some-one like Danzo could intercept the message or somehow learn about it if we tell Sensei. Beside when Naruto dose eventually reveal that he has Mokuton to the village, Sensei will have the excuse of not knowing and he wouldn't have to deal with Danzo or his supporters on the council, trying to usurp his position over how he didn't inform them about Naruto abilities". said Jiraiya

"Do we really have to reveal Naru-chan abilities to village Jiraiya can't we just keep it secret" asked Tsuande

"We have no choice hime, Naruto will need to learn properly control and master he Mokuton abilities if he going to stand a chance in the future, we can help him as best as we can but still he won't be able to fully master or control his Mokuton abilities unless he gets proper training in it". answered Jiraiya

"But how can he get training there? Naru-chan is the only Mokuton user in the entire world" said Tsunade

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong hime there is one other" answered Jiraiya with a slight sigh

"WHAT! Jiraiya you're not making any sense, other than Naru-chan my Grandfather was the only other user to be able to use Mokuton and he dead". replied Tsuande

"There is one other" said Jiraiya

"Who?" said the annoyed Tsunade who was getting annoyed with being kept in the dark

"You see, back before Sensei discovered Orochimaru's experiments on the people and Shinobi's in Konoha to develop techniques that would grant him immortality. Orochimaru stole 60 Infants and injected them with The Shodaime Hokage DNA in the hopes of recreating The Shodaime Hokage and his Mokuton. But before he could finish his work he was forced to leave Konoha, since Sensei found out that he was behind the missing Shinobi's, Civilians and Infants. Out of the 60 Infants that Oroichimaru stole and injected The Shodaime Hokage DNA into only one survived and received the ability to use The Shodaime Hokage Mokuton powers". replied Jiraiya sadly since that event had show how far his former friend and teammate had fallen just to gain power

But Tsunade and Shizune were shocked and horrified at the information, especially Tsunade since she didn't think that even Oroichimaru would do such a thing. But she had been wrong, Tsunade could not help but feel sick at what Oroichimaru had done and swore if she ever saw the bastard she would skin him alive with her bare hands. Since as a mother and a medic the very idea of experimenting on children in such away turned her stomach.

"Jiraiya why the hell wasn't I told about this" said Tsunade angrily since the idea of Oroichimaru desecrating her Grandfather's grave and using his DNA to experiment and murder innocent children made her furious

I'm sorry Tsunade but you had left the village long ago and the whole event was classified top secret. I only know because Sensei told since he knew I was trying to track down Oroichimaru, and he believed that I needed to known exactly what Oroichimaru had done in the village.

"And who exactly is the child that survived Oroichimaru experiments and gained my Grandfather's Mokuton abilities" asked Tsuande

"The Kid's name is Tenzo he's twenty now and proven himself to be quite and Ninja since he graduated out of the academy at age six and made Chunin a few months later. He's even one of Konoha's top ANBU and is one of Sensei most trusted operatives". replied Jiraiya

"And how skilled is he in using Mokuton?" asked Tsunade although she was impressed with Tenzo skill if what Jiraiya said was true

"According to Sensei he completely master the Mokuton Jutsu's that he learned from your Grandfather's scrolls in the Senju Clan Library, although cannot use the Mokuton techniques to its full potential; hence his full power pales in comparison to that of your Grandfather. But despite that he can help Naruto greatly in training in how to use it and possibly Naruto will be able to surpass him and use Mokuton to the same level as your Granfather could. Which it would be very likely since he is a pure blooded Senju and the directed descendant of The Shodaime Hokage, hence why he would be so valuable to certain people". Finished Jiraiya

After Jiraiya explanation Tsunade just sighed although she did not like the fact that her Sensei went and took scrolls belonging to her Grandfather, from her Clans secret library. She understood why he did it and knew he would not abuse that privilege and return the scrolls back to the library.

She then looked over at her son as he played with TonTon without a care in the world. She wanted noting more than for Naruto to have a long peaceful and quite life where he could grow up happy. As well as have a family one day when he was older and live with them happily without having to worry about enemies attacking them or going through the hardship that he would as a Shinobi. But Tsunade knew that would never happen and now with his Mokuton powers his life now just got a whole lot harder now. But regardless she would help her son no matter what the cost to her and make sure that he becomes strong enough to defend himself and those he care about and she would make sure that he would live a long and as happy a life as possible.

"I Hope I can count on your help when training Jiraiya because he going to need all the help he can get". said Tsuande

"Of course I do whatever I can, since I swore to Minato that I would train the boy when the time came". answered Jiraiya

"I will help too Tsuande-sensei and even though I might not be as much help to him as you both, but I will help Naruto in any way I can". spoke Shizune

"Thank you Shizune I knew I could count on you". said Tsunade

"So when should we start" asked Jiraiya

"We start tomorrow, we'll let him have today off, since he's not going to have much time to be a kid for a while and he might as well enjoy it when he can". said Tsunade to which both Jiraiya and Shizune nodded and watch Naruto play with TonTon along with Tsunade

Two Months Later

Ever since Naruto revealed to Tsunade and Jiraiya that he had inherited his Great Grandfather Mokuton ability, Naruto was trained even harder that he was before.

Tsunade helped him with his Chakra control exercises (not that he needed much help since he had inherited her natural flawless Chakra control) where he was now walking on water and was balancing small tin objects like a dull Kunai on the tips of his fingers. She also helped Naruto with is physical training where she increased his weight little by little and had him do lots of running and different exercises. Tsunade also plan to help Naruto with his fighting skills where when he was a bit older she would put him through her special dodge training (much to Jiraiya and Shizune worry).

Shizune helped Naruto how to aim and throw Senbons, Shurricans and Kunai's, as well as help him improve on his reading and writing. She was also planning on helping Naruto to study medical books when he go a little older so to understand them better, since Tsuande wanted to train Naruto to be a medic. So that if he was every hurt he could heal himself, since he had the control needed to make a medic and with the prober training and if they start early enough where they get Naruto settled into become a medic-nin he would make a fine medic.

Jiraiya was now just planning on helping Naruto to train by helping him to learn Jutsu's where he planned to teach him just the basics like, **Henges** (Transformation Technique), **Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Technique), **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique) and **Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique). After Naruto had finish mastering them and be able to use them in the right types of combinations he then planned to teach Naruto a few more slightly more powerful Jutsu's when he got older. He did it this way since Jiraiya knew it did not matter how many different highly powerful Jutsu a person have, if they did not know how to use them correctly then they were useless. Also he knew that if a person completely masters the basics and knows how to use them correctly them they would nearly unstoppable. Jiraiya also planed that when Naruto got a little older he would teach him Fūinjutsu and with any luck the kid would be like his old man and be a genius at it.

It was at this time now that Jiraiya had arrived on Naruto sixth Birthday to see Naruto and start to train him in Jutsu's. But when he arrived he found out that Naruto wasn't training today instead he had the day off, and was celebrating his Birthday with Shizune, TonTon and his mother.

When Jiraiya arrived at the house he found Tsunade and Shizune together at the house cleaning up after their little celebration of Naruto Birthday. When he asked where Naruto was they told him that he was out in the backyard playing with TonTon again, with his new toy Kuni and Ninja mask that he go from Shizune and his new Ninja teddy that he got from Tsunade.

When Jiraiya went out he saw Naruto was playing Ninja with TonTon, where he was chasing TonTon around with his Ninja mask on and carrying him toy Kunai and Ninja teddy with him.

"Hey brat Happy Birthday" cried Jiraiya getting Naruto attention

When Naruto heard him he turned to see Jiraiya weaving and smiling at him he ten took off his mask and ran over to Jiraiya.

As Naruto was wearing a small white short sleeve shirt with a spiral design on its front and wore blue shorts. Naruto had also changed a bit from in the last two months he had grow a little bigger, and his whisker birthmarks that he had gotten when the Kyuubi was sealed into him were gone. Jiraiya theorized that when Naruto's awakened his Mokuton bloodline, his bloodline negated the physical affects that the Kyuubi had on his body since the Mokuton power did suppress Bijū chakra.

"Oh Hey Ero-sennin"

This of course caused Jiraiya to face fault down onto the ground, but he quickly got up and started to yell at Naruto".

"Damn it brat I told you not to call me that". cried the Toad Hermit

"But why it true and its fun", giggled Naruto while Jiraiya just mumbled about youngest today showing no respect to their elders.

"So Ero-sennin (causing Jiraiya to twitch his eyebrows in annoyance) did you come to play Ninja with me" asked the young blond

"Sorry to say Brat but no I didn't, I came to tell you that I going to staying with you, Shizune and your mom for a little while again since I going to help you in your training". said Jiraiya

"Oh! and what are you going to be training me in Ero-sennin?" asked the boy since Naruto did not mind doing training since he found it fun.

"I going to be training you in Jutsu" said Jiraiya which caused the young boy to start shouting in excitement since he had wanted to learn cool new Jutsu's but his mother wouldn't teach him any.

"So what are you going to teach me…. Huh?, huh?, huh?......Is it going to be some super cool Water Jutsu like Great, Great Uncle Tobirama…….. or a Jutsu that will let grow big gigantic trees like Great Grandfather Hashirama……. or some super cool Fire Jutsu's like Ka-chan told me Hiruzen-ojiisan can do". asked Nauro excitedly while he was jumping up and down

"Sorry Brat but you're no where near ready for those kind of Jutsu's, I going to teach you how to do **Henges**, **Shunshin no Jutsu,** **Kawarimi no Jutsu** and **Bunshin no Jutsu**. When you fully mastered those and can use them in the right types of combinations I will teach you some more". said Jiraiya

"UUUUUhhhhhh" wined Naruto since he had wanted to learn loads of cool Jutsu's

"Now I was going to teach you how to do **Shunshin no Jutsu **but since it's your Birthday we're going to leave that till tomorrow since your mom told me that you have the day off today" said Jiraiya

"OOOkkkkkkaaaaaayyyyyy" said Naruto since he was still down about not learning any super cool Jutsu's

"Hey Brat don't be so down I got a present for you" said Jiraiya which caused the boy to smile immediately since every kid likes getting presents

"Here" said Jiraiya taking a small brown paper package rapped with twine out of his robe and handed it to Naruto

"Thanks Ero-sennin" said the boy taking the package and ignored the grumbling from Jiraiay about youngest today.

"Now enjoy Brat, I see you later I have to met some who helping me with my "research" for my next book" said Jiraiya as he giggled perversely

"Research?, What that and can I come?" asked Naruto since he did not understand and though it might be fun

"EEEEHHHHH, sorry Brat you can't it grow up stuff maybe next time when you're older" said Jiraiya quickly since even he had morals when it comes to taking little kids with him on his research. Besides he knew that if did something like that Tsunade would beat him within an inch of his life and have her Slug summon Katsuyu melt off his balls with her acid.

"Okay" replied Naruto as we went off to open his present, while Jiraiya **Shunshin'd** away

Ten Minutes later in Town

Jiraiya was in a small alley near the town local hot spring waiting for his the person he had arranged to meet her.

Soon enough a young short brown haired man with brown eyes and wearing a white shirt and trousers came out of the entrance of the hot spring, and quickly ran over to the small alleyway that Jiraiya was waiting in.

"So did you get them?" asked Jiraiya eagerly

"Yea I got them but I nearly caught a few times when I was taking the photos" said the man holding up over three dozens photos of different young girls and women in the hot spring, wearing noting but towels or noting at all.

The young man who took the photos was a towel boy who worked in the hot springs collecting the towels of the women after they had finished in the hot springs and gotten dress. Jiraiya had met the boy when he was in the town on his way to Tsuande house and quickly learned that the young man was a fan of his books and he also learned that he worked in the local hot springs. So naturally Jiraiya made a deal with the young man where in return for a little "payoff" the boy would take photo's of all the different young and attractive ladies who went into the hot spring for Jiraiya

Jiraiya quickly grabbed the photos and start to look through them, he then began to grin perversely and developed a large nose bleed and began to drool a little.

The young man the coughed loudly to get Jiraiya attention away from the photos and onto him

"I believe Jiraiya-sama you owe me something, since I held up my end of the deal". spoke the young man

"Your right, I do", said Jiraiya as he then quickly took out another small brown paper package rapped with twine and handed it too the young man, who took it eagerly and began to quickly rip open the package.

"Pleasure doing business with you", said Jiraiya as he began to walk away and look back at the photos, thinking about all the different types of "inspiration" these photos would give him.

But before he could fully walk away he was stopped by a sudden cry from the young man

"Is this some kind of joke?" cried the young man angrily

"What are you talking about?" asked Jiraiya as he turned back to the man

"I mean this isn't wait we agreed upon" said the man holding up a book to Jiraiya face

The book read: "_The_ _Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_"

"_Wait_ _a minute this is the book I gave Naruto for his Birthday, but if this is it then that means the book I gave Naruto was…… OH DEAR SWEET KAMI NO!_" thought Jiraiya in his mind as he realized what he had done and quickly snatched the book from the man and ran with a speed that would make Gai look slow even without his weights.

All the while ignoring the angry cries of the young man about noting giving him what they had agreed upon.

Several Minutes Later at Tsuande home

As this was happening Tsunade was sitting down and was about to get ready for a nice nap, while Shizune was finishing cleaning up in the kitchen and TonTon was lying down next to the chair she was sitting on.

But before she could fully settle down she suddenly heard a cry.

"Ka-chan, Ka-chan, Where are you Ka-chan?"

After which Naruto then came into the living room carrying a book in his hand.

"What's wrong Naru-chan?" asked Tsunade

"Ero-sennin gave me this book for my Birthday, but I can't read it very well since there are lots of words on it that I can't understand, and the pictures of full of people doing funny things together". said the boy

"Well come over here Naru-chan and I read you the story". said Tsunade as Naruto went over to her and sat on her lap, while she began to read the page that Naruto had left opened for her to read.

"_Katara began to dress the wounds that Shin had after his fight with the dark warrior __Ashi. As she dress his wound, Shin suddenly turned around and caressed her face gently with his large hand, as he did Katara then began to caress his chest gently with her small gentle hand. As they began to feel one another body Shin then suddenly grabbed hold of her chin, and kissed her deeply pouring in all the passion he could muster and felt for her from the moment he first sent eyes on her. At first Katara was caught by surprise by Shin kiss, but she quickly got over it, and began to kiss Shin with just as much passion as he was and began to pour all her heart and emotions that she had into the kiss. As the kiss deepened Shin began to explore Katara body with his hands, where he then began to loosen her sash that was around her waist after which he began to remove the upper portion of her Kimono to reveal her……_"

It was there that Tsunade stopped reading the book to her son and read it silently to herself of a minute or so, where she then realised what just she was about to read to her innocent baby. Tsunade then quickly skipped to a few pages ahead to where the pictures for the book were, and saw that what they were showing she quickly covered her sons eyes so he could not see the images of the detail various adult images.

"Ka-chan what wrong why aren't you reading the story what's happing and why won't you let me see the picture?" asked the boy as hesquirmed in his mother's arm and tried to get her hands off from covering his eyes, but Tsunade would not allow it.

Tsunade then quickly turned to the cover of the book to see exactly what Jiraiya had given her son for his Birthday, and what she had been reading to him (although she had an idea what it was).

When she turned the book she read the cover: "_Icha Icha Paradise: Limited Coloured Pictured Edition, With Author Autograph_" (exactly what she had thought).

"_That Damn Perverted excuse for a life form, I warned him what would happen to him if he tried to corrupt my Naru-chan and turn him into a pervert like him. When I get my hand on him, not even an entire army of medics will be able to heal him once I done with him_" though Tsunade furiously as she thought all the different ways he could torture and kill a certain Toad Pervert she knew and thought about which would be the slowest and most painful way to torture and kill him.

All the while as Tsunade was thinking of this Naruto had finally gotten out of his mother hold and got her hands off his eyes. He tried to see the pictures in the book again but could not since his mother had closed the book, he then tired to get his mother attention but she was too caught up in the different ways she would torture and kill Jiraiya to pay attention to him.

And as if the Heavens themselves were answering Tsunade prays Jiraiya suddenly appeared in the living.

"Naruto! Where are you? I gave you the wrong bo-" spoke Jiraiya panic like but stopped when he saw Naruto sitting on his mother's lap with her holding the book. It was then that Jiraiya knew he was too late and that he was dead man.

When Jiraiya appeared Tsunade slowly turned around to face Jiraiya, with a look in her eyes that was so frightening that it would have made the devil himself shit himself, the point was proven since Jiraiya nearly did so himself. She also had a smile on her face that was far too sweet, and made her look all the more sinister looking than their old teammate Oroichimaru could ever look.

"Well Jiraiya what a coincidence I was just thinking about you" said Tsunade all too sweetly which made Jiraiya shiver in fear and wanted to run as far away as possible, but couldn't since he was frozen with pure terror .

All the while as this was happen Naruto had gotten off his mother lap when she stood up and was now watching what was happening since he did not really understand what was going on.

"Is there something wrong Ero-sennin, did you met the friend you said you were going to met for your research" asked Naruto

"Erm….well…..erm….. I-I-I don't k-k-k-know w-what your t-t-taking about N-Naruto" said Jiraiya nervously since he didn't want to get into any more trouble with Tsunade that he was in now

"You know Ero-seninn, that friend that you said would help you for your research for your book, you even said that you take me with you next time" said Naruto who had he notice he would have seen the dark flames that were now sprouting from his mothers eyes and Jiraiya about ready to wet himself who was also silently cursing Naruto for opening his big mouth

It was after this revelation that Tsunade knew that her son was far too young to see the horrors that she was about to unleash upon Jiraiya and decided to call Shizune in to take Naruto away for a while.

"Is there something wrong Tsunade-sensei?" asked Shizune as she came out of the Kitchen to see a petrified Jiraiya who was sweating profoundly, and a sinister looking Tsunade with an all too sweet smile on her face.

"Oh noting Shizune, I was just wondering if you could take Naruto out to town for a little while, while I have a little chat with Jiraiya here about his choices in "gifts" to Naru-chan here" replied Tsunade sweetly

When Tsunade had finish speak Shizune just had a confused look over her face, since she did not understand what Tsunade was talking about. But as soon as Tsunade held up the Icha Icha book to Shizune, she realised what she meant. After which Shizune turned to glare angrily at Jiraiya for trying to turn her Godson/little brother/nephew into a pervert.

After glaring at the petrified Jiraiya for a minute or so Shizune then turned and kneeled down to Naruto who was still watching this in confusion.

"Naru-chan how about you and I going down town had have some ramen at the restaurant in town"

At this Naruto face immediately lit up with excitement at having his favourite food, since his mom told him he could only have ramen once a week. Since she said it was good for him and that if he ate noting but that then it would stunt his growth.

"Yea, Yea, Ramen, Ramen" cried Naruto happily and was about to go with Shizune when he stopped and turned to Jiraiya and his mother.

"Ero-sennin, Ka-chan aren't you coming with us?" asked the boy

Jiraiya deciding that this was his best and only chance of escape quickly came out of his petrified state

"Sure thing Naruto and the ramen will be on me". spoke Jiraiya quickly and tired to run off to town so to avoid Tsunade beating.

But before he could run away Tsunade caught Jiraiya by the collar and kept him in place even despite the fact that he kept trying to run, but Tsunade's grip was iron tight and she just slammed Jiraiya down onto the floor hard.

"You go a head Naru-chan, Jiraiya and I are going to play a little game called operation" said Tsuande with a sadistic smile on her face that would have scared even Oroichimaru.

"Oh okay Ka-chan, come on TonTon you can come to" said Naruto as he went off with Shizune with TonTon getting up and crying "Oink" and following after Naruto and Shizune

"NO!…….WAIT NARUTO TAKE ME WITH YOU TOO" screamed the pervert as his finger nails scratching up the floor as Tsunade dragged him into the next room and then throwing him into the corner of the room.

After which the Toad hermit began to pray for the heavens to take him now into their sweet embrace, but sadly they weren't listening right now and were just going to sit back and enjoy the show.

As Tsunade towering figure was standing over the cowering Jiraiya, who was hunch back against the corner wall try to plead for mercy, they heard Naruto cry out as he left the house with Shizune.

"Have fun Ka-chan with Ero-sennin"

"Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku……… Oh! I will Naru-chan I will" chuckled Tsunade maniacally over the cowering Jiraiya

"C-C-Come on hime…….I-It was an a-a-accident………h-h-h-honest……..y-y-you know me" pleaded Jiraiya as she tried to reason with Tsunade but unfortunately for Jiraiya Tsunade was not in a reasonable mood

"Oh! I know you Jiraiya all too well and it would be just like you to try and corrupt my sweet innocent little Naru-chan and become a pervert like you". said Tsunade and she towered over Jiraiya like she was the Shinigami itself.

Soon enough for miles around people could hear the terrified screams of Jiraiya as well as screams of pain as he scream to the heavens.

A few hours later Naruto, TonTon and Shizune would return from town and find Tsuande sitting down enjoying a drink of sake and what looked like some kind of deformed human. That was in a heap across from Tsunade who barely even looked human anymore, and by the way it continued to groin in pain. It gave the impression that its very existence right now was full of noting but consistent pain and suffering, it was later on that they learned that the deformed creature was Jiraiya after Tsuande had finished with him.

All in all it was just another day with Tsunade's family.

N/A

Well at last that another chapter done hope you all enjoyed the chapter since as I promised some of Naruto abilities have been revealed and as many had hoped Naruto has Mokuton not to mention his mother's chakra control skills. Please read and review and tell me what you think.

Also any and all suggestions are welcome is if you have any I will listen top them and tell you what I think of them.

Also note that Flames are unwelcome so if you don't like my story then don't read it and if you do send any flames then they will be ignored

The next Chapter will be another time skip were Naruto will be eight and will be a bit more skilled especially in Mokuton and he will also make some friends his own age in that chapter.

The next update might be a little while since I want to enjoy the holidays a little before I have to go back to collage after the new year but I will put it up as soon as I can.

Also for Fans of Raikage the next update will be up tomorrow since I had it done at the same time I put up the last Chapter but wanted to give it a week between each Chapter. Also one more thing I think of putting up another new story after the holidays so keep a look out for it.

Happy Holidays to everyone and hope you have a Happy Boxing day and a New Year


	6. Chapter 6

**Naruto The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Six: Making Friends.**

**This story was inspired by the story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Summon Talking"**_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

Two years after Naruto had revealed his Mokuton abilities, Tsunade, TonTon, Shizune and Naruto where now staying in a small village in Oni no Kuni (Demon Country). The village was a quiet and small village that was positioned in a small valley with a large forest north of it, a medium size river the flowed gently down out of the valley south of it and with crops and fields west of the village where the farmers grew their food for the village.

The place had been a perfect spot for the group, since it was quiet and out of the way of most places and the village had no real medic. Many of their old and young were suffering for a small disease that effected people with a low immune system, which resulted in them being bed ridden and unable to eat properly for several weeks. But thankfully when Tsunade arrived the problem was resolved in a matter of a few days.

As the people in the village were busy doing their daily activities they suddenly heard loud explosions and could see large dust clouds coming from the other edges of the forest north of the village.

Normally if the villagers saw this they would have been concerned about it and believe that they were under some kind of attack. But they had grown use to seeing such thing after the first few weeks of the arrival of Tsunade, TonTon, Shizune and Naruto, (although they did not know that it was Tsunade since she still had her Genjutsu henge over her and Shizune and they went by different names). Since this had come to be a common occurrence to outside the village at this time, they had learned that at this time Tsunade would train her son Naruto in her special training exercise at this time.

With Tsuande and Naruto

"DODGE" shouted Tsuande has she threw a massive dodge ball at Naruto who barely dodge it

Naruto had grown a good bit over the time, he was still quite skinny but despite that he was quite strong for his age (thanks to his training) and had lots of energy. Naruto wore and short sleeve green shirt, with black short pants and brown sandals.

This type of training had been a common thing to be seen going on between Naruto and Tsunade in the past few months. Since when she first saw that Naruto had inherited her natural flawless Chakra control she hoped that with this training Naruto would gain her super human strength.

Naturally when Jiraiya and Shizune first heard Tsunade saying that she was now going to have Naruto go through her "special training", they became very concern for Naruto's safety and well being. But fortunately Naruto had two things going for him, one was that thanks to his high stamina and all the running around that he did when he was younger had given him excellent reflex's and good speed (for a kid his age), so that he could dodge the balls quickly without getting hit and not get tired from doing it for several hours. The other was the only real side affect that he got from having the Kyuubi inside of him; the Kyuubi had given him a quick healing factor. Where Naruto could recover from Chakra exhaustion very quickly and most wounds he would have, would heal within minutes if not a few hours, (depending of how serious the wound was).

This had help Naruto greatly since it allowed him to survive Tsunade's training with little effect, especially when it came to Taijutsu training with his Mother. Since when Tsunade did Taijutsu training with Naruto she used her full power on Naruto. Where he mainly dodge and try and counterattack at the same time, while wearing specially designed gravity weights seals that Jiraiya given him to wear most of the time.

Needless to say Naruto usually returned home with broken bones of a lot of bruises, but regardless of them the training was working, since Naruto speed was increasing dramatically and his Taijutsu style was improve as well. Tsunade even stated at the way he was going Naruto would soon have a firm grasp of her super human strength, even though it would still be a couple of more years before he could ever be able to use it to the same level as she could.

For several hours Tsunade threw and threw hundred of dodge balls at her son, where the dodge balls would often explode by the sheer power of the thrown, when it hit the ground or a tree. After awhile of this Naruto was starting to get tired of always dodging and decided to strike back.

Soon after when Tsunade threw another dodge ball and shouted "Dodge", Naruto leapt into the air at the incoming dodge ball and channelled all the chakra he could gather. As the dodge ball was about to hit him Naruto did midair spin kick and hit the dodge ball with all the strength he could mustered with his Chakra enhanced kick.

When Naruto kicked the ball the power he put into the kick was so great that it overpowered Tsunade's throw. After which Naruto's kick blasted the ball right back at Tsunade with twice the velocity that she threw it with. She was so shocked by what Naruto had done that she had barley been able to dodge the ball, which exploded once it hit that spot that Tsunade had been a second ago.

After Tsunade had narrowly dodge the ball she turned to look at her at her son, who was somehow still standing after putting so much of his remaining chakra into the kick and was breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"_Incredible! Even after constantly dodging all my throws non-stop for most of the morning, he still had enough strength and power to overpower one of my throws at full power. I KNEW! he was slowly getting better at being able to use my strength, but still……..I never thought he have enough control over it to be able to block it and hit it back at me with twice of much force as what I threw at him. Not to mention he's still able to stand up after putting so much power into that kick, after doing something like he should be dead on his feet and unconscious on the ground". _thought Tsunade in shock but quickly got over itand a large smirked appeared on her face "_But then again he is "MY" son after all_".

"All right Naru-chan that enough for today" spoke Tsunade after which she then started to seal away the large bag that held the remaining dodge balls

"But…….pant, pant………Ka-chan………pant, pant………I can sti……..pant……….still kee…….pant, pant………..keep going……….pant" said Naruto tiredly

"That may be true Naru-chan but remember what I said about pushing yourself too far, now come over hear so I can heal you". said Tsunade, where her son was too tried to argue and went over to her to be healed.

After a little while, Naruto was fully healed and was itching to start training some more but his mother wouldn't allow it.

"But Ka-chan why can't I? Since you said the more I train the stronger I get and I want to get as strong as you, Ero-sannin and The Yondaime" said Naruto

Naruto knew a lot about The Yondaime thanks to all the stories that Jiraiya told him about, (although Tsunade didn't really like it, since she was still angry at Minato for turning their son into a jinchūriki). But Naruto was still unaware of the fact that The Yondaime was his father, since both Tsuande and Jiraiya had decided not to tell Naruto until he was ready, encase he accidently blurted it out to someone. Whenever Naruto asked about his father the subject was always changed. Naruto also didn't know about the Kyuubi being sealed into him either since like with the knowledge of his father it was decided to keep secret for the same reason.

"Yes Naru-chan that true, but if we kept training you be too tried to do your studies with Shizune", replied Tsunade.

"UUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH! but I like training more" winned Naruto

"Now Naru-chan, you know that your studies with Shizune are just as important as your other training and if you what to be as good at healing as I' m then you have to study hard", said Tsunade which convinced her son to agree and start to head home.

During the last year Naruto had become very eager to learn about being a medic, which was a dramatic change from when Tsunade had first tired a few months after his sixth birthday. Since when Tsunade first tired to get Naruto to study to learn to be a medic Naruto was not interested, since he found all the studying boring and wanted to either play with TonTon or play other kids or train so that he "kick butt" (Naruto's words) like Jiraiya or Minato.

But that all changed when Naruto was seven when he found a wounded rabbit in the forest near one of their houses that they had stayed in. When Naruto found the rabbit it had been just attack by a wild eagle, which had been scared off when it saw Naruto come over. When Naruto saw that the rabbit had been badly hurt, he had become greatly distressed since he hated seeing animals hurt, where he went to his mother carrying the injured animal to her in hopes that she could do something. Thankfully despite not being a vet Tsunade knew what to do since she still knew enough about most living creature biology.

When Naruto saw how easily his mother had helped to heal the injured rabbit he had become interested, after that he decided to ask his mother if he could go with her when she went to heal people which she happily agreed to. During the trips Naruto became more and more interested in medical Jutsu, since he saw how his mother helped so many people with it and how happy she made the people she healed as well as their families. It was then after his mother had healed a young girl (whom Naruto had befriended earlier), who had been seriously injured in an accident when she was playing with other children. That Naruto told his mother he wanted to be trained as a medic (much too his mother's joy), since he told her that he wanted to be a "Butt Kicking Combat Medic" where he would kick load of "bad guys butt" and help heal people who are hurt at the same time.

After Tsunade heard Naruto little decree, she had agreed to train Naruto to be a medic, even though it wasn't exactly what she had wanted, Tsuande knew it was the best she could get.

After Naruto decided to train to be a medic Tsunade started to train Naruto in medical Ninjutsu and how to use his Chakra to help heal others. Shizune also helped by teaching Naruto about how each part of the body works and what to do if certain things happen like if a person had broken arm or if they were suffer a heart attack.

It had been difficult at first, since Naruto found it difficult to try and remember the names of the different organs or bones and what they do for the body. Even despite Naruto love of reading things and trying to learn from simple easy to read medical books for beginners he still had trouble focusing on what he was trying to learn.

But Shizune had found am unique way to help teach Naruto. For example putting different cartoon like faces, as well as imprinting thoughts and feelings onto the pictures of the each organ and body, so to help make it both fun and easier for Naruto to focus on them and remember them. She also made up different rhymes or little songs to help Naruto remember the names of the body parts and what they were connected to and do, as well as what to do if with certain injuries happened.

Tsunade had naturally been sceptical at first when Shizune had suggested it but when Shizune applied her idea to help teach Naruto, Tsunade soon saw that the teaching method was working perfectly, since Naruto improved greatly in his Medical-nin training. Tsunade herself praised Shizune for her teaching skills; she even stated that Shizune had a gift in helping to teach children and helping them learn. This of course caused the young women to blush bright red at her Sensei praise since it was not too often that Tsunade would praise someone.

But even despite Naruto growing progress in his medical training he was still along way from being able to be heal people properly even with just simple injuries or illnesses.

Also Naruto was now learning about Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques) from Jiraiya where he was teaching Naruto how to seal simple things into scrolls like a Kunai, after which when he returned Jiraiya would then start to teach him other slightly more advance sealing techniques.

After a little while Tsunade and Naruto reached their small house that they were staying in for now. When they were about to go in Shizune quickly came of the house with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Tsunade-sensei I glad that you're here there is a man here looking for you to help heal someone", said Shizune.

"So, what is the problem with that, a lot of people have come here looking for me when they needed to be healed or someone-else to be healed", replied Tsunade, since it was common enough for it to happen with her as a healer.

"No he not looking for you, he looking for you, you", spoke Shizune.

At this Tsunade suddenly understood what Shizune meant and narrowed here eyes, since the only people that would know where "she" (meaning the real her, Tsunade the Slug Princess) was, where Jiraiya and The Sandaime.

"Naru-chan you and Shizune stay out here and practice throwing your Senbon needles, while I go inside and talk to the person inside, ok", said Tsunade as she turned around to Naruto with a smile on her face as if there was noting wrong.

"Ok Ka-chan, come on Nee-chan", said Naruto as he pulled the end of Shizune Kosode robe to get to come along with him. Since he didn't think anything was wrong, since a lot of people came back to ask his mother to heal them or some else.

After a quick nodded of understanding to Tsunade, Shizune then went with Naruto.

* * *

Inside Tsuande House

* * *

When Tsunade entered the room she saw a young man with brown hair and glasses wearing and official uniform of a guardsmen of Oni no Kuni, as well as carrying a pack of arrows and a bow on his back.

"Greetings Tsunade-sama it is an honour to met you in person", said the young man as he bowed down on the floor.

"I afraid your mistaken since I not her my name is Yakumo", replied Tsunade.

"There is no mistake Tsunade-sama so you can remove your disguise" replied the man. Tsunade narrowed her eyes after which she then changed her form, from a short red haired woman with blue eyes, to her usual form. "So who are you and how did you know where I was staying and that I was in disguise", asked Tsuande, as she was on guard encase the man was some sort of assassin or kidnapper.

"My name is Tatuho and I' am one of the personal Bodyguards of the High Priestess Lady Miroku, ruler and protector of Oni no Kuni", spoke the man named Tatuho.

"The High Priestess?" asked Tsunade in surprise.

"Hai and she is in great need of your help Tsunade-sama", said Tatuho and he bowed down to her again.

"Lady Miroku is gravely ill, due to an Assassination attempt on her life by an Assassin from a rival Country who had hoped to kill her to disrupt the leader of our Country. Fortunately Lady Miroku was able to foresee the attack and warn us about it. Where we were able to capture him but unfortunately the Assassin had a backup plan and had poisoned her food. The best doctors in our land have tired to help her, but all have failed, she had even recently went into a coma due to the poison, you are our only hope she has of surviving……..please Tsunade-sama, I beg you save Lady Miroku", said Tatuho still keeping his head on the ground.

"Before I say anything I want you to answer a question for me", spoke Tsunade without showing any emotion.

"How did you find out that I was here and that I was in disguise?" asked Tsunade since she needed to know who they knew she was here.

"Before Lady Miroku went into her coma she had one last vision, where she saw you in disguise in this village with your student and a young blond boy who she believed was your son", spoke Tatuho.

At this Tsuande frowned and went into deep thought and said nothing.

After several minutes of silence Tsunade spoke up again "Very well I will help heal the High Priestess, but on one condition".

"Name it Tsunade-sama and it will be done I swear it", spoke Tatuho as he stood up.

"Before I tell you I want to know other than yourself and the High Priestess dose anyone else know about the vision that she had about my son and me", asked Tsunade.

"No! Lady Miroku only told me of her vision about you and your son", replied Tatuho.

"Good, then my condition is simple, that both you and the High Priestess swear not to reveal the fact that I have a son to anyone until the day it is officially known to other Countries. Since I have many enemies out in the world that would come after my son just to get to me, and until the day he is either strong enough to defend himself or has enough protection no-one can know that he even exist is that clear", said Tsunade forcefully since she would allow no harm to come to her son.

"Of course Tsunade-sama I understand perfectly and I swear no-one will learn the existence of your son from me and I'm certain Lady Miroku will agree as well", replied Tatuho.

"Good, because should you or the High Priestess ever break your oath and leak the information about my son to others and it puts him in danger. I swear there will be no place on this earth that you can hide from me, is…that… clear," threatened Tsunade in a deadly tone as she flooded the room with her Killing Intent making Tatuho freeze in fear and cause a cold sweat to run down his back.

"H-H-H-H-Ha-Hai! Tsunade-sama I-I-I-I u-un-understand p-perfectly", said Tatuho fearfully as he had never been so scared in his entire life.

"Good, Then we will leave in one hour", spoke Tsuande as she stood up to go and talk to Shizune.

When Tsunade left Tatuho slouched down and let out a large sigh as the Killing Intent died out.

"_Truly, there is noting more dangerous in this world that a mother protecting its child_", though Tatuho as he shivered slightly in fear as the memory of Tsunade Killing Intent was still fresh in his mind.

* * *

Three Days Later

* * *

After about three days of travelling, Tsunade and the group soon arrived at the estate for the High Priestess of the Demon Country. When they arrived at the main gate Tsunade had her special Genjutsu activated on both her and Shizune so to make sure that no-one would know it was her. The excuse as to why she was here was based sort on the truth, where Tatuho had told the guards that she was a Healer from a far off village that was said to be highly skilled in poisons and could help the High Priestess.

When Tsunade entered the room she had Tatuho dismiss all the servants and other Healers in the room so that she could begin her work without being bothered. When all the servants and the other Healers were gone Tsunade cancelled the Henge over her and Shizune and began to diagnose the High Priestess. After a few minutes Tsunade finished her diagnoses on High Priestess and turned to Tatuho who remained in the room.

"I'm afraid that the Toxin that the High Priestess has been poisoned with was a highly toxic and highly dangerous one, that even some of the most skilled Healers would have difficulty treating", spoke Tsunade.

"What exactly is the poison Tsunade-sama and what does it do?" asked Tatuho.

"The poison came from a very rare and highly toxic mushroom called the Black Spotted Mushroom. It can be made into a powder, gas or liquid form, where it can be breathed in, injected or digested through food. Once the poison is in the body it destroys the cells causing the body and the organs to fail and slowly killing the person over time. The effects typically include a nagging cough and other undetectable but common symptoms. It is very hard to detect and even harder to cure", said Tsunade grimly.

"C-Can you treat it Tsunade-sama?" asked Tatuho worriedly.

"Yes I can, by extracting the poison from her body, but it will be difficult", replied Tsunade.

"Whatever you need Tsunade-sama please tell me and I shall get it", spoke Tatuho.

"I need you to get several large bowls of hot water and bring them here", ordered Tsunade as she was going into her Healer mode, where she got Shizune and Naruto to help her get everything needed to help the High Priestess.

Soon enough Tatuho had servants bring over two dozen bowls of hot water to the door where he then brought them into the room. Tsunade then had him and Shizune help restrain the High Priestess when she extracted the poison from the High Priestess body.

Once Shizune and Tatuho had restrained the High Priestess and were holding onto her (to make sure that she stayed still). Tsuande then used her **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel) to make an incision into the one of the affected parts of the High Priestess body, after which she used her **Saikan Chūshutsu no Jutsu** (Delicate Illness Extraction Technique). Where she extracted the Toxin from the High Priestess body, it was a slow process and was quiet painfully for the High Priestess, for even though she was unconscious her body struggles in pain.

Naruto also did his part to help by changing the Water each time for his mother as she slowly extracted the poison from the High Priestess body.

After about an hour or so of slow and painful extraction, Tsunade had finally extracted the last of the poison out of the High Priestess body.

"It's done, virtually all the poison is out of her body now", sigh Tsunade as she wiped the sweat off her brow.

"Then will Lady Miroku recover?" asked Tatuho hopefully.

"She should once I have used some of the extracted poison to help make a medicine that will take care of the remainder of the poison in her body and help her body recover more quickly. I will also stay for a while here to make sure that the High Priestess does not suffer any relapses or something else happens since she is in a fragile state right now".

"Thank you Tsunade-sama, I cannot thank you enough, we are forever in you debt", said Tatuho as he was kneeing on the floor with his head down in gratitude to Tsunade. To which Tsunade just nodded.

"Tatuho do you have a greenhouse area and a medial area I can use so to make the medicine for the High Priestess?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes we do, I shall have a servant lead you there immediately".

"Ka-chan, can I help too", asked Naruto who wanted to help as well.

"Thank you Naru-chan, but you can't because it very hard to do and your not ready yet, why don't you go with TonTon out to the garden and play", said Tsunade.

"UUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH", groaned Naruto since he wanted to help plus he didn't have anyone really to play with, sure he had TonTon and he liked playing with her. It was just that he would have liked to play with other kids his own age, since it was hard for him to make and keep friends since he was always moving from place to place with his Mother, Nee-chan and TonTon.

"Naruto-san, if you like, maybe you can play with Lady Miroku daughter Shion, since I was about to go to her and tell her that her mother will be ok, since she has been very worried about her. I'm sure that Shion would love to have someone her own age to play with since she does not have many friends to play with as well", said Tatuho kindly as he knelt down to Naruto.

Tatuho knew that Shion had been very worried for her mother when she started to fall ill, ever since then the poor young girl had been crying herself to sleep, since she had been so worried about her mother dying and leaving her alone. This was because her mother was all she had, since her father had died in a horse ridding accident when she was only a year old and she did not really have any friends. Since like her mother she had the power to see into the future, but since she was so young she could not control it and would often see people deaths.

This caused people to fear her especially other children since they thought that if they went near here they would die hence they would run away from her. He hoped that once he brought the good news about her mother and Naruto to play with her, it would brighten the girl up; he only hoped that Naruto would not be scared away from Shion, since the girl was desperately lonely and badly needed a friend.

When they left the room Tatuho had two guards placed inside the High Priestess room and two outside the room (to make sure no-more Assassins would try to get in). After which he then called a servant over and ordered him to show Tsunade and Shizune (Who had their henges back on) where the medical area and the greenhouse area was. After that Tatuho then lead Naruto and TonTon (who was following Naruto) to where Shion room was and tell her the good news about her mother.

* * *

Shion Bedroom

* * *

Currently in her bedroom the young daughter of the High Priestess Shion was in the corner of her bedroom, she was sitting down on the floor with her legs held tightly against her chest and her head against her legs. Her eyes were puffy red from crying for most of the time, since she was worried for her mother and was afraid that she would die and leave her all alone.

Shion was wearing a long yellow and gold robe like coat with red baggy pants and a plane white shirt. She also wore her long blond hair down and had a round glass like charm that would ring like a tiny bell hung on the left hand side of her head.

As she sat quietly in her little corner she heard a knock on her door.

"Go away, I told all of you to just leave me alone", cried Shion, since she did not want to talk to anyone.

"Shion-san, it is me Tatuho, I have news about your mother, may I please enter", spoke Tatuho

"Okasan?" said Shion after which she let Tatuho in.

"D-D-Di-Did O-Ok-Okasan d-di-" said Shion as she tried to say the words she dreaded but found she could not.

"No she did not Shion-san", said Tatuho since he knew what the girl was thinking,"She is actually much better now, I was able to make contact with a healer than lived in one of the outer villages and had her come here to heal your mother. Thanks to her she was able to heal your mother and is now working on a medicine that will help her mother get better".

"Y-Y-Yo-You mean Okasan isn't going to die?" asked Shion as she dared to hope.

Tatuho just nodded to her that it was true, where Shion then ran over to Tatuho and hugged him tightly and started to cry again, but this time with tears of joy.

After a few minutes Shion finally stop crying and looked up a Tatuho and spoke.

"C-Can I see Okasan?"

"I'm afraid not Shion-san, since your mother is still in a coma, but I sure she will awaken up very soon and once she does and has regain some of her strength you can see her, I promise", said Tauho to which Shion just nodded.

"Also Shion-san I have something else to tell you", said Tatuho which caused the girl to look at him curiously.

"The healer I brought has a son named Naruto, he is about your age and like you he doesn't really have that many friends, since he moves around a lot with his mother. Also since his mother is staying here for a while I thought you and him could meet and become friends since he doesn't really have anyone to play with either".

At this Shion began to get worried since she was afraid that like the other children she tired to play with he would run away and call her freak like all the others.

"B-B-But won't he just run away like all the others", said Shion. At this a sad look appeared over Tatuho, since he felt for the poor girl, since she was very lonely and just wanted a friend and he hoped that Naruto would be that friend for her.

"I do not think he will Shion-san, since he seems to be a very kind young boy and I'm sure he just wants to be your friend, if you let him".

After a bit of convincing Tatuho was finally able to get Shion to agree to at lest talk to Naruto, as long as Tauho was here with her. After which Tatuho then open the door and brought Naruto in who was accompanied by TonTon.

"Hi" greeted Naruto when he saw Shion who was hiding behind Tauho shyly. When Naruto greeted her Shion did not speak and she just hid behind Tatuho for fear of being rejected by Naruto like all the other children she had tired to befriend. Seeing at how nervous and shy Shion was Naruto decided to go over to her, where he went around Tatuho so that he could face her.

"Hello Shion my name is Naruto would you like to play with me, since there aren't really any other kids around and since my Ka-chan is going to be here for a little while, it be nice it I had someone else to play with", said Naruto.

At first Shion said noting, but after a few minutes Shion suddenly spoke.

"D-Do…….y-yo-you……… r-r-really………want to play with me?"

"Yea"

"Your not afraid of me?" asked Shion, where she began to hope that she might actually have a friend.

"Why would I be?" "It just that…….other kids run away from me………a-an-and call me freak because I can see things that they can't".

"Then those kids are all idiots if they say that, my Ka-chan told me that no matter how different we are or what we can do, no-one should be treated unfairly and no-one should be alone".

"So you really want to be my friend?" asked Shion to which Naruto just nodded and held out his hand, which Shion nervously took hold of.

"Oink!" cried TonTon.

This caused Shion and Naruto to take notice of her.

"Oh sorry TonTon I forgot to introduce you, Shion this is TonTon my family pet big and my friend", introduced Naruto.

"Hello TonTon" said Shion, as she kneeled down and started to pet TonTon on the head and scratched behind her ear which the small big enjoyed very much.

"Hey do you want and go play tag with TonTon and me?" asked Naruto.

"Sure", said Shion after which Naruto then grabbed a hold of Shion where they and TonTon ran off outside.

As the two children and the pig ran off, Tatuho could not help but smile, since it was the first time that he saw Shion smile in a very long time. He was also happy to see that she finally had a friend that was not scared of her.

* * *

Outside in The Estate Garden

* * *

For the next hour or two Shion, Naruto and TonTon played together happily, where they played games like tag, hide and seek other such games.

After that Shion showed Naruto around the estate, she even brought Naruto to a hidden part of the garden where her mother and she would plant flowers.

"This is where Okasan and I go sometimes to plant flowers", said Shion to Naruto as the looked around the different flowers.

As Naruto looked around he saw a dying flower bush near the end of the flower patch.

"What wrong with that?" asked Naruto as he pointed to the dying flower bush.

When Shion saw what Naruto was pointing at she could not but blush and look down at shame.

"That was a Rose bush that I tried to grow by myself, since most of the flower her were grown by Okasan and the rest were grown by me with Okasan help. I told her I wanted to do one by myself but it was harder that I thought it would be with Okasan help. No matter what I tried it wouldn't grow right and started to die" said Shion sadly and embarrassed.

"If you like I can help" offered Naruto.

"What ca you do?" asked Shion.

"Well there is a special trick that I learned and could do that might help. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, not even your Ka-chan or Tatuho-san ok", said Naruto

"Ok! I promise".

"Pinkie swear", said Naruto holding out his pinkie finger.

"Pinkie swear", repeated Shion as she locked her pinkie finger with Naruto's

"Ok then", said Naruto as he went over to the dying bush where he grabbed hold of the main trunk part of the bush and started to channel Chakra into the Rose bush.

At first Shion was confused as to why Naruto was grabbing a hold of the Rose bush. But before she could ask him she saw the Rose bush beginning to grow bigger and bigger. It then started to sprout leafs and then Rose flowers and right before Shion the Rose bush became fully bloomed.

"How did you do that?" asked Shion in awe when Naruto had gotten up and dusted off his pants.

"It's a special power that I have, its called Mokuton (Wood Release) it's a Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline) its kind of like your powers (Shion told Naruto about her powers)", said Naruto.

"What exactly can you do with it?" asked Shion.

"Well like you saw, I and can make trees and plants grow, my Great Grandfather had the same ability although he could only grow tree's I can also help grow plants. My Great Grandfather could do loads of cool things with it where he could make trees or entire forests wherever he wanted. He could even make wooden mansions or houses out of nowhere, he also created my Ka-chan home village Konoha and the massive forest that surrounds it in a single day", said Naruto with a bit of pride for how powerful his Great Grandfather was, while Shion was just in awe.

"Also from what Ka-cahn told me he was also able to use his power in the same kind of way your power works", spoke Naruto which got a confused look Shion.

"My Great Grandfather was able to use Mokuton to help suppress and control demons and seal them away".

"Can you do that", asked Shion in surprise, which Naruto answered by shaking his head.

"No or at lest not yet, since I'm no-where near what my Great Grandfather can do since I can't grow big giant tree out of no-where like he could. The best I can do is being able to grow trees and flowers out of seeds that I buy and grown them in the different ways and shapes I want them to. According to Ka-chan I got along way to go before I ever get to my Great Grandfather's level, since I have to learn it by myself for now".

"Can't your Okasan help you to get better at being able to do it", asked Shion.

"She can't, since she can't do it, I'm the only one in my family that can do it, since my Great Grandfather was the only person who could do it in my Clan", said Naruto.

"What about you Otosan (father) couldn't he help", asked Shion but instantly regretted it when a sad look came across Naruto's face.

"I don't have a Tochan (another less formal way to say father) or at lest not now, he died just when I was born from what Ka-chan told me. She doesn't talk about it much since every time I ask she gets this angry look on her face and changes the subject", siad Naruto.

"Sorry", said Shion sadly.

"It's ok, I never knew him and I probably find out about him later on so their no problem", said Naruto as he put on a happy face.

"So are there any other things you can do", asked Shion so to change the subject.

"Yea there are some other things I can do but I can't say, since I could get in a lot of trouble with Ka-chan if I did, hell I get in a lot already if she found out I told you about me being able to do Mokuton".

"Why's that?" asked Shion.

"Ka-chan told me that there are a lot of bad people out there that would like to take me away because of me being able to do Mokuton. This is because I'm the first one to be able to do it since my Great Grandfather, if those people found out they come after me and take me away from my family. They would then make me use my powers to do a lot of bad things for them since thanks to my Great Grandfather power. He was able to become one of the strongest Ninja's around and since I have the same power, those bad people would think I could be just as powerful as he was, hence they would want me under their control. That is why I have to keep my powers secret from everyone until I'm strong enough".

"Can you really become as strong as your Great Grandfather?" asked Shion.

"One day maybe since Ka-chan and Shizune nee-chan are training me as well as Ero-sannin, my perverted Uncle".

The last comment got a confused look from Shion until Naruto explained how Jiraiya would peek on women when in the hot spring. This of course caused Shion to scowl finding what Jiraiya did disgusting.

"Besides it's my dream one to become stronger than my hero The Yondaime Hokage who defeated the Kyuubi by himself. It also my dream to become a great Healer like Ka-chan and become a Konoha Ninja like the rest of my family were, as well as become Hokage like my Great Grandfather, my Great, Great Uncle and like The Yondaime", spoke Naruto.

"Well I think you can do" said Shion which caused Naruto to smile and blush slightly.

After that the two continue to talk with one another about different things for a few hours, (although Naruto didn't mention or show any more of his abilities to Shion, since he didn't want to get into more trouble with his mother encase she found out he told Shion). This continued until they were called by Tatuho and a few of the other guards to come for dinner.

* * *

Three days after Tsunade had extracted the poison from the High Priestess body, the High Priestess awoke from her coma. When Shion found out she immediately went to her mother and cried in her arms, the High Priestess was equally happy at seeing her daughter and was even more so when she learned the Shion and Naruto had become friends. During her recovery period the High Priestess often watch the two children play, since it made her happy to see her daughter be a normal child and playing with another child.

During the following two weeks since Naruto and his family arrived at the estate both he and Shion spent everyday playing with one another along with TonTon. Often enough Shion would even watch Naruto train with is mother, when she first saw Tsunade type of training she was afraid that she might hurt Naruto. But Shizune assured her that he would be ok, which he was despite the bruises he would have (which would go away after a few minutes thanks to his quick healing), after training.

It was at this time that Naruto was running to the main gate of the estate to met Shion and five of her guards. Both he and Shion had asked both their mothers if it be ok for them to go to the small park outside the nearby village, so that they could go and play on the swing and slides, as well as the other things there since there where none of them in the estate.

Both the High Priestess and Tsunade had agreed as long as they had some guards with them and were always in sight of them.

When Naruto reached the gate he saw Shion, her mother (who came to say goodbye to Shion since she could not go with them as she was still recovering), along with the five guards, were waiting for him. When Shion greeted Naruto she saw that he had a necklace around his neck with a large green Chrystal on it. When she got a better look at it she recognised it as the same necklace he had seen his mother wear around her neck.

"Naruto-kun is that your Okasan necklace?" asked Shion.

"Hai, I found it in our bathroom where Ka-chan must have left it, I tried to find her to give it to her since its really valuable, but I couldn't find her so I keeping it around my neck so I won't lose it", answered Naruto.

"That very kind of you Naruto, now you and Shion have a nice time playing in the park and don't stray to far from the guards so that they can see you, ok", said Miroku.

"We will Okasan", replied Shion as she and Naruto walk out the gate with the guards.

* * *

At the Park

* * *

When the group arrived at the park the two young children ran off to play on the different play equipment like the slide, see-saw, jungle gym, merry-go-round, sandbox, spring rider, swing set and chin-up bars.

As the children played together the five guards watched them carefully and kept an eye out for any trouble, unfortunately trouble had already found them.

* * *

Hidden in the Tree-line Beside the Park

* * *

Unknown to the children and the guards three Chunin Ame-nin's (Rain Ninja's) hid in the tree-line watching them and waiting for the chance to strike.

"So how long do we wait Maku?" asked one of the Ame Nin's.

"We wait till the moment is right, Ken", answered the Ninja called Maku to the other Ame Ninja.

Maku was middle age man and was medium built with jet black hair, gray eyes and a round face and wore a standard Chunin out for a Ame nin. He wore a yellow shirt with a gray blue flack jacket over it, and black pants with a weapons pouch strapped to them.

The Ninja named Ken was a young man in his mid twenties he had long brown hair that he had tied up into a ponytail; he also had blue eyes and had a tin face. Also like Maku he wore a yellow shirt with a gray blue flack jacket over it, and black pants with a weapons pouch strapped to them.

"We wouldn't even have to do this if that fool the Sawa no Kuni (Swamp Country) Daimyo sent had done his job right or if he had just sent us instead to kill the High Priestess", said the third member of the Ame group. "I know Kame, but what done is done and as long as we get paid for the job I don't really care" replied Maku.

The man named Kame was the youngest of the group who was just in his twenties; he had red hair and green eyes and had a narrowing face. Also like the rest of his group he wore a yellow shirt with a gray blue flack jacket over it, and black pants with a weapons pouch strapped to them as well as a short Tanto sword strapped to his back.

"But why do we even have to kidnap the girl anyhow, can't we just go and kill the High Priestess ourselves?" asked Kame.

"We can't kill her because the High Priestess guards are on alert and will guard her constantly, not to mention the High Priestess may use her powers to see into the future like she did before and see our attack and have her guards be ready. So the best way for us to kill her is to kidnap her daughter and hold her for ransom, once the High Priestess comes to us with the Ransom we kill her", answered Maku.

"But isn't there a chance that the High Priestess might see that it's a trap and not come", spoke Ken.

"Doesn't matter if she does know it's a trap she still come since as long as there a chance that she might save her daughter she take it since a mother will do anything to protect or save its child. Beside's when we do lay the trap we will have more than one type of trap to kill her with, and even she won't be able to predict all of our traps and attacks", said Maku.

"But what do we do with the daughter once we killed her mother? Do we kill her as well or what?" asked Kame

"We take her back to Sawa Daimyo, since he told me if we can take the girl alive then he pays us double our fee. Since when the girl reach's the right age he will marry her, this would then allow him to gain control of Oni no Kuni legally. Not to mention a wife that can see into the future would be very useful to him, and any children he would have with her would most likely have her power making her more valuable to him", spoke Maku.

Both Kame and Ken nodded in understanding but could not help but be slightly disgusted with the fact that they be handing over a seven year old girl to the Sawa Daimyo. Since the Sawa Daimyo was a fifty year old man who was over weight and bald, and the fact that he was planning to make the young girl his wife made them all the more sick. But they quickly shook off their disgust, since they were paid to do a mission and as long as they got paid it was no concern to them what happened to the girl.

"Alright you two our man has just signalled us, get ready to move in a kill the guards on my command", order Maku, which the other men responded by nodding their heads in understanding.

**

* * *

**

During that time one of the guard's named Haru was happily watching Shion and Naruto play with one another on the swing. Like many of the guards in the High Priestess estate he saw how sad and lonely Shion was, but with Naruto she was happily playing and acting like a regular young girl.

Haru was a young man in his early twenties, he was about medium height and built, he had spike silver hair with a round face and purple eyes and unlike the rest of the guards he carried a large broadsword on his back. Haru also did not wear the traditional outfit of a guardsman of Oni no Kuni, Haru wore a black shirt and pants and wore crimson armoured shin guards and arm guards as well as a crimson breast plate and black cape. The reason as to why Haru was so different from the guards was because unlike the others he was not a normal guard, he was a Samurai and the High Priestess Champion, he was also the best swordsman in Oni no Kuni.

As Haru watch the Children one of the other guards named Shuda (who Haru was friendly with) came up to him. Shuda was a medium built man who was slightly taller than Haru, he was in his early thirties and had spiky red hair with brown eyes and muscular face. He also wore the tradition outfit of a guardsman of Oni no Kuni and carried a straight narrow sword in its sheath on his left hand side hip. "You certainly enjoy watching the children play", said Shuda

"Yes, I'm glad to see that Shion-san has someone her own age to be with, since she needed a friend for a very long time", replied Haru where Shuda just grunted.

The two of them continued to watch the children play until suddenly the three Ame-nins appeared out for the tree-line and quickly killed the other three guardsmen.

"Ninja's!" cried Haru as he quickly began to draw his sword out so to face the enemy Shinobi's, as he did he spoke to Shuda without taking his eyes off the Ame-nins. "Shuda! Get Shion-san and Naruto-san and head back to the estate where they be safe I try and hold the Shinobi's off until yo- Ahhhhhhhhhh!," said Haru but cried out in pain before he could finish as he felt his back his back being slashed by a sword.

As he fell down Haru turned his head slightly to see who had slashed and saw that it was his friend Shuda that had done it, who was smiling cruelly has he slashed Haru from behind.

"S-Shuda! B-b-but why?" asked Haru as he lay on the ground bleeding badly

"Simple to get rich, why else, the Daimyo of Sawa no Kuni his will pay me a small fortune to help kill the High Priestess, and once I help bring him the High Priestess spoilt brat he pay be double what I get for helping to kill the High Priestess".

"You traitor" growled Haru as he wanted noting more than to slice the man in two with is sword.

"Huh! Like I care what you think of me, you be long dead by that time", sneered Shuda as he was about finish Haru off, but before he could the Ame-nin named Kame came up to him. "The brats are gone".

"WHAT!" roared Shuda "They must of ran off into the forest as we were killing the other guards, we can't find them anywhere". "You idiots, can't you do anything right they're just kids, how hard can it be, we have to find the quickly before the High Priestess find outs that something wrong, and send out the whole guard after us", shouted Shuda as he started to he into the forest.

"What about him," asked Kame pointing a Haru who was still lying on the ground bleeding from his wound.

"Leave him with that wound he will be dead in a few minutes from the blood lose", answered Shuda as he continued into the forest. Unfortunately Shuda had underestimated Haru, since when he and the Ame-nins had gone off into the forest after Naruto and Shion. Haru lifted himself up (through sheer willpower) and started to walk back to the High Priestess estate as quickly as he could and get help. As he did he prayed that the children could keep themselves hidden from Shuda and the Ame-nins until help came.

* * *

Twenty minutes later at the High Priestess Estate

* * *

Currently sitting on the porch of her private room the High Priestess Miroku was sitting down on a chair and relaxing a little with Tatuho who was also standing next to her. The High Priestess was taking it easy, since even though she was out of the woods in terms of the poison, her body was still weak and needed to recover.

As the High Priestess was relaxing she suddenly two female heard voices loudly as if arguing and before she could have Tatuho investigate what was happening, Tsunade and Shizune (in the true form since the High Priestess knew who she was and agreed to Tsunade condition), along with TonTon burst into her room, where Tsunade started to look around while Shizune tried to calm her Senei down.

"I know I had it Shizune I just don't remember where I put it", said Tsunade angrily as she tore the room apart as she looked around.

After seeing this, the High Priestess spoke up to try to help solve whatever problem there was with Tsunade before she destroyed her room.

"Is there a problem Tsunade-sama perhaps I can help?" asked Miroku politely since she did owe the women her life after all. As Tsunade continued to look around Shizune decided to speak up, "Forgive our intrusion High Priestess it is just that my sensei has lost a very valuable heirloom belonging to her Grandfather and cannot remember where she put it".

"Would the item you are looking for perhaps be a necklace with a green Chrystal on it", asked the High Priestess. "You saw it" asked Tsunade in surprise as she stopped looking around the room.

"Yes I did I saw your son Naruto had it around his neck when he met Shion and the Guards when they were going to the park outside the estate. He had told me that the necklace was valuable and belong to your Grandfather, he had also told me that he found it in your bathroom and had looked for you to give it back, but couldn't find you so he decided to wear it around his neck to keep it safe."

When Tsunade heard this, the deep dark feeling she had been having in the pit in her stomach, ever since she realised she lost her necklace grew. Tsunade prayed that noting would happen to her son, but unfortunately her accursed bad luck followed true as always as a panic guard came rushing into the room.

"Lady Miroku! We have an emergency", cried the guard.

"What happened?"

"My Lady, we just found Haru-dono at the main gate and he was badly wounded, he told us before he passed out from his wounds, that one of the guards named Shuda attacked him right when he and the other guards were attacked by enemy Shinobi's. He also told us that all the other guards were killed by the enemy Shinobi's and also said that Shuda and the Shinobi's were hired by the Daimyo of Sawa to kill you and kidnapped your daughter. Also he told us that the Shinobi's and Shuda went after your daughter and her young friend who had ran-away into the forest when they were attacked".

The moment the guard had finish speaking Tsuande raced right pass the man (who saw noting but a yellow blur) with Shizune and TonTon hot on her heels. "Tatuho! I want you to gather as many men as you can and have them met me a the gate in five minutes" ordered the High Priestess

"But my Lady you have not yet fully recovered from the poison", spoke Tatuho. "I do not care this is my daughter's life and I will not lose her", rounded the High Priestess angrily.

"Of course my lady", said Tatuho as he and the other guard ran out the room to gather as many guards as they could. "_Please be safe Shion_", though Miroku as she left the room to met he guards at the main gate.

At the same time as the High Priestess was given orders out to her guards, Tsunade was racing out the gate with Shizune and TonTon to where Naruto and Shion were last. "_Please be alright Naru-chan, Please be alright_", though Tsunade worriedly while also thinking, "_If any of those bastards have touched so much as a hair my baby boy, they will wish they had never been born_".

"_Hold on Naruto and Shion we're coming, just hold on_", though Shizune as she did her best to keep up with her Sensei.

* * *

Naruto and Shion

* * *

As the mothers of the two children moved out to save their children, the said children were running for their lives deeper and deeper into the forest trying to keep one step ahead of their pursuers.

"Pant, Pant……. Did we lose them Naruto-kun?" asked Shion as they his behind a tree so that Shion could catch her breath.

"I don't think so, since the guys that are after us are Ninja's so I don't think we can lose them that easily", replied Naruto.

"But why are they us? What do they want?" asked Shion.

"I don't think their after us, I think they are after you," answered Naruto.

"But why?"

"Think about it Shion-chan, your Ka-chan is the ruler of this country your practically a princess. That means they want to kidnap you and hold you for ransom or someone hired them to kill you for some reason".

"Then what do we do?"

"We have to keep running and find some place to hide until my until our Ka-chan's realise that something has happen".

"But that still could be hours since we weren't due back till later on", replied Shion worriedly.

"I know but we have no choice", said Naruto angrily since he knew he stood no chance against the Ninja's, since they were all older and more experience than he was. Not only that but he also had to protect Shion as well which made it all the harder if he had to fight.

"I don't see them anywhere", cried one of the Ninja's nearby.

"Well keep looking, they have to be nearby", cried the leader of the Ninja group.

"Come on Shion we got to keep moving or they find us", said Naruto as he pulled along.

The two children quickly crawled through so bush's and moved as quickly and as quietly as possible away fro the Ame-nins. After a few minutes Naruto came to a stop and looked back to see if any of the Ame-nins were following them or were close by, but thankfully none of them were around.

"Shion-chan I have an idea, if you hide here in the bush's I can use a Jutsu to turn into you and then I can lead them away from you when they follow me".

"No!" cried Shion as tears started to spill from her eyes, "If you do that then they could hurt you or worse kill you for doing that".

"But Shion-chan they won't they are after you not me and they won't, I'm pretty good at keeping away and hiding from people so don't worry about me".

"No! There has to be another way, we can still keep running and hiding from them together, I won't let your get hurt because of me."

"But this is the best way I help protect Shion-chan," pleaded Naruto.

"I don't care and if you try and do that Naruto I will go out there and let them catch me I won't let you get hurt because of me", spoke Shion stubbornly.

"Fine then if that is the case then we just have t-", said Naruto before he quickly disappeared and reappeared behind Shion and gave her a chop at the back of the neck and knocking her out.

"Sorry Shion-chan but this is the best way I can protect you should be alright here", said Naruto as he caught Shion before she hit the ground and then gently put her on the ground behind some bushes.

After which Naruto then quickly henged into Shion and started to run off near where the Amen-nins were.

* * *

The Ame-nins

* * *

"Where the hell did those brats go?" asked Ken

"How the hell should I know" spoke Kame angrily

"The two of you shut up and keep looking, if we don't find them soon then the High Priestess will send her men here to look and find out what happen, in which case she will send her entire Royal Guard as well as her Samurai after us and we be finished", spoke Maku.

"Look there the girl," shouted Kame when she saw the disguised Naruto running through the forest.

"After her," shouted Maku as he and his teammates gave chase.

* * *

With Shion

* * *

"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH," groan Shion as she woke up.

When she finally regained her bearings, she quickly remembered what had happened to her.

"Damn you Naruto, why did you have to do that and be a hero", grumbled Shion, "If anything happens to you I never forgive."

She then quickly got up and started to try and retrace her steps to try and get out of the forest to go and get help, but unfortunately as she tried to remember she soon realised that she was lost.

"_What am I going to do I'm lost and if I don't get help soon those Ninja's may kill Naruto_", thought Shion worriedly and she tried to find something familiar that would help her get out of the forest, but unfortunately all the trees looked the same and didn't know which way they had come from.

As Shion was trying to gain her bearings in the forest she did not notice the figure coming behind her until it was too late.

* * *

With Naruto and the Ame-nins

* * *

As the disguised Naruto ran through the forest he turned his head slightly to see if the Ame-nins were following him. When he turned he saw to two of them, and before he could wonder on the whereabouts of the third, he suddenly found himself being grabbed by the third Ame-nin Kame.

"Got you, you little brat", smirked Kame which ended quickly when he found himself holding a log with exploding notes on it, and before he could throw it away it exploded right in his face.

Fortunately for Kame the explosive notes that Naruto had used were low grad ones, so the explosion did not kill him, but it did give him a few burns on his face and parts of his body that hurt like hell.

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu__(__Body Replacement Technique__)!_" thought the other two Ame Shinobi's in surprise.

"How the hell did that brat do that, she shouldn't have any Shinobi training", spoke Ken hotly.

"Well seemingly she dose", replied Maku angrily "_Damn that fool __Shuda, he never told us that the girl had Shinobi training, this makes things all the harder_".

As the two Ame-nins were talking, they suddenly heard some movement in the bushes and turned to their right and saw "Shion" running quickly from them.

Maku quickly threw severally Kunai at the disguised Naruto, which he easily dodged, but unfortunately the Kunai where never met to hit him. Since the Kunai's had Ninja wire tided to them so that when the disguised Naruto dodged them, Maku pulled the Kunai back so that the Ninja wire would rap around him

But as soon as "Shion" was tided up in the Ninja wire "she" suddenly buffed out of existence.

"_Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) (1)_", though Maku in surprise before he had to move away to dodge a few dozen Kunai.

When the disguised Naruto saw that he had missed, he quickly moved out of his hiding spot since he had given his position away when he threw the Kunai's.

But just as he did he was suddenly grabbed by a strong pair of arms and found himself facing the Ame-nin Ken, who in turned believed he was looking a Shion.

"I have you now you annoying brat", said Ken

"You think?" smirked the disguised Naruto as he threw a pepper bomb into Ken eyes, blinding him.

"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH, MY EYES……. YOU DAMN BRAT!", screamed Ken as he dropped hold of the disguised Naruto and roared in pain as he held his hands in pain.

After being let go by Ken, the disguised Naruto quickly tried to runaway again but was stop when several Shurrican's were thrown in front of him and caused him to stop. After which Maku appeared in front of Nartuo.

"Alright kid, that far enough, you caused us enough trouble as it is, so why don't do a smart thing and come quietly with us and you won't be hurt", said Maku.

"Lets not", smirked the disguised Naruto and throw a smoke bomb in front of himself, which covered both him and Maku and the area around them.

After a few seconds the disguised Naruto quickly ran out of the smoke filled area and ran as quickly as he could, but as he ran he quickly found his legs being kicked away from underneath him and causing him to fall forward. But luckily Naruto was able to keep his wit about him, and as he fell forward he threw his body forward which caused him to flip forward and land on his feet.

But as soon as he regained his footing Naruto found a Kunai blade against his throat with Maku standing behind him and holding the Kunai in a reverse grip.

"Nice try kid, but I'm a seasoned Chunin from Amegakure and a little kid like you doesn't stand a chance against someone like me. Although I give this, your pretty skilled for a kid your age and you put up a good fight, you might have made a pretty good Ninja one day.

"Thanks, but I'm not done just yet", replied the disguised Naruto and before Maku could even ask what Naruto was talking about, he suddenly felt several tiny explosions on his legs.

The tiny explosions on Maku legs were caused by Exploding Pouches that Naruto had secretly hooked onto Maku leg during the smoke screen and had activated them right when Maku had caught him.

Thankfully the Exploding Pouches had distracted Maku enough to make him move away from Naruto, which gave Naruto the chance to quickly turn around and channel his Chakra into his fist. Where he then punched Maku in the stomach, where thanks to his training with his mother, Naruto sent Maku twenty feet away and right through two trees.

"_Impossible! How on earth did a mere child gain such incredible strenght? Who on earth has been training her?"_, though Maku as he lay on top of the ruined remains of the trees he went through, since he couldn't move as his whole body was in pain. He knew that he had broken at lest eight ribs from smashing through the trees as well as from Naruto's punch.

After punching Maku, Naruto began to pant slightly since he was still not use to using his mother's super human strength. After a minute or so after gaining his breath Naruto decided to start running again, and get a head start away from the Ame-nins before they could reorganize themselves and start chasing him again.

As Naruto was about to start to run a sixth sense that he had developed from and the training he had done with his mother told him to move away. Which he thankfully did since if he had not then he would have had his back slashed from Kame. Who looked furious beyond words and seemed to beyond all reason, which was most likely due to the burns on his face that disfigured his face slightly.

"DAMN YOU, YOU CURSED BRAT I KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DONE TO ME!", roared Kame as he continued to slash at the disguised Naruto trying to kill him, completely forgetting the fact that his mission was to capture Shion and bring her in alive and unharmed.

"Damn that fool Kame he going to ruin everything", growled Maku as he lifted himself slowly up since he still was in a great deal of pain and saw Kame slashing a "Shion" with his sword who was dodging each slash.

Naruto continued to dodge the Kame sword slash's for a minute or so, during which he tried to make a counter attack that would give him a chance to get away from Kame, but could not since Kame did not give him one, since his sword slashes were relentless. It continued like this until Kame made a left hand diagonal slash at Naruto's head, which in turn he quickly made a counter-clockwise spin so avoid the sword slash. This then gave him the opening he needed to strike back at Kame, since as he spun back around Naruto was able to come upon Kame unprotected left side and hit him with a super charged spin kick.

But just as Naruto hit Kame with his super charged spin kicked, Kame turned into a wooden log which shattered once it made contact with Naruto's kick.

As soon as Kame turned into a wooden log Naruto quickly realised that Kame had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **and had replaced himself with a wooden log. But before Naruto could do anything he was blind sided by a kick to the head from Kame with caused Naruto to slam into a nearby tree.

Luckily despite being hit Naruto was still able to hold his henge so he still looked like Shion, but even still he was still slightly disoriented from being hit and then slamming against a tree. When he regained his bearings he looked around quickly for Kame, and quickly saw him standing right in front of him with his short sword above his head ready to cut Naruto head in two.

"Prepare to die you little bitch", snarled Kame angrily as he was about to swing his sword downward on the disguised Naruto.

As Kame swung his sword down Naruto could not help put try and put his hand up in front of himself to try and stop the blade (even though he knew they couldn't), and closed his eye tight as he saw the blade coming while shouting out "NO!".

And at the very moment that Naruto shouted out "no", a large wooden spike came out of the ground right in front of Naruto and impaled Kame right through the chest, lifting him in the air slightly so that he was slightly above Naruto.

When Naruto didn't feel the sword slicing through him he open his eyes to see what had happen. When he did he quickly regretted it, since right in front of him was the impaled Kame with blood coming out of his chest and dripping down that wooden spike. He also saw the dying Kame staring right at him with a look of complete shock and horror, at what had happened to him. Blood was even coming out of his mouth and landing on Naruto's face, but after a few second the life quickly left his eyes and he died.

When Naruto saw this he was completely frozen in horror at what had happen in front of him and did not understand what had happened.

"_WW-W-Wh-What happened to him?………Where did that wooden spike come from?........... D-D-DI-Did I do t-that with my Mokuton powers?......... B-B-But how did I do it?................ I d-didn't mean do summon it ……and do that to him I just wanted to stop him_",thought Naruto frighteningly sincehe did not what to kill the man, plus he did not know how he even did it.

Naruto was not the only person that was completely stunned what he had just done, both Ken and Maku were equally stunned.

"_Impossible a mere child killed Kame! ………And how the hell did that child summon that wooden spike_", thought Ken in disbelief.

"_Mokuton!_" thought Maku as he quickly recognised the special ability of The Shodaime Hokage which he had read about. "_How on earth can a child with no Shinobi blood or link to Konoha have the power of its founder?......... It's not possible_".

As the two Shinobi's continued to stare at the disguised Naruto (who was still frozen from the shocked at what he had done) in disbelief. Shuda appeared carrying a struggling Shion over his shoulder.

"What the hell is going on here", cried Shuda when he saw the scene in front of him. "Why the hell are you fools chasing after this imposter when I have High Priestess daughter here".

"What? But how can that be when we been fighting her here?" spoke Ken as he pointed to the disguised Naruto who was now getting over his shock at what he had done.

"Then she must be a fake", said Maku, as he suddenly realised that they had been fooled.

"Shion!" cried Naruto when he got over his shock and saw his friends being held by Shuda.

"Let her go!" cried Naruto as he stood and glared angrily at Shuda who just smirked.

"Who's going to make me, You? Ha! I'd like to see you try kid, you also might as well get rid of the disguise we know you're the fake", sneered Shuda as he looked down at him.

Realising that the charade was up Naruto realised his henge to reveal his true self. "Just as I thought you're the Shion little playmate, the Healers son". "Naruto-kun run away before they capture you!" cried Shion as she struggled against Shuda hold on her. "No I won't leave and abandon you Shion-chan", answered Naruto as he glared angrily at Shuda. "How sweet, you care about your little friend, but you should off listen to her boy or just run away earlier you might have lived then. But since you didn't and because you have caused us so much trouble you will have to die", sneered Shuda.

"Shuda! Don't underestimate the boy he more dangerous than he looks, look at what he did to Kame", warned Maku.

"All that shows me is that you Shinobi's are not as strong as you have everyone else believe, considering that you were defeated a mere eight year old. I finish him off so that we can finally get out of here, we wasted enough time as it is", said Shuda as he drew his sword with his one free arm.

Knowing that he did not have much time and could not make a direct attack against Shuda without risk hurting Shion, Naruto decided to try a Jutsu that he had been working on for the past few months. The Jutsu was one he had created himself but had no real luck at being able to use it, but he knew this was his only shot at saving Shion and stopping Shuda.

"_Please let this work, please let this work_", pleaded Naruto in his mind as he did three hand-signs and slammed both his hands on the ground and channelled his Chakra into the ground and cried out.

"**Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)"

After which dozens of wooden tentacles from the tree nearby came out of the ground started to rap around Shuda body, forcing him to let go of Shion and dropping his sword and then pulling him to one of the trees behind him.

"_Mokuton! He did it again, he really can use the Mokuton power of The Shodaime Hokage_", though a stunned Maku

"W-W-WH-WHAT THE HELL WHATS GOING ON!" shouted Shuda as struggled against the wooden tentacles that pulled his to the tree behind him, and rapped themselves around his body and month once he was against the tree.

Once Shuda was rapped up in the wooden tentacles, Naruto quickly went over to Shion to see if she was ok.

"Shion-chan are you ok", asked the worried Naruto as he helped her up.

"H-H-Hai I-I think so"

"Then come we have to run before those other two Ninja guys come after us", spoke Naruto has he pulled Shion with him and started to run.

But unfortunately they did not get far before Maku and Ken capture them by throwing theirSurujin's, which quickly rapped around their bodies and legs and stopping the children from running and further.

As the two children tired to struggle free the two Ame-nins came and walked up to them, once they got to them Ken turned to Maku.

"So what do we do with the boy?"

"We will take him with us back to Amegakure"

"What! But why, after all the trouble he caused us and after killing Kame, we should just kill here and now"

"Don't be a fool, you saw what the boy was able to do and how well he fought not to mention he has the Mokuton powers of The Shodaime Hokage. If we bring him back to Ame and present him to Hanzō-sama we will be heroes, since we would have brought him a child with the powers of Mokuton. Plus considering how strong he is now image how strong he would be once he was properly trained by Hanzō-sama and if we got him to be loyal to our village, he could help Ame become the sixth great Shinobi power. Not to mention he could start up a Clan full of Mokuton users in Ame helping it to become as great as Konoha just like the Senju Clan did for them", spoke Maku with earnest.

After hearing this Ken could not help but agree with Maku since the boy could be the key to Ame gaining untold about of power and glory. Not to mention if you combined his power with their leader Hanzō then Ame would become powerful enough to challenge even Konoha.

After that both the Ame Ninja's agreed that once they brought Shion to the Sawa Daimyothey would bring Naruto back to Ame with them.

But just when the two Ame-nin's were about to pick up the two struggle children, Maku saw something heading towards them at the corner of his eye and quickly shouted move to Ken, where they jumped away . As soon as they had moved they saw that the object that was about to hit them was a massive tree that was thrown at them. When the tree flew past them and the children if crashed into several more trees nearby and destroyed them completely.

"_What hell_" though both Ame–nins when they saw that the object was a tree.

Once the tree crashed into the other trees, the two Ame-nins started to look around as to who or what had thrown that tree at them.

When they started to look around they quickly saw who had thrown the tree, since the person had appeared right next to the two tied up children. When they saw who the person was their faces quickly went ghost white and both of them took several steps back in fear. For right before them was none other than Senju Tsuande, The Slug Princess and one of The Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja), but what scared the Ame-nins the most was that she look furious beyond words.

But if the Ame-nin thought they were in trouble before what Naruto said next made them wish they had never laid eyes on Naruto.

"Ka-chan!"

Once they heard Naruto utter those words the two Ninja's knew they were dead men.

"_Tsuande of the Sannin had a child!_" though Ken in surprise and in fear, since he knew what would most likely happen to him now.

"_The boy is the son of Tsuande! .........No wonder the boy is so strong and has Mokuton powers of The Shodaime Hokage, he's his descendant. No matter what, we need to get back to Ame fast and report this to __Hanzō-sama immediately_", though Maku.

But just has he had finish thinking that he made eye contact with the vengeful looking Tsunade and nearly shitted himself from the murder look in her eyes, he then knew that the chances of them escaping let alone surviving were very, very slim.

As Tsunade glared at the two terrified Ame-nins, Shizune quickly appeared behind her with her Senbon needles out and ready, right next to her was also TonTon who looked ready to fight as well.

"Shizune! Take Naruto and Shion away from here they don't need to see what I about to do two these bastards", spoke Tsuande without taking her eyes off the two nins.

"Hai Tsuande-sensei", replied Shizune as she quickly picked up to two tied up children and ran off to somewhere safe with TonTon following behind her.

As Shizune ran off carrying the children to safety, Tsunade then focused her full attention of the two Ame-nins.

"You bastards made two mistakes today, the first was that you bastards took the job that the Daimyo of Sawa no Kuni hired for and the second was………YOU THREATED AND ATTACKED MY SON!", spoke Tsuande as he roared the last part and released a massive amount of Killing Intent that practically made the Ame-nins shit themselves.

After which Tsunade then leaped forward into to the air and quickly came falling down to the ground doing a falling axe kick while crying out "**Tsūtenkyaku** (Painful Sky Leg)", after which she landed right between the two Ame-nins and created a gigantic crater.

Both Ken and Maku barely jump out of the way of the massive attack, but had several large cuts from the debris of the attack.

"_Her strength is monstrous! How can she even be human!........ Its no wonder she and her former comrades were able to survive battling against __Hanzō-sama with power like that"_, though Ken in both awe and fear of the sight of Tsunade super human strength.

"_Shit_ _we have to get out of here now and fast! We don't stand a chance against one of the Sannin especially one that is a mother_", thought Maku as he knew that a mother protecting its offspring was dangerous enough. But the fact that Tsunade was both a mother and a Kage level Shinobi made her ten times more dangerous than she usually was, and the worst type of person anyone would want to face against.

"Ken! We have to get away from here now we're no match for her", shouted Maku to his comrade who nodded and was about to run, but before he could Tsunade appeared right of him and delivered a massive upper cut breaking his jaw and sending him flying into the air. After which before Ken could even registered what had happened to him, Tsunade appeared again over him in mid-air and delivered another massive falling axe kick, hurtling him down to the ground and creating a massive crater and killing him, as well as breaking every bone in his body at the same time.

Once Maku saw what happened to Ken he tried to run but was stopped by some Senbon needles hitting him in the back of both his legs and causing him to fall forward to the ground.

When he turned around to pull the needles out he was just able to see Tsunade falling towards him from the air with her fist smashing down into him.

Once her fist connected with Maku his body exploded from the sheer power of her strength, where Tsunade was then left in the middle of yet another massive crater but this time cover in the blood of one of the Ame-nins.

After dealing with the two remaining Ame-nins, Tsunade turned and looked over to the impaled Kame, once she saw that he was impaled with a wooden spear she quickly realised what must have happened. After which a new surge of rage came over her and she began to wish that she could bring the Ame-nins back to life just so that she could kill them again, but this time slower and more painful for what they forced her innocent son to do.

After she had disposed of the Ame-nins bodies and striped them of anything useful, Tsunade then turned again to the struggling Shuda who was trying (but failing) to get out of the wooden binds. As he struggled he saw the blood covered Tsunade heading towards him, as she slowly walked over to him, he could feel a potent Killer Intent coming from her, as well as see a dark menacing aura surrounding her.

This made her seem like she was some Goddess of Death, which was made more believable to Shuda due to the fact that she was cover in blood and he had seen her butcher Ken and Maku with frightening ease. As she came up to him, a pungent stench could be smelled coming from him and a large wet spot seen between his legs.

Once Tsunade reached Shuda she grabbed him by the neck and forcefully pulled him out of the wooden binds and held him up with a vice like grip around his neck.

"You should consider yourself very, very lucky that I'm not going to kill you, since if I was I would do it very slowly for trying to harm my son and Shion. But since I need you right now I'm going to let you live for now, since I what you to tell me what the Daimyo of Sawa wanted you to do and if you have better no lie to me. Because I know if you do, and if you try I will turn you inside out and thrown you into a vat of salt. Are we clear?" spoke Tsunade to which Shuda just nodded and started to spill his guts to Tsunade.

* * *

A Half hour later

* * *

After Shizune had taken the children with her, she ran off to a clearing a bit away from where she and Tsunade had found the children. She then untied them and after hugging Naruto tightly for still being safe, she began to check the children over for any injuries which thankfully were minor with small cuts and bruises.

When Shizune had finishing looking over the two children she asked Naruto to tell them what happened, but when she asked Naruto he refused to speak or even look at her as if he was ashamed of doing something.

Seeing this Shizune grew concerned and tried to get Naruto to speak but he wouldn't say a word, Shizune then asked Shion to tell her what had happened. At first Shion was unsure if she should tell what had happened, but when Shizune pleaded her and she saw the concerned look on her face, Shion decided to tell Shizune.

Shion then began to tell Shizune everything that happened about how the guards were ambushed and how they were chased by the Ame-nins. As well as when Naruto knocked her out and disguised himself as her, and then how she was captured and how she was brought to where Naruto was fighting the Ame-nins and how he defended her until Tsunade had arrived.

When Shizune heard Shion side of the story she could not help but feel a mixture of emotions after hearing the story. Although she was extreme proud of her Godson/little brother/nephew for protecting his friend and being so brave. She was even amazed that Naruto was able to hold off three fully trained Chunin's by himself and was able to create and use a Mokuton Jutsu that he himself created by himself without any help. But still she was extremely angry at him for putting himself in harms way, by acting as a decoy for the Ame-nins to following him where he could have been killed.

But Shizune held off her anger since she still did not have the whole picture as to what had happened, since she still did not yet know what fully happened in the fight between Naruto and the Ame-nins since Shion was not there to see it.

Shizune then went over to Naruto and gently put her hand on Naruto shoulder (who flinched slightly at her touch) and spoke to him gently.

"Naruto, I know you don't what to talk about it but please tell me, since I what to help you since I know something bad must of happened to you between those Ninja's and you".

"I would like to know what happened there as well", spoke a familiar female voice.

When the group heard the voice they all quickly turned around and saw Tsunade (not covered in blooded since she used a Water Jutsu to wash away the blood) dragging a unconscious Shuda behind her.

"Sensei are you alright? .....What happened to the Ame-nins?" asked Shizune

"I'm fine Shizune and those bastards have been dealt with", replied Tsunade simply, "Now as I was saying, I would also like to know what happen, although I have heard most of what happen from this bastard, (where Tsunade lift the unconscious Shuda and then dropped him on the ground), and I have a fair idea of what happened, I still like to hear it from you Naru-chan".

Even after his mother asked to hear what Naruto did not answer and continue to look ground and just when Tsunade was about to ask him again Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"If I tell you, you will hate me and think I'm a monster an-", said Naruto with tears in his eyes and before he could say any more he was suddenly enveloped into a strong hug by his mother.

"Sssssssshhhhhhhhh, Naru-chan I could never hate you and you have never done anything wrong in your life, we all just want to help you, that why you should tell us. Because if you bottle it all up it will hurt you later on, talking about things like this to people usually help".

For the next few minutes Naruto said noting and just cried in his mothers arms, but after a while he stopped. He then told them everything from how he lead the Ame-nins away and fought them, to how he killed the Ame-nin, Kame with his Mokuton powers and protected Shion.

When Naruto was finish he then looked to his mother with tear stained eyes "I sorry Ka-chan, I didn't mean to kill that man it was an accident, I swear please don't hate me", said the upset Naruto

The next thing Naruto knew he was enveloped is another strong hug by his mother who was now crying herself "You don't need to be sorry Naru-chan it wasn't your fault you didn't do anything wrong, if anyone to blame its them for forcing you to do it and me for not being there to protect you when you needed me".

As the mother and so cried in each others arms Shizune and Shion watch them, since neither of them wanted to interfere.

As Shion watched Tsuande and Naruto she herself started to cry, since she blamed herself for what happen, since it was her idea to go out here and it resulted in her guards being killed and her friend having to kill someone.

Shizune was also crying a little and when she saw Shion crying and blaming herself she went over to comfort the poor girl, since she believed it was all her fault at what happened.

Thankfully Shizune convinced her that it wasn't her fault but the girl continued to cry a little, as she did Shizune looked over Shuda and could not help but glare angrily at the unconscious man. Since if there was anyone to blame it was him, since he was the one you told the Ame-nins where to attack.

As he glared at the man she wished that she could get her hand on the man and perform surgery on the man, while he was awake and without any aesthetics' and remove his organs one by one for putting the children in harms way (since she hated when children were harmed), and for making her Godson/Nephew/Little Brother kill a man.

After a while when everyone had calm down a bit Tsunade, Shion, Shizune, Naruto, TonTon and the unconscious Shuda (who was being dragged by Tsuande by his left foot) walk out of the forest.

When they were out of the forest they were met by the High Priestess Miroku along with eighty Royal Guards and twenty Samurai.

"Oka-san!" cried Shion when she saw her mother with the Royal Guards and Samurai.

"Shion!" cried Miroku when she saw her daughter and quickly ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Thank the heavens that you safe" said Miroku after which she then turned to Tsunade (who was under her special Genjutsu henge again along with Shizune) "Thank you Hana-san (2), not only did you save my life, but also the life of my daughter I'm forever in your debt".

"Do not thank me High Priestess, thank my son Naruto, he was the one that protected her until I had arrived and had he not, it would be certain that she would be in the hand s of those Shinobi's and on her way to Sawa no Kuni now", replied Tsunade.

"What exactly did the Daimyo of Sawa no Kuni want with my daughter", asked the High Priestess slightly angrily, since she wanted answers.

"He wanted to take over your country and adsorb it into his own, since with you dead your country would be without a leader and be easy to take over. When the first attempted failed he had the Ame-nins and this Shuda bastard to kidnap your daughter and hold her from ransom. They would they have you go to a certain place with minimum guards and kill you, after that they would bring Shion to the Sawa Daimyo and when she reach marrying age he would marry her. So that when he took over your country it would be a legal take over since Shion is your daughter and rightful ruler of Oni no Kuni, not to mention he want your bloodline power to see into the future", finished Tsunade since she found the whole plan disgusting and when she first heard it she punched Shuda lights out.

"He will pay this", spoke the High Priestes furiously as want to make the man pay for what he done.

"Here! This will be very useful in handling him", said Tsuande as she tossed a rolled up scroll to the Miroku.

"What is it?" asked the Miroku as she caught the scroll.

"It's a letter from the Daimyo of Sawa to this bastard", said Tsunade pointing to Shuda again "Stating for him to help with the kidnapping of your daughter Shion and the Assassination on you, the idiot had it on him when I searched him. This will prove what the Daimyo of Sawa no Kuni tried to do, and if you release the news what happened here and this letter proving the Sawa Daimyo underhanded tactics, which will put him in a bad spot with the other nations. Especially with Konoha since you are our ally and I don't think he will what to mess with both Oni no Kuni, its allied Nations and Konoha all at once so it will have to sue for peace on your terms".

"Thank you Hana-san I owe you much", said Miroku to Tsunade after which she then kneeled do to Naruto to face him "And I owe you even more Naruto-san thank you for protecting Shion".

"Your welcome Miroku-san", said Naruto quietly with a sad and weak smile, which cause the High Priestess to asked Tsunade what happened since he was not himself, when she asked Tsunade told her that Naruto had accidently killed one of the Ninja's when he fought them.

At this the High Priestess gasp and unshed tear threatened to fall, as her heart went out to the poor boy, since no child should have to do what he had to do, this just made anger at the Daimyo of Sawa grow and swore she make the man pay heavily for what he had done.

"I'm truly sorry for what you had to do Naruto and I will not forget my debt to you, thank you", spoke the High Priestess, as she knelt down and hugged Naruto in gratitude for what he done for her and her daughter.

After she got up she had her guards take Shuda from Tsunade and place him in the dungeon under heavy guard when they reached the estate, and be kept there until he was fully interrogated and was tried for treason.

After the guards took Shuda away the group started to head back together to the estate.

* * *

Later on

* * *

A month after the event with the attempted kidnapping of Shion things started to settle down. News of the failed kidnapping attempt on Shion spread (although information on Naruto and Tsunade involvement was kept secret per Tsunade request). When the allied countries of Oni no Kuni (which included Konoha) learned of the Daimyo of Sawa attempt of kidnapping the High Priestess daughter (with the letter proving his involvement). They immediately started to put heavy politically pressure on both the Daimyo and his country. They threatened to palace an embargo on the country as well as threatening to declare war if he did not make heftily compensations for what he had done. Eventually the Daimyo of Sawa no Kuni complied and had to give a very large sum of money to High Priestess and give up rights to several territories and hand them over to the rule of Oni no Kuni.

During that time Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune and TonTon continued to stay in the estate to monitor the High Priestess health until she fully recovered, as well as to help Naruto deal with what had happened. It had took awhile but eventually Shizune and Tsunade with a little help from Shion helped Naruto come to terms with what he had done and deal with it.

Afterward Tsuande even let Naruto keep her necklace since she had a feeling that it would be usefully to Naruto later on in his life.

Once Naruto had come to terms with it Tsunade decided that it was time for them to start moving again.

"Must you leave, you are all more than welcome here and both Oni no Kuni and myself owes all of you much", spoke High Priestess Miroku.

"Indeed we can never thank you enough", spoke Haru who had recovered from his wounds.

"Yes considering what happen earlier if we stay we my draw attention on ourselves, which is something that we wish to avoid as we have told you, so I think it would best if we leave", replied Tsunade.

"Very well then, but know that you are all more than welcome to come back again, for you are all honoured heroes here and when the time is right everyone in Oni no Kuni will know of it", said the high Priestess.

"Thank you, will shall return one day", replied Shizune as she bowed slightly.

"We look forward to that day, since we can then honour both you Tsunade-sama and you Naruto-sama properly for saving both Shion-san and Lady Miroku", spoke Tatuho as he bowed respectfully to them.

"I going to miss you Naruto-kun, you were my best friend", said Shion sadly as tears began to fall down her eyes since she was losing her only real friend.

"What do you mean by were best friends, we are still best friends and noting going to change that", spoke Naruto as he went to Shion.

"Here this is for your Shion-chan", said Naruto has he handed Shion a small potted Satsuki Azalea bonsai tree that he had hidden behind his back "This is something for you so that you can remember me by, it's a Satsuki Azalea bonsai tree that are not that many, since they are hard and slow to grow but it was no problem for me".

The adults of the group of the two groups could not help but smile as they saw Naruto give the small bonsai tree to a blushing but smiling Shion, who took from it from him.

"It beautiful thank you Naruto-kun", said Shion as she then did something that surprised everyone especially Naruto, she gave him a soft but gentle kiss on his left cheek.

When Miroku saw this she was surprise at first like the rest but that turned quickly to a smile especially when Shion moved away and Naruto began to blush red from what she had done. The high Priestess even giggled like a schoolgirl when she saw that he daughter was now as red as a cherry from what she had done and had her head down trying to hide it.

"_It seems that Shion has a little crush on Naruto_", though Miroku as she giggled again and thought how cute the two would be if they got together.

Both Haru and Tatuho were equally surprise but then smiled.

When Shizune saw this she could not help but giggle as well.

"_They look so cute!_", thought Shizune, "_Naruto going to get a lot of teasing about this from me later on_".

Even TonTon cried "Oink" in laughter of what happen.

The only person that was not laughing or smiling was Tsunade

"_Just great it already started; these little harpies are already trying to steal my innocent Naru-chan from me_", though Tsunade as she started to grumble "_But if she think she can sink her claws on him then she got another thing coming_".

After that Tsunade and the other started to walk away as they did the High Priestess, Tatuho, Haru and Shion waved goodbye to them. After Tsunade, Naruto, Shizune and TonTon were out of site the High Priestess and the other head back into the estate. As they did the High Priestess suddenly turned her head slightly and spoke to her daughter, "Well Shion now that you have gotten yourself a little boyfriend when should I start planning the wedding".

"Oka-san!" cried an embarrass Shion as her mother along with Tatuho and Haru laughed at the young girl's bright red face.

"Well, Well, Well Naru-chan your growing up to be quite the little ladies man since you already got your first girlfriend, soon enough you have loads girls chasing after you", giggled Shizune.

"Oink" cried TonTon in agreement.

"Can it nee-chan, Shion not my girlfriend", cried a still red Naruto "_I just hope that Shion-chan kiss doesn't have any cooties_". (Authors Note: come on he only eight and all boys at that age think girls have cooties)

"Well didn't you say that she was your friend and she is a girl, so that means she is "your girlfriend doesn't it?" teased Shizune.

"She not my girlfriend………erm, I mean she is a girl………and erm, she is my friend………but that doesn't me that she my girlfriend………eh, I mean it does……..but that is………….eeeehhhhhh…….but she is…………..aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh", cried Naruto has he held his head in confusion at what he was trying to say. While Shizune just giggled at embarrassing the poor boy.

"Maybe we should give Naru-chan the "Talk"……eeeeeehhhhhhh! ……..Tsaunade-sensei?" asked Shizune innocently although smirking at the reaction she knew Tsuande would have.

"Over my dead drunken body!" cried Tsunade "There no way I'm going to let any of those little harlots try and corrupt my sweet baby".

While at the same time thinking,"_This wasn't happen so soon, things like this wasn't suppose to happen till puberty, I'm not ready, I'm too young to deal with this_",

At this Shizune just laughed at Tsuande reaction and continued to tease and annoy both her and Naruto about Shion kiss for the rest of the day.

N/A

Done at last that was my longest Chapter for this story yet, but still that another chapter done tell me what you think.

Also my newest story will be up in a few days so look out for it and as for fans of my other story Raikage. I'm sorry to say that it might take me a little while to finish, since I'm in the middle of the big report that is worth fifty percent of my course and it is due in the next month hence it will take some time to get it out of the way. I will do my best to bring Raikage up as soon as I can but collage comes first I' am afraid.

Also any and all suggestions for this story are welcome; if you have any I will listen to them and tell you what I think of them.

Another thing, note that Flames are unwelcome so if you don't like my stories then don't read them and if you do send any flames then they will be ignored.

(1) Jairya taught Naruto the Shadow Clone Jutsu when he came to train Naruto

(2) The name that Tsunade gose as when in the High Priestess estate

P.S. Pairing is not offical until after the Chunin exam's


	7. Chapter 7

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Seven: Chance Meeting.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Radio Talk/Demon Talk" **_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

It had been two years after the event in Oni no Kuni and during that time Naruto had changed a good bit since then. After nearly being captured and killed by the Ame-nins, Tsunade had doubled Naruto's training regimen as well as his Medical studies.

She had also called in Jiraiya and informed him of the events that happened and asked him to create a tracking seal for Naruto and place it on him. Jiraiya did this by carving a tracking Seal onto a chain earring and putting it onto Naruto's right ear.

This way, if ever Naruto was in trouble or was missing, Tsunade or Jiraiya could easily track Naruto with it, since they would wear special rings with seals on them, which would allow them to track down Naruto wherever he went. The Seal also worked where if Naruto channelled his Chakra into the Chain earring, Jiraiya and Tsunade's rings would heat up and tell them that he was in trouble and needed help.

Tsunade also put her **Sōzō Saisei **(Creation Rebirth) on Naruto's forehead and then taught him how to focus and store Chakra into it and then release it. So to use the **Infūin: Kai **(Yin Seal: Release), so that if he was ever seriously hurt he could use it to heal himself. Tsunade had done this since she would rather have Naruto shorten his life very slightly than lose it entirely.

Naruto had also become more dedicated to his training ever since his fight with the Ame-nins, where he had gotten a first-hand experience of how dangerous the life of a Shinobi was. He had also used his desire to protect his family and friends to focus more on becoming stronger. So that he could protect his friends and family better, since he knew that the day would come when they would be unable to help him and they would need him to protect them in turn.

During Naruto's training they focused a great deal on Naruto mastering his new super human strength and although he could use it much better than he used to. He still was not on the same level as his mother, but still could do a lot of damage to people and things. Naruto had also gotten better in using Medical Jutsu's as he was able to assist his mother in healing people with non-life threatening injuries or illness. He had even proven to be more skilled in certain areas than Tsunade, where he could use **Chakura no Mesu **(Chakra Scalpels) in close combat in a fight.

During a training spar, Naruto showed that he was precise enough to be able to effectively cut several muscle tissues and tendons on her arms and legs and made it hard for her to move quickly enough or correctly.

Tsunade also trained Naruto in Genjutsu where he showed to be surprisingly skilled in it where, he was able to quickly grasp the concept of Genjutsu. For example when Naruto caught Jiraiya trying to peak into the women's hot-spring he put Jiraiya in a Genjutsu so that instead of seeing naked girls Jiraiya would see old naked ladies with loads of wrinkles on their body.

Jiraiya's screams of horror, could heard all around the town when it happened and caused him to have a cardiac arrest. While at the same time Naruto maniac laughing could also be heard, since over time Naruto had inherited several traits from Tsunade. The first was that he liked to gamble, but wasn't as addicted to it as Tsunade was and was very good at it. The second was that he had inherited Tsunade nasty short temper; although he could control it better than she could but when he lost it there would be a lot of collateral damage just like with his mother. The third trait was that he got a perverse pleasure of beating up and torturing perverts much to Jiraiya dismay. Who had been the object of most of Naruto attacks on perverts, which involved him pranking Jiraiya. At the same time Naruto had somehow also gained at taste for playing pranks on people and was very good at it.

Jiraiya had also trained him in Ninjutsu and taught him Earth Jutsu's like **Doton: Retsudo Tenshō **(Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm), **Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu **(Earth Clone Technique), **Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique), **Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Hiding like a Mole Technique) and **Doton: Doroku Gaeshi **(Earth Style: Earth Shore Return). While he also helped him learn Water Jutsu's like **Suiton: Mizurappa **(Water Style: Violent Water Wave), **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu **(Water Clone Technique) and **Suiton: Suishi no Jutsu **(Water Style: Water Drowning Technique).

Also thanks to the Shodai Hokage's Necklace which Naruto now wore, his Mokuton skills improved where he could use **Mokuton: Hirane **(Wood Style: Impaling Roots) (1), as well as **Mokuton: Mōkushōku **(Wood Style: Wooden Tentacles). He even taught himself how to use **Moku Bunshin no Jutsu **(Wood Style: Wooden Clone Technique) after he learned **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu**, **Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu**, as well as **Mokuton: Henge **(Wood Style: Transformation).

Jiraiya also helped Naruto improve his Sealing skill where he could easily Seal objects and tools into scrolls, as well as use the **Shikoku Fūin **(Finger Engraving Seal) and a couple other Sealing Techniques.

Also after the events in Oni no Kuni, Naruto kept in close contact with Shion where they wrote to one another, but after a year Shion stopped writing back to him. When he mentioned it to his mother, she said that maybe Shion was busy in training to be the next Shrine maiden with her mother, since it took a lot of hard work and learning to be one and she was too busy to write right now.

Naruto accepted the answer since Shion had mention to him that her mother was training her to be a Shrine maiden and it was hard work to train to be one, but still he felt concerned as to why she did not reply once to him.

**-**A few Months Later in the Middle of a Forest in Mori no Kuni (Forest Country) –

Naruto was currently walking alone in the forest to train; both Tsunade and Shizune along with TonTon were in the local village treating a few people. He had told his mother that he was going to train in the forest for a short while by himself since he found that sometimes he needed train alone.

Tsunade had naturally been concerned when Naruto did this, but Naruto had promised that he would avoid any trouble and keep a low profile and keep from being notice by anyone. Also since he still wore his tracking earring, she would know if he was ever in trouble and be able to find him quickly.

Naruto wore a pair of Grey Shinobi Pants, Black Shirt with his Great Grandfathers necklace underneath it and a Pair of sandals and a Grey zip Jacket over his Black shirt.

As Naruto trained alone in the forest he made sure that there was no-body nearby by sending out Shadow Clones to keep an eye out for anyone that may be coming his way and see him training. Knowing how important that his identity was kept secret until the time was right for his heritage to be announced.

Naruto was training hard in Taijutsu, since he had realized that he needed a style of fighting that worked well for him, where he could use his speed and naturally agility along with his Super strength to their full extent. Although his mother was a skilled fighter in Taijutsu she had no real style, she mainly used her sheer power and strength to overwhelm her opponents. Naruto knew this would not work for him, since he was not his mother and overwhelming his enemies with brute strength and power would not work for him. He knew there would be enemies out there that could not be defeat with strength and power alone and so he decided to create his own Taijutsu style. Since he didn't really have a Taijutsu teacher to train him since neither his mother, Shizune or Jiraiya were Taijutsu experts in any real style that he could use.

For the past year Naruto was trying to create a fighting style that was agile, fast moving and hard hitting where he would use not only his fists and feet, but also his elbows and knees. He would use fast moving hits jabs and kicks to confuse his opponents and keep them off balance, and at the same time use his natural agility to dodge or avoid his opponent's attacks. He would also use variations of powerful knee strikes, elbow strikes, punches and kicks with his Super strength to break or crush different parts of his opponent's bones with a single hit.

Thanks to his medical training from Shizune, Naruto knew what parts of the body were sensitive to hits and what parts of the body could cause the most pain to a person. He even trained himself to use several different locks on people that would cause even more pain to them and keep hold of them.

Although Naruto had made good progress in developing and creating his new style of fighting he knew that he was still a long way away from fully developing it.

After a few hours Naruto had decided that he head back to his family temporary home and make some lunch.

As he travelled he soon felt two very powerful Chakra signatures and three minor ones coming not far from where he was. Judging by how strong they were, Naruto figured they were Shinobi since they were too high to be to ordinary people. Not recognizing them Naruto decided to go investigate them and see who they were.

After about ten minutes, Naruto finally came up to where he felt the Chakra signatures. The people he felt were camped in a small clearing with a fire pit in the middle and several sleeping bags around it. The five people he had sensed were in the clearing, four of them were kids who looked to be about his age, if not slightly older, three of the kids were girls while the other was a boy. The fifth person was a large dark skin man who he saw talking to the kids, when Naruto saw the group his thoughts on them being Shinobi was confirmed, by the way they were dressed.

One of the girls was the same Dark skin colour as the older man; she had dark Red hair that reach down to her shoulder blades and with a bandana on her head. She had Golden eyes with small round Golden earrings; she wore a Grey top, a long Black skirt with Black Shinobi pants underneath it and sandals. She also hand a Long Katana on her back.

Another girl was Pale skin and had short Blond hair just around her chin; she had Blue eyes and wore a short revealing skirt with a Grey shirt and a slight midriff showing that she wore a fishnet shirt underneath it. Her appearance also showed she was already at the stage where her breasts were developing well and her body was also starting to become curvy. Showing that in a couple of years' time the girl would be a real knockout. Also like the Red head girl the Blond girl had a long Katana on her back.

The third girl had long Blond hair that was tied up in a ponytail that reach down her back she had Dark eyes that were cat like shaped and was almost as curvy as the other Blond girl and was only starting to develop. She wore Grey Shinobi pants with a Black short sleeve top with fishnet shirt underneath it and wore Black fingerless gloves and Grey sandals with leg guards. Like the other two girls she also carried a Long Katana on her back.

The boy was Dark skinned with spiky White hair. He had a grey baggy hoody with Black Shinobi pants and sandals and also wore fingerless Red Tekkou, Naruto also saw him sucking on a lollipop. Like the girls the boy also carried a Long Katana on her back.

The Dark-skinned man who was clearly the kid's sensei possessed a muscular build, as well as White hair and beard. On his right shoulder, he had a tattoo that says "iron" and on his left cheek, he had a tattoo of a bull's horn. He wore oval-shaped sunglasses and a White-coloured forehead protector. He also wore a White-coloured one-strap-over-one-shoulder Flak Jacket for a Jonin, with a Red rope tied around his waist, White hand-bands, and a White scarf around his neck and carried seven swords on his back.

When Naruto saw the symbols of the headband on the group's heads he knew that the group was from Kumo, since he had learned all the symbols of the current Shinobi villages by heart after the Ame-nin incident. Since he wanted to know more about the Shinobi world, where should another incident like what happen in Oni no Kuni happen again, he would a least know what calibre of Shinobi he would be up against.

Naruto could also sense the stronger of the two Chakra signatures that he had sense was coming from the sensei while the other was coming from the blonde girl with the ponytail.

This of course surprised Naruto, even though he knew that some people would be naturally born with high Chakra levels he did not expect as much as what he was sensing from the girl.

As he watch them Naruto saw the sensei taking out one of his swords and then have the boy come forward and take out his own Katana.

Although Naruto could not hear them it was obvious that they were having a spar while the girls watch and no doubt waited for their turn to spar with their sensei.

As he watched the boy and his sensei spar, Naruto could not help but be impressed by how well the boy fought with his sword. Although it was obvious that the sensei wasn't going all out and was only really playing with him, it was still interesting to watch.

Soon enough Naruto watched the short haired Blond girl and the Red haired girl each take their turns to spar against their sensei, after the Red girl was defeated. Naruto's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to move closer so he could watch them better and hear what they were saying.

Carefully Naruto snuck through the trees around the group and moved closer to the group.

From his new spot that was closer to the group, Naruto could fully see what they were doing and now hear what they were saying.

"Nice move there little Yugito" the man said as he blocked her sword strike.

"Hpmh" the girl named Yugito replied as she glared at her Sensei and got her sword ready to strike again.

But before she could move the sensei quickly put up his hand to signal her to stop, "Hold on Little Kitty, I just thought up a good rhyme" the man said. He then took out a notebook and pencil and began to write down something.

"SENSEI!...This is no time for you to write down one of your stupid rhymes and I thought I told you not to call me that" Yugito yelled angrily.

"Hey don't dis the rhyming of Rhyme Master Bee", the man replied as he looked up at the blonde girl.

"I'll dis them all I want when they interfere with my training and besides I'm getting pretty sick of-", Yugito replied angrily, but stopped when her Sensei suddenly threw his pencil which was covered in Lightning Chakra.

The pencil flew right past her with incredible speed and went through some bushes behind her.

After the man threw the lightning enhanced pencil, Naruto jumped out of the bushes to avoid it, where it then went through the space that his head was in a moment ago. But even as he avoided the projectile, the pencil cut his left check slightly and then went through two tree trunks before it fell to the ground much to Naruto shock.

But when he jumped out of the way of the Lightning enhanced pencil, he had also revealed himself to Yugito and the other Kumo Shinobi.

"I spy with my little eye, some stupid fool, spying on I" the man said in a bad rhyme when Naruto jumped out of the bushes.

When Naruto realized that he had revealed himself to the Kumo team he quickly ran off into the forest.

"Who the hell was that", the dark skinned red headed girl asked.

"I do not know, but we should go after him and capture him, he may be a spy for another village", said the short haired blonde girl.

"Samui is right we need to go after him now", Yugito said, where she, the girl known now as Samui and the other two students went after Naruto. Leaving their Sensei alone who just sighed and went after his students to make sure that nothing would happened to them.

-With Naruto and the Kumo Students-

As Naruto ran through the forest he cursed himself for the tenth time about being so curious and not leaving well enough alone, while at the same time wondered how he kept getting himself into these kinds of messes.

Naruto continued to run through the forest until he suddenly forced to stop, when several Shurikens were thrown in front of him. As soon as he stopped, he the found himself surrounded by the four students with their swords drawn.

"He's just a kid!" the Dark skinned Red headed girl said.

"Hey! who are your calling just a kid", Naruto angrily said as he didn't like being called that by a girl who was about the same age as him.

"Forget it…Now come with us peacefully and you won't be hurt, we have some questions for you", the boy said.

"Lets…not", Naruto said as he dropped several small flash smoke bombs on the ground causing a bright flash and the area around them to be filled with smoke.

"Cough…Cough…Cough he used a flash smoke bombs on us…Cough" the boy croaked.

"It's not only that….Cough, Cough…He also must have mixed some pepper powder into the smoke bomb so to blind us", Sami croaked as her eyes and throat were burning from the pepper powder.

Soon after the four Kumo Genin got out of the smoke filled area and used the Water from their canteens to wash away the power from their eyes.

Once the pepper powder was out of their eyes the boy quickly looked around the ground for any tracks that Naruto may have left, when he looked he saw several different tracks leading in different directions.

"Which way did he go Omoi?" asked Yugito.

"I can't tell seemingly there are at least four different tracks leading in four different directions. My guess is he created Clones when he used those flash smoke pepper bombs and had them go in different directions so to confuse us. It's a smart move since if we all follow one, we have a one in four chance of picking the right one and if we split up into pairs. We have a one in two chance of picking the right one and if we each split up and each chase after one. One of us will go after the real one while the other three chase after the Clones", the boy named Omoi said as he looked to the tracks on the ground.

"That is probably what he wants; since we would be separated from one another and will be unable to use our numbers to our advantage. Since the one who picks him would have to fight him by themselves without the rest of us to help" Samui answered.

"We have no other choice, we can't let him get away, he's clearly a Shinobi as he has the training" Yugito replied.

"So who goes where?" the Red haired girl asked.

"Samui you go follow the one that's gone West, Omoi you go follow the one that's headed North, Karui you go follow the one that's heading northwest. I'll follow the one that's going East" Yugito said where the rest of her team nodded and went after their target.

-With Karui-

After about fifteen minutes of tracking her target, Karui soon caught sight of her target as she chased after him she heard Yugito on the radio.

"_**Cat to Fiery Red, Sucker and Cold Blonde come in guys, over**_".

"_**I'm here over**_", Omoi replied over the radio.

"_**Cold Blonde here…go ahead Cat, over**_", Samui replied over the radio.

"_**Fiery Red here over**_" Karui answered.

"_**I've just taken care of the one that I was following. He was a Clone, but was not like any kind of Clone I've seen before. When I destroyed him, it didn't turn into Mud, Water or Lightning, yet he was solid, over**_" Yugito said.

"_**That troubling, maybe he knows some kind of new super Cloning Technique that we haven't heard of. Maybe we should fall back, this guy could be a powerful Shinobi that is as strong as Sensei, over**_", Omoi replied.

"_**Don't be an idiot Sucker no-one is stronger than Sensei, not even the Raikage and besides he's just a kid we can take him, besides I see my target now, over**_", Karui said.

"_**Don't underestimate him Fiery Red he's already tricked us once before he could do it again, over**_" Samui warned over the radio.

"_**I'll be fine, I call you guys back in a few minutes to tell you if it's the real him or not, over and out**_", Karui answered.

As Karui chased after her target she took out a few Kunai and threw them at him, the Kunai missed him. But as he dodged them, her target lost his balance and fell off the branch he was on and slipped, causing him to the ground hard.

Seeing this Karui quickly jump down to the ground and went over to her target to see if her target was the real Naruto. As she moved closer the Naruto in front of her remained still with his eyes closed and his face to the ground.

"Huh! Guess you're not so tough after all? ...But then, that's what you get when you deal with a Shinobi of Kumogakure (The Hidden Cloud)" Karui said with a smirk.

Karui was so confidant of herself, that when she walked over to him to see if he was the real Naruto or not. She failed to notice the fresh pile of Green leaves on the ground near her target and stood on them, activating a rope snare that would have pulled her up to a tree.

Fortunately for Karui she was able to react quickly and flip backwards to avoid the trap. But once she landed, she found that she had landed on a trip wire that activated another trap where two large tree logs came out of the tree line on her left and right sides and were about to collide into her.

Acting quickly Karui narrowly dodged the tree logs by rolling forward when they collided with one another.

Unfortunately when Karui rolled forward she rolled over another trip wire that activated another trap, where a steel wire net that was hidden under a Genjutsu sprung from underneath her and lifted her up into the trees.

As she hung from a tree in the net, Karui struggled to get free but the net was too strong for her to break. She then went to try and cut herself free from the net with a Kunai but when she went to her pouch she couldn't find it. She then looked around for it and saw it on the ground below her.

It was then that Naruto the stood up and went over and picked up her pouch and then looked up to her with a cheeky smirked that infuriated her.

"First rule of being a Shinobi never let your opponent get the drop on you", Naruto said with a smirk and then walked away. But not before turning around again and thanking Karui for the extra gear, after which he ran into the tree line, where he could hear Karui's screams of anger and rage, swearing she would kill him.

Once Karui calm down a little she quickly got on to her radio.

"_**Fiery Red to Cat, Cold Blonde and Sucker, over**_" Karui spoke.

"_**Cat here go ahead Fiery Red**_" Yugito replied.

"_**I hear you Fiery Red**_" Omoi answered.

"_**Cold Blonde here, what is it Fiery Red? Was your target the real one?**_" Samui asked.

"_**Yea I'm pretty certain that my target was him but he got away**_" Karui replied angrily.

"_**How**_" asked Yugito

"_**He tricked me and caught me in a trap**_", Karui answered angrily as she was humiliated at being tricked so easily.

"_**We told you not to underestimate him, but you didn't listen to us**_", Omoi said over the radio.

"_**Shut up you idiot!**_", Karui shouted furiously as she was red with humiliation and anger.

"_**I'm the idiot? ...I wasn't the one that got tricked and is now trapped somewhere**_" Omoi replied calmly. Before Karui could respond Yugito suddenly shouted into the radio.

"_**Both of you shut up this isn't the time for your petty bickering**_."

"_**Cat is right we need to capture him, Fiery Red which direction did he go? Over**_", Samui asked.

"_**He's still heading northwest, over**_" Karui replied.

"_**Right then, Sucker, Cold Blonde both of you head in his direction and try and head him off and capture him, I'll try and catch up with you as soon as possible. Fiery Red! Once we have captured him, we'll come back and free you so hang tight, over**_" Yugito said.

"_**Roger**_" Samui said.

"_**Roger**_" Omoi replied.

"_**Roger**_", Karui grumbled as there was little she could do other than hang when in the net.

Once she finished talking she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible until her teammates came to help her. As she did she muttered several different painful things that she would do to a certain Blonde hair boy when she saw him again.

-With Naruto-

As Naruto ran through the forest he could not help but be pleased with himself, he had taken care of the Kumo Genin chasing after him. While the other Two were still chasing his Shadow Clones and even though the fourth member had taken out the Clone she was chasing, she was still too far away to catch up to him.

Just when Naruto thought he was in the clear, his mother's training came into effect where his senses warned him of danger.

The next second Naruto was hit in the back by a dozen or so Shuriken that had been thrown by Omoi a few meters behind him. But just after the Shuriken hit him, "Naruto" turned into a wooden log.

When Omoi saw this he frowned, since he knew Naruto had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Body Replacement Technique) to replace himself with a wooden log. He also knew that he had now lost the advantage as he had given away his position, while Naruto was now somewhere hidden in the trees.

Realizing that he was now at a disadvantage, Omoi drew his Katana and cautiously moved through the trees, looking for the blonde, while at the same time keeping his guard up.

As he looked around his Shinobi senses quickly kicked in as he quickly spun around and deflected several Shuriken that were thrown from behind him.

Before Omoi could retaliate he suddenly saw Naruto appear to his left with his Kunai in hand leaping towards him.

Seeing Naruto Omoi quickly brought up his Katana and blocked the attack; he then pushed Naruto back making him lose his balance. Taking advantage of this Omoi then slashed at Naruto with his Katana.

As soon as Omoi slashed Naruto with his Katana "Naruto" puffed into smoke revealing it to be a Shadow Clone.

"_What the?_" thought Omoi when the Clone exploded but before he could fully realize what had happen several small spherical objects fell from above and exploded releasing a sleeping gas and knocking out Omoi.

Before he fell asleep Omoi looked up and saw the real Naruto standing from a tree branch above him. Realizing what had happened, and that it was already too late to do anything Omoi could only think of one word "_Damn_".

When Omoi lost consciousness he fell off the tree branch he was on, but before he hit the ground Naruto jumped off the branch he was on and caught the Kumo Genin. Since all he wanted to do was get away, didn't want to hurt anyone.

Once he laid Omoi on the ground he then ran off in case the others showed up.

As he made his way through the forest Naruto silently thanked his mother for teaching him to make sleeping gas bombs as well as the sleep gas itself since it had come in quite handy for taking Omoi out without hurting him.

Unfortunately Naruto did not get very far, his danger sense kicked in again, where he had to duck several Kuna thrown at him from his left hand side.

When he turned he saw Samui on a tree branch several meters away, where she then lept forward with her Katana. Quickly dodging several slashes from Samui's Katana, Naruto used another smoke bomb to cover the area he was in, giving himself a chance to get away from Samui and think about what to do next.

When Samui got out of the smoke filled area she quickly took a defensive stance with her Katana out and ready to block or deflect any kind of attack that Naruto may do.

Suddenly from Samui's right, Naruto appeared on a nearby branch and threw several Kunai at her, wasting no time Samui turned around and deflected the Kunai with her Katana.

In a feat of impressive skill she then grabbed one of the Kunai she had deflected and threw it back at Naruto, hitting him right between the eyes, before he could move away.

When "Naruto" was hit by the Kunai he exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing that the Naruto she had been fighting with was a clone.

Using the clone as a distraction, the real Naruto moved around Samui and attempted sneak up on her and take her out quickly. Unfortunately though for Naruto, after destroying the clone, Samui had realized what he was doing and twirled around to face him, and slashed at her fellow blonde with her Katana. Luckily Naruto was able to avoid her slash, but was forced on the defensive saw Samui chased after him.

As Samui chased after Naruto, the blonde boy quickly found himself having to put a good deal more effort into his dodging Samui's attack. Since he knew that if he didn't, the blonde girl would skewer him or cut up into little pieces.

But because his attention on the Blond hair girl had increased, his attention to his surroundings decreased, so he didn't see the large rock that he was quickly backing towards until he stepped half on it and lost his footing.

Seeing her chance, Samui leapt forward with her blade already descending upon the boy.

In a desperate attempt at self-preservation, Naruto's left hand shot out and managed to catch the girl's wrist, and with a quick twist of his own wrist, he managed to get her to drop the Katana. However, that movement also served to pull Samui towards him, sending both of them rolling across the ground in a mass of flying limbs before finally coming to a stop, one that ended with them being in a rather awkward position.

Naruto's left hand was still holding on to Samui right wrist, pinning it to the ground above her head while Naruto's own right hand had ended up between the girl's left arm and her body, touching her chest. Naruto's right leg had come to rest between the girl's thighs in a very intimate fashion, leaving his left leg as the only thing really keeping their pelvises apart from each other.

It took a moment or two for the two to catch their breaths as they were both panting heavily with a slight bead of sweat falling down their brows from fighting only moments ago and both of them were staring at each other's Blue eyes intently.

Soon enough they both realized the awkward situation they were in, where they each had their own separate reaction.

Naruto cheeks started to blush Red when he realized the intimate position he was in with Samui. But despite the situation he silently thanked whatever deity he could think of, that his Godfather and Mother weren't here to see this. Since if Jiraiya saw Naruto being in this kind of position with another member of the opposite sex he would never let the blonde boy hear the end of it. His Mother on the other hand would most likely have gone postal on him and Samui if she saw this, if not do something worse.

Samui on the other hand kept cool, calm and emotional look on her face, despite the position she found herself in with Naruto. Although this only lasted a few seconds where her façade quickly broke and a look of absolute rage and anger appeared on her face and a dangerous look was in her eyes. A look that Naruto was very familiar with from the many times he had seen it on his mother when Jiraiya said or did something perverted, which would result in her beating him into next week for it.

It was then that Samui completely lost her cool and screamed "YOU…PERVERT!"

She then kicked Naruto off her, who fliped backwards as she kicked him, so that he would land of his feet. But as soon as he did, Samui got up and charge forward in full feminine rage and slashed the male blonde with her Katana again, but this time much faster and much more deadly than before, giving him little opportunity to do anything other than dodge her attacks.

"_Shit! I need to do something quick or else she might actually kill me_" a concerned Naruto thought as he continued to avoid Samui's deadly slashes.

As Naruto ducked one of Samui slashes he kicked away her legs causing her to fall on her back which gave Naruto a chance to jump away. He then rolled up his jacket sleeve to reveal a Senbon launcher on his arm that Shizune and gave him the cried out "**Shikomishindan **(Prepared Needle Shot)" firing five Senbon needles at once at Samui. The needles were loaded with a toxin that Shizune taught Naruto to make that would paralyze his target and then knock them out a few minutes later.

Seeing the needles Samui skillfully deflected them with her Katana, but as soon as she did, Naruto was gone; as the needles were a distraction giving Naruto a chance to hid and plan.

Realizing what Naruto had done, Samui fell into a defensive stance and readied herself for any sneak attack that Naruto would make. After a minute or so, she suddenly saw several Shuriken flying towards her from her right.

But when she deflected them, she felt a sharp pain at the side of her legs and the side of her arms where they then went numb and she collapsed. When she looked down at her legs she saw several Senbon needles stuck in her legs and realized that she had been duped again and guessed that the Senbon needles were coated with some kind of numbing toxin.

As she lay there unable to move her arms or legs, Naruto appeared above her, holding a small spherical object, he then brought the object to her nose and crushed it, which released a gas that knocked her out within a seconds of inhaling it.

"Before Samui fell unconscious she heard Naruto say "Sorry".

Once Samui was out Naruto brought her over to a nearby tree and left her there knowing that she would waken up after a little while but would be still unable to move for a bit longer thanks to the toxin he used in his Senbon needles.

For about Fifteen minutes Naruto ran through the forest, but just when he thought he was home free, an angry Yugito suddenly appeared in front of him.

"_Crap_" Naruto thought as stop.

"This is as far as you go, you may have taken out my team-mates, but you will find that I am not as easily defeated as they were" Yugito said. "But if you give up now, you won't be hurt."

"Thanks, but no thanks', giving up isn't in my vocabulary."

"Fine by me…it's your funeral", Yugito replied as she got into her fighting stance with her Katana.

"_**Don't underestimate the boy Kitten…Although he is young he is quite skilled to take out all your other teammates by himself without seriously hurting them…..Also I feel a strange power coming from him one that is familiar yet different**_" the Nibi said in Yugito's mind.

"_What power are you talking about? There nothing special about him he's just a kid from some enemy village_" Yugito replied in her mind.

"_**As I said I'm not really sure…..all that I know is that as I look at this boy through your mind. I sense a strange yet familiar power coming from him….one that I have not felt in many years**_" the Nibi answered

"_Then what is this power your feeling_" Yugito asked.

"_**I do not know the power is just familiar in a way, yet at the same time it is different…..I can't explain it and I can't remember where I felt this kind of power before all I know for certain is that it was long ago**_", answered Nibi.

"_Well that's great Nibi thanks for nothing_" Yugito said with a scowl, as the Nibi's advice was useless if she didn't know what she was up against.

"_**Sorry Kitten… but still just be on your guard with him**_" the monster cat replied.

"_Fine_"

Soon after Yugito made the first move and charged forward with her Katana. Naruto quickly blocked it with his Kunai, which he had taken out when Yugito drew out her Katana.

For several minutes the two of them traded blows with one another until they came to a deadlock where Naruto's Kunai went against Yugito's Katana in a struggle for dominance.

"Your pretty good for a kid", Yugito grunted as she tried to overpower Naruto.

"I could say the same thing about you, since you're pretty good…for a girl", Naruto replied with a smirk, which in turn infuriated Yugito, since she despised comments like that.

She then pushed Naruto back and tried to slash him with her Katana, but Naruto flipped backwards to avoid the slash and then threw several Kunai at her.

Yugito quickly deflected the Kunai, but in the angry state she was in she could not focus correctly and missed two, where one scratched her left hip leg and the other scratch her right arm.

Ignore that scratch's she charged straight at Naruto with her Katana, Naruto tried to block with his one remaining Kunai, but Yugito quickly deflected the Kunai with her sword and slashed at Naruto. But as soon as she slashed at Naruto he turned into a log revealing he had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu**, as soon as she realized this, Yugito suddenly felt her right arm go numb as well as her left leg.

As she felt her arm and leg go numb, Yugito quickly realized that the Kunai that had scratched her had been coated with a nerve toxin to make her arms go numb. When she realized this she began to curse herself for getting angry and losing focus.

It was after this that she then saw Naruto coming behind her with a Kunai and was about to stab her in the back with it. Seeing this Yugito quickly twirled around on her good leg to avoid the attack and as he went by her, she slashed at his back. But as soon as she did "Naruto" turned in a puff of smoke revealing to be a clone.

It was when she realized this that she felt a pair of hands grabs onto her legs and pull her down onto the ground, where only her head could be seen above ground.

Yugito tried to move but could not as the nerve toxin had quickly spread through her body and the ground was too tight against her that she could not move enough to dig herself out.

It was right then that she found Naruto standing right above her looking down at her with an annoying smirk on his face which infuriated her to no end.

"What the hell did you do to me" Yugito growled as she glared up at Naruto.

"**Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation), It's a very useful Technique that pulls down a person, so that only their head is above ground. Where they are unable to move and I can do anything I like to them, but luckily for you I won't since I don't want to. So if you excuse me now I have to go but it was fun playing around with you guys we should do it again some other time, see ya Little Kitty" Naruto said. As he walked away and waved goodbye to her and saying the nickname he heard her Sensei call her, which furthered infuriated the girl at being so humiliated by him.

"_**I told you Kitty not to underestimate him**_", the Nibi said to Yugito.

"_Can it Nibi I don't need to hear this now, I need your to give me some of your Chakra now so I can get out of here_", Yugito said.

"_**Kitten you're not ready to handle my Chakra yet, you could go out of control with it**_", the Nibi warned.

"_I can handle it Nibi, now let me have it so that I can get him_" Yugito replied angrily.

"_**Very well Kitten but you have been warned**_", the Nibi said as she sent some of her Chakra to Yugito.

As Naruto walked away from Yugito, he suddenly felt a large menacing surge of Chakra coming from behind him. When he turned around he saw it was coming from Yugito. After which a massive explosion of Chakra erupted from her, causing Earth to be thrown all around and dust cover the area.

When the dust settled and cleared Naruto saw Yugito back above the ground on all fours and covered in a cloak of red Chakra that was in the shape of a Car with a single tail made out of Chakra behind her. While the irises of her eyes were now yellow and cat like and her fingernails grew longer and sharper making her hands claw like.

"_What the Hell?_" Naruto thought before he saw Yugito charged forward at him.

Naruto barely dodged Yugito's attack by jumping to the side; he then quickly made several Shadow Clones. The Three Shadow Clones then surrounded her and threw several Kunai at her, but before the Kunai could hit her. Yugito let out a massive roar where a massive pulse wave of Chakra erupted from her and blew away the Kunai and destroyed the clones in one go. It also blasted Naruto several feet away and caused a large dust cloud to cover the area at the same time.

"_What the hell is going on? What kind of power is this? It isn't normal Chakra, it feels Dark and menacing_" Naruto thought as he skidded on the ground.

Once he regained his footing, a long red arm made out of Chakra came out of the Dust Cloud and tried to grab Naruto. Fortunately Naruto was able to jump away into a nearby tree to avoid the arm.

"_Shit! I need to think of something fast now before she kills me_", Naruto thought as he tried to come up with a plan. He knew he couldn't use any of his more powerful Jutsu's since if he did and he defeated Yugito with them she would tell her Sensei and her teammates what he did, once she woke up. That would then attract even more attention on him since he was already using **Kage Bushin **which could cause a big enough scene as it is. It would be even worse if he tried to use his Mokuton powers on her to subdue her. Where they would start looking for him and his family and hunt them down.

As he moved through the forest to keep his distance from Yugito, he was forced to jump out of the tree he was in to avoid another of Yugito's, who appeared and destroyed the tree he was in a moment ago and destroyed it.

Yugito was currently running wild, where she lost complete control of herself thanks to the Nibi Chakra. She was unable to handle and control the Biju Chakra just as the Nibi had feared and was just attacking Naruto on pure animals.

After a few minutes of dodging and trying to keep Yugito from killing him, Naruto decided to throw caution to the Wind since if he didn't do something soon, she would kill him. So when Yugito tried to slash him with her claws again, Naruto quickly used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **to replace himself with a clone he made earlier, where as soon as she destroyed it. The real Naruto snuck up behind her and placed a small note on the back of her neck. The note had a Chakra-Suppressing Seal on it, which Naruto had drawn, Jiraiya had taught Naruto how to make such a Seal in case he needed it to subdue someone and keep them from using their Chakra. Naruto hoped that the Seal would disrupt the strange Chakra Yugito was using and stop her.

Once the Seal was place on her it began to work as Yugito collapsed onto her knees and the red Chakra started to dissipate, but just when Naruto thought it was over. Yugito suddenly let out another massive roar and another massive blast of Chakra erupted from her and blasted Naruto back to a few tree away.

Once the blast ended Naruto saw Yugito back on all Fours again and with the Cat shape cloak of Chakra around her again.

When Naruto saw this he knew his Seal had failed as Yugito's strange Chakra was too strong and potent to be suppressed by his Seal. When Yugito locked eyes on Naruto she let out another large roar and charged at him. Knowing he had to move Naruto quickly jumped away and started to run again trying to think of a new plan to deal with Yugito.

For the next two minutes Naruto jumped from tree top to tree top to avoiding each of Yugito's attacks.

It was just when Yugito had destroyed her twelfth tree; she found herself surrounded by a dozen Naruto's on all sides who attacked her.

It of course didn't take her long to deal with the clones and once she had destroyed all of them. She began to search for the real Naruto and found him within a few seconds, not far from where she was. She then charged forward at him at breakneck speed, but just as she was a few feet away from him, four trees that surrounded her blew up with her in the middle of it.

What Yugito had not known was that as she was battling the Naruto Clones. Naruto had used **Fūbaku Hojin **(Sealed Bomb Square Release) technique, where he planted four exploding notes on four trees and then lured Yugito to where he wanted her to go, by allowing her to see him. So that as soon as she entered the area with the notes around it and tried to leave it, the notes exploded destroying everything in between the four trees.

Once the smoked cleared from the explosion, Naruto saw the remains of the trees all over the area. When Naruto saw the tree trunks all over the area and could not see Yugito, he was about to go over and move the trees to find her, fearing that he might have killed her.

But before he could, he felt another massive surge of Chakra and the remains of the trees were blown away by a massive blast of Chakra. Once the smoke dissipated Naruto saw Yugito in the middle of the now destroyed area, but she was now sitting up on all fours hunched like a cat, while the red Chakra was starting to dissipate. The Chakra outline only remained around her upper torso and arms, although the Chakra outline was very thin.

When Naruto saw her standing up with the red Chakra around her and saw that her irises were still Cat like and yellow, he knew that it wasn't over just yet. Knowing that she could recall her strange Chakra again to full power, Naruto decided to finish the fight before it could start again. He then quickly deactivated the seal weights on his clothes and raced forward at Yugito with impressive speed, he then threw several Senbon needles at certain parts of her legs and arms to disable her for a few seconds. After which he quickly came up behind her and did several hand-seals and activated his **Chakura no Mesu **(Chakra Scalpels), where he then severed her nerves at the back joint of her right legs and did the same on her arms. This caused Yugito to collapse on the ground unable to move with her nerves severed.

When Naruto saw Yugito fall to the ground and unable to mover her arms or legs he thought he had finally finished the fight.

That was until the red Chakra she had been summoning came back and covered her whole body again, where it began to heal her and saw her beginning to move her arms and legs and lifting herself up.

"_OOOOOOHHHHHH COME ON! What the hell is with this girl, what does it take to knock her out already…she just doesn't give up_", a annoyed Naruto thought. As he was tired, sore, bruised and his clothes were torn up and filthy.

Quickly bending down to Yugito, who was now only just starting to get up, Naruto gave her, a quick hard chop to the neck and knocked her out cold, before she could even fully call on her strange power.

Once he was certain that Yugito was finally out cold, Naruto let out a tired sigh, "Damn I didn't think she be this hard to beat."

He then picked Yugito up and checked her for any serious injuries fortunately there were none, since the red Chakra cloak seemly protected her from any real harm. When he had finished checking Yugito over, Naruto could not help but notice that Yugito was quite cute as she slept or knocked if you wanted to get technical.

But as soon as that thought entered his mind Naruto quickly brushed that thought away, fearing that his Godfather's influence was starting to take an effect on him and he was becoming a pervert like him.

Once he was certain Yugito was ok, he left her against a tree and left her there so that her friends could find her easily or she could make her way back to her camp.

Just when Naruto was about to leave and get back home, he suddenly heard hands clapping and a male voice speaking up.

"That was a one beep bottoming, kick ass, butt kicking of a show little squirt…I gotta say you got some moves…But still your no match for the master of rhymes….the King of slam…the bring down of beat down… the melodiser … Lord Eight-Tails …Killer Bee, OH YEAH!"

It was then that Naruto turned around and saw Kumo Genin Sensei standing up on a nearby branch and seemly watching his and Yugito's fight.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked as he took a step back from Yugito.

"Weren't you listening stupid? I float...like a butterfly. And sting like a bee! 'I'm Killer Bee the Eight-Tailed Beast…Yo!" the man named Killer Bee replied in a bad rapper impersonation as he moved around in some kind of funny dance.

"_What the hell?_" Naruto thought as he was weirded out by Killer Bee in the way he was talking to him.

Killer Bee then jumped down from the branch and landed in front of Naruto.

"But as dazzled and as zam as I' am I can't just let you spilt and go after you owned all my students."

"_Shit! What I'm going to do? This guy a Jonin I don't stand a chance against him_", a worried Naruto thought as he fell into a fighting stance. He knew that his only chance was to fight and then make a break for it and even if he couldn't get away, he was at least not going down without a fight.

When Killer Bee saw that Naruto was intended to fight, he couldn't put smile, since although he could tell that Naruto was tired from fighting all his students. He could not help but admire Naruto's guts at still willing to fight even though he knew he couldn't win.

"You got guts little squirt…but none too bright", Killer Bee replied as he signalled Naruto to come at him which he did.

Naruto attacked Killer Bee with a series of fast and strong jabs and kicks as well as elbows and knee kicks from different angles. As Naruto attacked him, Killer Bee blocked all of his attacks with ease, since although Naruto was very skilled for his age he was still a novice compared to the Kumo Jinchūriki, who was a highly skilled Shinobi with years of training and experience. But even still Killer Bee was impressed with Naruto's fighting skill especially his Taijutsu, since he had never seen or heard of a style like the one he was using. He could tell that the style involved fast, hard hitting moves using different parts of Naruto's body and it worked well with Naruto's natural agility and it gave Killer Bee little chance to fight back. He could also tell that in a few years' time with a few more years of training Naruto's fighting style would be quite deadly with it with enough training and practice.

Killer Bee had also been watching how Naruto handled each of his students and could tell that Naruto was quiet skilled in the different ways he had handled Yugito and the others without really harming them. He was especially impressed with how Naruto had fought Yugito, since it wasn't every day that a person saw a ten year old kid fight a wild and berserk Jinchūriki and defeat it. Granted if Yugito had been able to control her power she would have won, but still for Naruto to have defeated her was nothing short of astonishing and he wasn't even a fully trained Ninja. There had been even times during the fight that Killer Bee thought he would have to intervene and stop Yugito but in the end he didn't have to.

After a little while Killer Bee decided to end the fight where he quickly grabbed onto Naruto shirt and threw him over to a nearby tree and then quickly took out three of his Katanas and threw then at Naruto as soon as he hit the tree. The Katanas then hit the collar of Naruto's Gray jacket and its sleeves so that the three Katanas would pin him against the tree and he would be unable to move.

"Why don't you hang around while I go wake up little Kitty from her Cat nap" Killer Bee said as Naruto tried to struggle out of the Katanas.

Once Killer Bee woke Yugito up with some smelling salt, he told her to watch over Naruto, while he went to free and wake Omo and the others.

While Killer Bee went to free her teammates, Yugito watched over Naruto (who had given up trying to get free of the Katanas). As Yugito watched over Naruto the young Kunoichi glared at Naruto as she was in a bad mood over how Naruto defeated her, not once but twice. The first time because she had underestimated his skill, while the second time because she overestimated her own skill.

It also didn't help that the Nibi was also telling her in her mind over and over again about how she told her so about underestimating Naruto and overestimated herself.

As Naruto was pinned to the tree he thought about his situation and what he should do, he knew he could get free if he used his super human strength. But if he did he knew Yugito would attack him and she had already proven to be a dangerous opponent to fight against and even if he went all out and defeated her quickly. Her Sensei and teammates would sense the Chakra from the battle and come to her aid and overwhelm him. Not to mention it would blow his cover where they would report him to their village and they would in turn track him and his family down. The same could be said it he used the Seal to call for help from his mother since if she came they could find out who she really was and in turn find out that he was her son ruining the low profile that they been keeping all these years. Although that's if they survived his mother's wrath since Shizune had told him a while back what his mother did to the Ame-nins that had attack him and Shion. As well as what happened to Shuda once High Priestess Miroku had gotten everything from him. She allowed his mother to deal with him, where according to what he had heard, the prison cell had a new colour scheme on the ceiling, floor and walls…the colour red and Naruto wanted to avoid needless Bloodshed.

Hence Naruto knew that his best chance to get away without anyone getting hurt was to give them a convincing enough story to prove that he wasn't a threat to them and that they could let him go. In the event that idea didn't work then they would most likely try and take him back to their village for questioning, where he would use his super human strength to break out of his bindings and sneak away. And if they tried to kill him then he would go all out and try and escape and call for help from his mother with the Seal earring and worry about the consequences later.

After a little while Killer Bee returned with Omoi, Samui and Karui, where when they arrived, Karui and Samui glared at the young Senju, over what happened when he fought them.

Once they arrived Killer Bee removed the Katanas from Naruto jacket, freeing him, once Naruto was free they all surrounded him.

"Ok little squirt, let's hear it and tell us the beef, Yo", spoke Killer Bee.

"What?" Naruto asked who didn't understand what Killer Bee was saying because of his bad rapping.

At this Omoi just sign and decided to translate for Naruto since it wasn't uncommon for people to be unable to understand his Sensei due to his bad rapping and rhyming.

"He was asking who are you and why were you spying on us?"

"My name is Naruto" replied the blonde, "And I wasn't spying I was only looking, since I sensed two large Chakra signatures nearby when I was training and I decided to see who it was".

"Yeah right" Karui scoffed not believing Naruto.

"It's true", Naruto replied angrily since he didn't like being called a liar when he wasn't.

"Ok fine let's say we do believe you, then tell us where do you come from, what Shinobi village are you with", Yugito asked.

"I'm not from a Shinobi village", and answered Naruto, since technically it was true since he wasn't official with any Shinobi village.

"See he's lying to us", Karui accused as she pointed at Naruto.

"I'm not lying", Naruto said angrily while he glared at Karui who glared back at him.

"If you are not from a Shinobi village then how is it that you are able to do Ninjutsu and how is it that you are able to move and fight like us. The only way you could, is if you had Shinobi training like us", Samui said with a neutral face.

"_Hah try and get out of that one_" Karui thought with a triumphant smirk.

"That's because my mother use to be a Shinobi, but retired and left her village after I was born and trained my Onee-san and me, when we were old enough to be trained in the Shinobi arts", Naruto answered since even though it was a lie it was also half true.

"And who's your mom's?" Killer Bee asked.

"She the local healer here, my Kaa-chan along with my Onee-san and me as well as our pet pig TonTon go with her as she travels around healing people", Naruto answered.

"Oh come on you don't believe him do you?" Karui said in disbelief as she didn't believe a word Naruto was saying.

"I don't know Karui, I think he might actually be telling the truth", Omoi said. "Since when I was getting supplies from the local town, I heard some of the local villagers talking about a female healer that arrived in the village Two months ago. As well as how she travelled around with her family, a young girl in her mid-Twenties, a young boy that actually kinds of fits Naruto's description. I also heard that she had a pet pig I even saw the healer and her Daughter distance when she was healing a women".

"You can't be serious they could all be spies sent to either kill us or spy on us!" Karui cried in disbelief that her teammates and her Sensei where believing Naruto's story.

"If they were sent to kill us then why did they just send Naruto?" Omoi asked.

"He could have been a scout to watch us and the report back to them later!", Karui replied.

"Then how did they know we would come here? Since they've been here for two months, before Sensei even planned to take us on a training trip", Omoi replied.

Karui of course had no answer to that since there was no way they could have known they would come here.

"Fine then but that still doesn't mean he isn't some enemy Shinobi, he could be just using a ruse to throw us off", Karui retorted trying to find reason to prove that Naruto was an enemy and needed to be dealt with.

At this Omoi just sighed and said "Weren't you listening I told you I heard that she had a son who description match's Naruto's, but if you want proof fine."

Omoi then turned to Naruto and asked him to describe them to them which he did perfectly (3), which caused Karui to scowl angrily when Omoi confirmed Naruto's description.

"Very well then if it is true that your mother is a travelling healer, then tell us what village did she come from?" Samui asked, as like Karui she wasn't fully convinced by Naruto's story. "Since I find it strange that any Shinobi village would allow one of their Shinobi to simply retire and leave with her family."

This caused Karui to smile at having some support and believing that she had Naruto caught now.

"My mother came from Yugakure no Sato (Village Hidden in Hot Water); since the village has disarmed itself several years ago to become a Hot Spring resort and they don't need or want any Ninja's anymore. When that happened, my mother left the village since she used to be a Medic-nin and her skill weren't really needed there anymore. So she decided to travel around offering her skill to people" Naruto lied.

When Karui heard this she scowl, believing that Naruto had just slipped out of that one, which was true.

At the same time Naruto silently congratulated himself on think up such a good and believable story on the spot, since he had remembered when he studied the different Shinobi villages. That a few years back not to long after the end of the Third Shinobi World War Yugakure began to disarm itself as a Shinobi village and became a Hot Spring resort thanks to the large number of Hot Springs there.

The story was so believable that Killer Bee and even Samui and Omoi believed it since they knew all about Yugakure and how it wasn't really a Shinobi village anymore, so it would make sense for its remaining Shinobi to leave it and search new employment.

"Fine then, if you are really the son of a former Medic-nin then she must have taught you some Medical Ninjutsu", Yugito said.

"Yea she did"

"Then prove who you say you are by healing the wounds you gave Samui and me", Yugito said to see if he really was a just the son of a healer.

"Fine I will", answered Naruto where he then began healing the small wounds that he had given Samui and Yugito with little trouble.

After he was done, he had pretty much convinced Killer Bee, Omoi as well as Samui and Yugito since the way he healed them without any trouble proved that he was a skilled healer.

The only person that wasn't convinced was Karui who still held a grudge against Naruto for defeating her and capturing her in such a humiliating manner.

"Ok then squirt you answered what four but now spill on how you do **Kage Bushin **and use a Sealing Technic Yo" Killer Bee asked, which got a confuse look from both Naruto and his students. He then explained that the **Kage Bushin **was a forbidden B rank Clone Jutsu that Jonins were only supposed to know and that it was real and didn't rely on an elemental affinity. He then told him that he saw Naruto use a Seal to disrupt the Yugito Chakra for a few moments.

When Karui heard this she thought that they had final caught Naruto out and proven he was a liar.

Thinking quickly Naruto told them that his mother had given him the seal in case he was in danger and needed something to help him if he was in a fighting against a Missing-nin. He then went on to explain the reason he knew the **Kage Bushin **was because his mother taught him it. He told them that she taught him it since she knew he had large Chakra reverse's and could handle creating several clones.

Thankfully Killer Bee and the others (except for Karui) believed his excuse since it was possible considering how well Naruto had fought and lasted against them. But still Karui wasn't about to give up and came up with another reason to not trust Naruto.

"Fine, but still why were you watching us? If you're really are not a Shinobi from another village like you claim then why would you spy on us?"

"I told you when I was training by myself in the forest I felt your Chakra signatures and I was curious as to who you were, that's all" Naruto replied.

"And why were you training in the forest by yourself?" Samui asked.

"I sometimes like to train by myself", Naruto said simply.

"But that still doesn't explain why you were watching us? If you were just curious then you would have just left as soon you had seen us", Yugito said.

"Alright fine I was also curious as to what your Sensei was teaching, since I never see Kenjutsu before except from what I read in books. So when I saw what you were all doing I decided to watch", Naruto answered since it was true as he was interested in Kenjutsu.

At this Karui just scoffed again, not believing a word of what Naruto said.

"Well if you what roll with the big dogs then lets bow wow and see what you got wow", said Killer Bee.

"Sensei you can't be serious" Karui cried in disbelief while the rest of her teammates including Samui looked surprised.

"What? What did he just say?" asked Naruto not understanding Killer Bee bad rapping.

"Why not? The kid got style; he got pizaz (4) and gusto to match yoh…And he totally poned all of you", Killer Bee replied with a cheesy smirk while he did his rap dance, which annoyed his students for reminding them of their defeats and because of his stupid rhymes and rapping.

"Can someone please tell me what you're all talking about as I can barely understand what he is saying", asked a annoyed Naruto.

"Sensei just said that if you're interested in Kenjutsu and if you what to learn then you can train with us if you want and that is if you can keep up", Yugito answered. Who could still not believe that her Sensei was allowing a boy whom they had just met and knew little to nothing about to train with them.

"Sensei you can be serious? We can't just let him join us and besides what if this some kind of plot to kill us and what if he's lying we don't know anything about this kid", Karui said angrily.

"Hey don't call me just a kid I'm not that much younger than you (5)…Besides I was good enough to beat all of you. Also I wasn't the one who was left hanging up in a tree in a net like a sack of potatoes" Naruto said, and smirked when he saw Karui face turns red from anger and humiliation when she reminded how Naruto defeated her.

"That still doesn't say you're not lying or trying to trick us", Karui accused.

Before Naruto could respond, Killer Bee interrupted him, "The squirt doesn't lie…he's not the type… his eyes don't lie and I like his face".

"Huh?" said Naruto as he wasn't sure if Killer Bee was complementing him or not.

"He said that he believes you and that you have a trusting face and that you don't seem the type to lie or do something behind another person's back and he kinds of like you", Omoi translated for the blonde boy.

"Oh…Thanks"

"Oh alrighty then let's get this party started and get down to the beat down", said Killer Bee.

"I'm guessing he's saying that we can start training now… right?" Naruto guessed where he got a nod from Omoi and the others.

"Come on you slow poke's your slower than post", Killer Bee cried as he told them to hurry up.

"Does he always talk like that?" Naruto asked to which Omoi and the girls all nodded sadly, where they all followed after Killer Bee to train.

* * *

For the next two weeks Naruto trained with the Kumo Genin under Killer Bee, where he would leave his house in the early morning to go into the forest telling his Mother and Shizune that he was going off to train by himself in the forest.

Neither Tsunade nor Shizune knew that Naruto was secretly training with a group of Shinobi from Kumo, since he knew that if his mother or Shizune knew about this. They would freak out and forbid him from seeing them and he wouldn't be able to train with them.

During those two weeks Naruto got to know the others better, he found Killer Bee to be a funny enough person although he did find him weird with always trying to rap and rhyme and do it badly. He also learned that Killer Bee demanded respect from his students and others, where he told Naruto to call him either Jinchūriki-sama or Hachibi-sama, it was then that Naruto learned that both Killer Bee and Yugito were Jinchūriki's. He learned this since Killer Bee made no secret that he had the Hachibi no Kyogyū (The Eight-tailed Ox) Seal inside him, and Naruto figured out that Yugito was one since it explained the weird Chakra he saw her fight with. Yugito and the other were of course surprised when Naruto asked her if she was one, where he told them how he realized it, which of course impressed Omoi and the others at how Naruto was able to figure it out. After which they then told Naruto that Yugito had the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat) inside her.

Naruto also became good friends with Omoi where they found that they had a good bit in common. Since for example both of them were nearly always surrounded by girls. Naruto was nearly always with his Mother, Shizune and TonTon (Girl Pig), while Omoi was nearly always with Yugito, Samui and Karui. Hence it was nice for both of them to have some male companionship around their own age.

Despite their rocky start Naruto and Yugito got along ok and developed a sort or rivalry and respected one another. They would often spar against one another in Taijutsu, where Naruto usually won thanks to his advance training with his mother and in Kenjutsu, where Yugito always won since Naruto was only learning.

When Naruto asked Omoi why Yugito was always challenging him to spar against her, Omoi explained to him that Yugito was the strongest Genin in their village. She was top of their class in nearly everything where the only other Genin that could rival her was Samui who was the second best Genin, but no-one could actually beat her in a fight. So in Yugito's mind Naruto is the only person she deems worthy of being her rival and the only person around her own age group that can challenge her and who she wants to beat in a fair fight.

When Naruto heard this he could only sign and think about another fine mess he got himself into. Although he had to admit it could have been worse she could have be some weird girl or guy with bushy eyebrows and wearing a spandex suit and shouting at the top of his or her voice all the time.

The only person on the team that he seemly couldn't get along with was Karui as she still held a grudge against Naruto for beating her and hanging her up a tree, where she had to be rescued by her Sensei. It also didn't help the fact that she was often remained of her defeat and humiliation by both her Sensei and her teammates. As well as the fact that she did not trust Naruto as she still thought he was a spy or an enemy Shinobi. But for the most part she mainly ignored Naruto and only acknowledge him when she had to. Although she still kept a close eye on him in case he would try anything and so that she would be ready for it if he did.

Finally then there was Samui where despite the awkward position that she and Naruto ended up together, the blonde boy had no problem with her as she basically treated him coldly (like everyone else), but neutrally as if the incident never happen. At least until when Samui had asked Naruto for help in bringing Water back to the camp from a nearby stream. When they went to the stream, Samui had suddenly stop and turned around to face Naruto and comforted him about what had happen. Samui then proceeded to tell Naruto that she was willing to ignore the incident between them, as well as forget that it ever happened if Naruto was willing.

Naturally Naruto was more than willing, although there were times when he found it hard to forget it, especially whenever he saw Samui and had to fight the urge to blush red when he thought of it. Once they both agreed to forget the incident, Samui also then told him that should he ever mention the incident to anyone she would castrate him with a dull and rusty Kunai and do several other things that would result in Naruto having a very slow and painful death.

Once she had finished telling what she would do to him, Naruto could not help but start to sweat a little and gulp as well as fight the urge to cover "himself", where he nodded his head several times very quickly telling her that he understood perfectly.

Unfortunately as they were having their private conversation Omoi had been nearby gathering wood for the camp Fire, where he had heard the whole conversation as well as the incident between Naruto and Samui. Once they left he quickly raced back the camp and told his Sensei and the other girls what had happen between Naruto and Samui.

When the two got back they were comforted with a screaming Karui, who was accusing them of being intimate, while Yugito just stood back and looked at them with a raised eyebrow not knowing how to react to the whole situation. While Killer Bee stood back with Omoi chuckling away and singing bad rhymes about young love blossoming between Naruto and Samui, while Omoi just smirked and enjoyed the show and help to tease the two. He also even congratulated Naruto on being the only boy to ever cope a feel of Samui and survive, as many boys had tried to back at Kumo and all failed with very bad results, since Samui was Kumo's proverbial Ice Queen due to her cold appearance and attitude.

Naruto had tried to explain exactly what had happened and deny that there was anything between him and Samui. But they ignored his explanation, where Killer Bee and Omoi continued to tease them, while Karui continue to shout at them.

This continued until Samui finally had enough, as she had remained calm and emotionless during the whole event. She then quickly told Karui to shut up with a sharp and cold tone of voice, which silence the dark skin girl Karui. She then silenced Killer Bee and Omoi teasing with a cold and frosty glare that made both men shut up and made them shiver slightly. After which she then went over to Omoi and grab onto his arm and dragged him behind a few trees a bit away from the camp and did not appear until ten minutes later. Where Samui came out behind the trees and went over to the camp fire to start cooking their lunch, she was soon followed by Omoi, who came out from behind the trees and as White as a ghost and shaking with fear. When Naruto and the others asked what happened Omoi looked over at Samui who just gave him a cold look and refused to answer, as if he was too terrified to even say what she had said to him. Seeing this Killer Bee, Naruto and the others decided to leave well enough alone and not rattle the cage of the Tiger known as Samui.

* * *

Two weeks after meeting Naruto, Killer Bee decided it was time for his students and him to head back home to Kumo, since he knew that his Brother A would start to worry soon and probably send every Shinobi to look for them.

Killer Bee was currently watching Yugito and Naruto spar with their Katanas (6) against one another while not too far away Samui was sparing against both Omoi and Karui where despite being out number, was winning.

As Killer Bee watch them spar, the elder man could not help but be impressed with how quickly Naruto had grasped the basics of Kenjutsu. Although he was still a long way off for being at Yugito's, Samui's or any of the others levels in Kenjutsu. He had still made impressive steps in learning it, in just two weeks. Killer Bee had also given him some tips on to improve his Taijutsu, once Naruto explained that he was trying to create his own one which greatly impressed Killer Bee further.

Killer Bee also could tell that Naruto would have been quite a Shinobi one day if he was with a Shinobi village, since he always had an eye for seeing talent when he saw it in someone and he could see that Naruto had a lot of it. So much so that when Naruto left for home, Killer Bee followed him, just to make sure that Naruto was telling the truth about himself. Although stealth wasn't Killer Bee's specialty, he was still skilled enough to keep hidden and not let Naruto notice him. He then followed Naruto to a small house at the edge of the village, where from a distance he saw Naruto enter it. Later on he saw Naruto come out to greet his Mother and "Sister" and their pet pig when they came home, and saw that they were indeed the Healers that Omoi and describe to him, proving that Naruto spoke the truth.

In away Killer Bee was also disappointed that Naruto was not born in Kumo or at the very least in Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), where he would have been accepted as one on the spot. Since talented kids like Naruto weren't very common and if he was with Kumo, Killer Bee was certain Naruto would have risen high there. He was almost tempted to bring Naruto with him to Kumo and try and have join Kumo, but he knew his brother would never accept a kid with Shinobi training that was from another Country regardless of how skilled he was. Since his brother was paranoid when it came to Kumo's safety and would most likely fear that Naruto was a spy from another village. Not to mention that if he found out that Naruto had defeated Yugito, when she used the Nibi's Chakra he would most likely ordered Naruto to be killed. Fearing that he would be a future threat to the village and he didn't want that to happen to Naruto or his family, which was why he wasn't going to mention Naruto to his brother when he got home and have his students swear not to mention Naruto either.

After a while Killer Bee had Naruto and the others stop their sparing match's and to come over to him where he then told them that they would be leaving tomorrow morning to head back to Kumo. When he told them he could see the disappointed look on Naruto face, since Naruto had told them that he didn't really have many real friends since he travelled so much with his family from one Country to the other. Killer Bee could also see that even Omoi was a bit saddened as well as Yugito when she frowned slightly. Karui and Samui on the other hand kept a neutral expression on their faces, so to keep everyone else from knowing how they felt about the news.

Deciding not to leave without giving Naruto a few parting gifts, Killer Bee took out a small paper note out of his pouch and handed it to Naruto who had a confused look on his face.

"What a piece of Paper?" Naruto asked as he held it up, but before Killer Bee could explain what it really was Yugito spoke up knowing how her sensei would explain it in one of his bad rhymes.

"That is not an ordinary piece of paper, it is a paper made from a special type of tree, which is grown and fed with Chakra. They are used in products that react to even the slightest hint of Chakra in any number of ways, depending on the nature latent in the Chakra; this allows a person to know what nature affinity they have."

"Do you know about nature affinities?" Yugito asked, where Naruto just nodded since his mother had told him all about nature affinity and how everyone had at least one, natural Nature affinity and could learn others if they needed. Naruto also knew his affinity already, since he had the Mokuton Bloodline and his mother had told him that Mokuton was based on combining Earth and Water-based Chakra to create Wood. But he decided to play dumb since he had heard of these cards from his mother and they were only supplied to Shinobi from Shinobi villages since they are so hard grown. Where if he told them he already knew his affinity it would raise unwanted questions.

"Good, just so you know, all you have to do is place you hand on the paper and channel a bit of your Chakra to it and it will react to whatever affinity you have, so if you have an affinity to Fire the paper will ignite and turn to ash. If you have an affinity to Water the paper will become damp, if you have an affinity to Earth it will turn to dirt. If you have an affinity to Lightning the paper will crumple up and if you have an affinity to Wind the paper will split in two", explained Yugito.

Naruto nodded his head as he already understood it all and then channelled a small bit of his Chakra into the paper. But what happened next surprised everyone including Naruto, instead of cutting into two pieces the paper cut into three pieces as it fell to the ground, where the first one turned to dirt, the second became damp and the third crumpled up. This showed that Naruto had four natural nature affinities, one for Earth, one for Water, one for Wind and one for Lightning.

"_Four natural affinities, that can't be!_" Yugito thought in disbelief.

"_No way_" Karui thought.

"_Whoa_" Omoi thought.

"_Impossible_" Samui thought.

"_Damn…the kid is jam packed with surprises_" Killer Bee thought.

Naruto was probably the most shocked of all as he had never expected this, he knew he would have Earth and Water affinity but not Wind and Lightning.

After a little while everyone got over their surprise and regained themselves.

"Well ain't that a kick in the pazam…you got more surprises than a barrel of jokers" Killer Bee joked, which cause Naruto and the others to sweat drop since Killer Bee jokes were as bad as his Rhyming.

Once the shock had worn off Killer Bee then asked Naruto to give back the Katana he gave him which Naruto did. After which Killer Bee then took out a scroll and then bit his finger to make it bleed and spread some Blood on the a Seal in the scroll, where a long Katana in a Green sheath appeared. The Tsuka (handle) was double length so that Two hands could grab onto it and it was Green while the Tsuka-ito (the wrap of the handle) was Brown and the Tsuba (hilt) was round shape with a series if designs and shapes on it.

Killer Bee then threw the Katana to Naruto, who caught it.

"What is it?" asked Naruto

"What do you think stupid It's not a butter knife it's a Katana for you fool, you gonna need one to kick ass" Killer Bee said with a smirk.

"For me?" asked Naruto in surprise, where Killer Bee nodded and smiled.

Hearing this, Naruto ran over to Killer Bee and hugged the elder man saying thank you over and over again.

This caused Killer Bee to smile further and say "Grandmaster Bee is so cool, he's cooler than all and still ain't a bad guy at all."

Once Naruto had stopped saying thank you, Killer Bee then gave him a few scrolls on Kenjutsu to learn from, so that he could train to get better, which Naruto was grateful for.

-The Next Morning-

In the early parts of the morning Killer Bee and his students finished having breakfast and packed up their belongings. But before they could leave, Naruto arrived to say good-bye to his newly made friends.

"See you around Naruto take care of yourself, if you and your family are ever near Kumo don't be a stranger and pay us a visit, we can show you around our village", Omoi said as he shook Naruto's hand. Naturally Naruto said he would, although in reality he knew he wouldn't since his mother wouldn't go near any Shinobi village for fear of their exposure.

"I suggest that you stay alive, Naruto-san and that you get stronger, since I promise I will be stronger next time we meet again and the next time we fight the outcome will be very different", Yugito said.

At this Naruto smirked since he was use to Yugito saying stuff like this, "Sure thing Yugito and you can expect a tougher fight as well when we do fight again."

Naturally Yugito smirked at this and said she would look forward to the challenge.

Samui for her part kept her face emotionless and neutral as always, but offered her hand and said a simple "Good-bye Naruto-san" which Naruto took her hand and shook it and said a friendly good-bye to her.

Karui simple nodded her head and grunt out a good-bye, since she still didn't fully trust Naruto and still held a slight grudge against him for beating her, although despite that, she did think he was an ok person.

Killer Bee said good-bye to Naruto and was going into one of his long rhymes but before he could even get half way Yugito and Samui each grabbed one of their Sensei's ears and started to pull them (causing him to yell in pain and telling them to stop) so that they could get going.

At this Naruto could only laugh and was going to miss seeing this kind of stuff with them. Eventually though the five Kumo-nins jumped into the tree tops, where they waved good-bye to Naruto one more time and then disappeared into the trees.

After which Naruto then went home, where as walked through the forest his thoughts were filled about Yugito and the others. Who he wondered if he would ever see again and if so where would he.

Author's Note:

Well that's another update for The Hope of the Senju Clan done,

I'm Sorry to say that this Chapter was not the one I promised where Naruto finds out that he has the Kyuubi inside him and that he is the Yondaime's son. But as I was writing this Chapter up I saw that I would be making this Chapter too long and so I decided to split the Chapter into two separate Chapters.

In the next Chapter it will be where Naruto finds out about being the Yondaime's son and having the Kyuubi inside him and it will happen in a few months after this event happened where unlike my usual time skips where it's a few years. Although I promise you that the Chapter after that will be when Naruto goes to Konoha and to make up for little failure on my part the next Chapter will appear something next week.

Also If Killer Bee talking didn't really match him then I'm sorry it's just that it very hard to write Killer Bee when he talks since you always have to have him Rhyming and do it in a bad way as well.

Hoped you all enjoyed the Chapter with Naruto fighting team Killer Bee and his training in his own Taijutsu style and the news that Naruto has four Elemental affinities and that he now training in Kenjutsu as well.

Please Read and Review

Also note that any and all suggestions for this story are welcome; if you have any I will listen to them and tell you what I think of them.

Another thing, please note that Flames are unwelcome so if you don't like my stories then don't read them and if you do send any flames then they will be ignored or answered back with a firm reprisal where said Flamer will be flamed back by me.

**Author's Note:**

(1). The name of the Jutsu that Naruto did by accident when he killed the Ame-nin Kame.

(2). Tsunade tells people that Shizune is her Daughter since she is like an older Sister to Naruto and it would cause less questions to be asked about them.

(3) He described Tsunade and Shizune to them by what they look like to everyone in the village with their Genjutsu on.

(4) Another slang term for style.

(5) In this story Karui, Omoi, Yugito and Samui are all about twelve while Naruto is ten.

(6) Killer Bee had given Naruto one of his Katanas to train with against Yugito and the others.

P.S. Please note that as said in the last Chapter Pairings will not be official announced until after The Chunin Exam.


	8. Chapter 8

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Eight: Discovery.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

Three months after meeting Killer Bee and the others, Naruto and his mother along with Shizune and TonTon where travelling along a forest road in Hi no Kun (Fire Country).

They were currently on their way to the Fire Daimyo's Country Estate outside the Capital of Hi no Kunai. Tsunade had been contacted by the Sandaime Hokage through her Slug summons, the Sandaime had informed her that the Daimyo's son and heir was gravely ill and none of the Daimyo's Doctor's could do anything to help him. Hence the Daimyo had asked the Sandaime if he could make contact with Tsunade and send word to her that he needed her help.

When Tsunade had heard this she had been concerned about keeping Naruto's existence a secret since if she arrived in the Capital with Naruto even in disguise, people may discover that Naruto was her son hence all their hiding would have been for nothing. She also knew that she could not say no, since for one reason she was a healer and she was swore to help those who were ill or injured and who asked for help. While the other being that if she said no and Fire Daimyo's son died, the repercussion to both her and Konoha would be unpleasant, to say the very lest.

So she decided to do the only thing she could, she told the Sandaime to tell the Fire Daimyo that she would help his son. But he would have to bring his son to his private Country Estate outside the Capital and only have a handful of his most trusted and loyal guards and servants there. When the Sandaime told the Fire Daimyo, of Tsuande's condition, he agreed to them immediately although he was curious as to Tsunade's conditions.

As the group neared the Estate they saw several of the Fire Daimyo's private Guards along with two Fire Samurai dressed in Crimson Red armour with their Four Katana's on each of their sides and mask's.

Once the Samurai and guards saw them coming and confirmed who they were they allowed them to enter through the main gateway of the Estate. As they walked through the estate they saw the large gardens that were well trimmed and the clear pools of Water with fish swimming in them and the clean White marble pathways that they were walking on. After climbing a few dozen steps and crossing a small bridge that went over a small clear stream with more fish in it, they came face to face with the large door of the main building of the estate, where the Fire Daimyo and his son were waiting for them.

When they entered the main part of the Estate where they met a servant, who then led them through the Mansion hallway and the brought them to a large empty room where they sat and waited for the Fire Daimyo to arrive.

As they sat down, Naruto was unusually quite, this was because Tsunade had told him he had to be on his best behaviour as he was about to met the ruler of Hi no Kunai, and although he was fairly easy going person, he still needed to be respectful for they did not need to be on the bad side of a Daimyo.

Naruto wore the same kind of outfit that he wore when he met Killer Bee and his team, with the only new thing being different from it was that he carried the Katana that Killer Bee gave him on his back, with a sling going across his chest to keep the sword on his back.

When Tsunade saw Naruto with the sword she had asked him where he had gotten it along with the Kenjutsu scrolls. Fortunately Naruto had come up with a believable excuse, where he told her that he had met a travelling merchant that was passing through town. He then told her that he saw the sword and the scrolls and to her how the man gave him a good offer on both the sword and the scrolls and bought them from him with some money that he had saving. Naruto had hated lying to his mother but he knew that if he told her the truth she would go berserk and take away the sword and scroll from him, where he would never be able to get stronger with them.

Tsunade had believed the answer as there was little reason to doubt him and was happy at lest to see Naruto trying to get stronger. During the following months after getting the sword Naruto had improved steadily and was getting better and better with using the sword. He often spared against his Clones so that he could learn quicker and learn from his mistakes whether he beat his Clone or his Clone beat him.

Soon enough the Fire Daimyo entered the room with Four Royal guards and Two armed Samurai wearing the same kind of armour that the Samurai they saw at the gate. The guards and the positioned themselves around the Fire Daimyo while the Samurai sat on their knees. Where one sat on the Fire Daimyo's far front left while the other sat on the Fire Daimyo's far front right, so that if Tsunade or the others tried to attack the Fire Daimyo, they could intercept them before they could reach the Fire Daimyo. The Fire Daimyo himself was a man in his mid to late fifties; he was a tin and tall man with a narrow face. Once the Fire Daimyo was seated in front of Tsunade and the others he then spoke in a pleasant, friendly and welcoming voice.

"Greetings Tsunade-san, I 'am very grateful that you came to help my son, as he is in desperate need your help".

"Of course, Daimyo-dono I will do whatever I can to help you", replied Tsunade respectfully.

"Thank you" said The Fire Daimyo where he then turned to look a Shizune who was holding TonTon in her arms and was on Tsunade left.

"And this must be you Apprentice Shizune, if I'm not very much mistaken", said the Fire Daimyo.

"Hai! It is an honour to meet you Daimyo-dono", spoke Shizune respectfully and did a slight bow with the Fire Daimyo waved his hand politely saying she did not need to and smiled slightly. He then turned and looked over to Naruto who was sitting on Tsunade's right.

"But I 'am unfamiliar as to who this young boy next to you, is he another student of yours? That you took in", asked the Fire Daimyo.

At this question Tsunade became hesitant to answer, although she had expected it and knew what she needed to say, she was still hesitant to answer it, as she knew she maybe putting Naruto's life endanger, where all the years that they have been hiding would have been for nothing.

"Before I answer you question Daimyo-dono did the Hokage tell you all of the conditions that had to be made when helping your son", asked Tsunade cautiously as she was unsure that she could trust the men in the room as well as the others in the Estate.

"Yes I have, I have only brought a group of about thirty servants, twenty Royal guards and twelve of my Samurai here. I trust them all without question as they have all served me loyally for many years", replied The Fire Daimyo with his eyebrow slightly risen up. Since when he first heard Tsunade's condition from the Sandaime he was curious as to why Tsunade had asked for these conditions. Now that she was here with an unknown boy his curiosity was peaked even more, since it was oblivious that Tsunade's cautious nature was linked to the young boy next to her.

At this Tsunade sighed and remained quite for a minute or two preparing herself for what she had to say.

"The boy next to me Daimyo-dono is named Naruto....... Senju Naruto to be more precise……and he is my son", said Tsunade.

When the Fire Daimyo heard this, he was naturally shocked to say the lest, where both his eyebrows went right up into the air where they were hidden behind his headdress that he was wearing. Even the Fire Daimyo's guards and Samurai were equally shocked at the news that Tsunade of the Sannin had a child.

Once the Fire Daimyo got over his shock, he the began to chuckle, "My, my, my, this is quite a shock……I'm surprised that I'm only learning this now and not years ago…… since I would have expected news as monumental as this, to be know long by now".

"That is because no-one knows that I have had a child Daimyo-dono…..Very few people even know this and I would like it to be kept this way if you will Daimyo-dono", spoke Tsuande, which caused the Daimyo to raise his eyebrows again curiously.

"Oh!…..and May I ask why you wish to keep such happy news hidden from everyone especially from Konoha. Since I would be certain that the people as well as the Ninja's there would be overjoyed at the news that you had a son and that your Clan line can still continue on", asked the Daimyo.

"The reason being Daimyo-dono is that there are many enemies outside Konoha who would like nothing more than to attack my son to hurt me or to use him for their own means. As to why Konoha does not know is simply because I wanted my son to be raised like a normal child and not be spoiled by the village simply because he is my son and is the heir to my Clan", replied Tsunade.

At this news the Fire Daimyo hummed a bit and brought his hand up to his chin as he was thinking over to Tsunade reasoning. "Hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm……….Yes I can understand your reasoning Tsunade and you do have the right to how you raise your own child. Also may I assume that it is the reason behind you wanting me to bring my son here and have only my most trusted people with me, so to insure that his existence remains secret", asked the Fire Daimyo to which Tsunade nodded to.

"Very well then Tsunade, if your treat my son and ensure that he becomes well again, then I promise you that this news shall not be mentioned to anyone outside this Estate and that your secret will be kept. Where I will tell no-one and I will have my people here swear never to reveal it to anyone until it is announced by you", spoke the Fire Daimyo.

"Thank you Daimyo-dono", replied Tsunade gratefully, after which the Fire Daimyo then turned to look over to Naruto.

"I 'am honoured to met the son of Tsunade as well as the descendant of both the Shodaime Hokage and the Nidaime Hokage and heir to the Senju Clan", spoke the Fire Daimyo respectfully.

"Thanks Ojii-san (Old man) it nice to met you too" said Naruto friendly like.

When the others in the room heard this, their reactions varied the Samurai and the Guards tensed up and glared at the boy for speaking to their Daimyo in such a disrespectful manner. Shizune was about ready to have a panic attack for what Naruto had said since they could be all killed for what Naruto had just said. While Tsunade was cursing her son for being such a knucklehead at times like this, she had told him a dozen times to be respectful to the Fire Daimyo. But it seemed it didn't sink it yet and she blamed Jiraiya influence over Naruto for this, since she should have known that Jiraiya idiocies was contagious since Jiraiya was like that when they were younger.

"NARUTO! Be more respectful to the Fire Daimyo", cried Tsuande angrily where she then turned to the Fire Daimyo. "Daimyo-dono please forgive my son for what he said he's only a boy an-", said Tsunade quickly trying to avoid the Fire Daimyo anger on her son. But before she could finish apologising for Naruto calling him old man, she heard the Fire Daimyo laughing in amusement.

"Well now it has been quite some time since I been address by such a common title", spoke the Fire Daimyo with amusement.

"Daimyo-dono?.........", said one of the Samurai, before the Daimyo held out his hand telling the Samurai to settle down.

"Its quite alright, I rather enjoy be called by a common title from time to time its refreshing, since I get rather tired of all these official titles", said the Fire Daimyo as he smiled down at Naruto.

"Your son remained's me a bit of your old teammate Jiraiya, Tsunade…….and I always did like him", smiled the Fire Daimyo.

"_Not too much I hope_", thought Tsunade since if her son turned into a super pervert like Jiraiya, then she would torture and kill him in ways that would even horrify their old teammate Orochimaru.

Deciding to change the subject, Tsunade decided to get down to business, "Daimyo-dono perhaps we should go to your son and see what I can do for him".

The Daimyo quickly became serious and nodded his head and signalled for Tsunade and Shizune to come with him out the room. As the left the room Tsunade turned to Naruto, "Naruto, why don't you go and train a little in the garden, while Shizune and I help the Daimyo's son".

But to her surprise Naruto shook his head and spoke, "Kaa-chan I don't really feel much like training today would it be ok if I go find something to read", asked Naruto.

This of course surprised Tsunade, since Naruto usually enjoyed training, but decided that it wasn't too strange either, since Naruto did enjoy reading. She then turned to the Fire Daimyo who had stopped with his guards and waited on her and Shizune, "Excuse me Daimyo-dono, but do you perhaps have a library here in your Estate since Naruto enjoys reading and I think he would enjoy having something new to read".

At this the Daimyo smiled, "Of course we have one of the largest collections of books and scrolls in Hi no Kuni here on this Estate, I'm certain he would find something to his liking". Where he then signalled to one of his servants that was nearby and called him over and told him to show Naruto where the library was.

--------- With Naruto ---------

Soon enough the servant led Naruto to the library, when he entered the library he could not believe what he saw. The library itself was a massive room, where the book shelves went almost to the ceiling and they were all filled with hundreds if not thousands of books and scrolls. The book shelves were all along the walls and filled to the brim with books and scrolls; there were even staircases to allow someone to go to the different levels on the walls to get books as well as ladders to climb. Naruto could also see several writing desk and chairs for people to sit on and read. Naruto could not believe the number of books and scrolls he was seeing he did not think so many books and scrolls could all be in one place. (1)

The servant then showed Naruto the Index book where all the different books and scrolls were listed and the different area's they covered as well as find out what books covered what type of information a person was looking for. It even said what row and section which book was in so that the book could be found easily.

The servant then asked Naruto if he needed help finding a book that he might like but Naruto told him he would be fine, after which the servant then left Naruto to his own devises. Once the servant had left Naruto then opened the index book to look up information on something that he been wondering about for the past three months. After a few minutes he found what he had been looking for and found what books had the information was looking for.

For the next ten minutes Naruto went to different parts of the library to get the books that he wanted. When he was finished he had about a dozen books on a nearby reading table. He then open up one of the large books called "_History of the Shinobi World_", where he then quickly scanned the book and found the Chapter he was looking for which was called

"_Bijū's (Tailed Beast's) and __Jinchūriki's (__Power of Human Sacrifice__)_".

Naruto had become interested in the Bijū's since the most well know abilities of his Mokuton powers was the ability to suppress the powers of the Bijū and control them. He also became interested in Jinchūriki after meeting Killer Bee and Yugito since they were both Jinchūriki's and they both held Demons that his ancestor defeated and captured.

For the next few hours Naruto learned as much as he could about Jinchūriki's and the Demon's they held as well as the connection they had to Naruto's Clan. During that time Naruto learned that Bijū's were large, living forms of Chakra, sometimes referred to as Chakura no Bakemono (Chakra Monsters) giving them power that far outmatches most Shinobi's. However, he also learned that even with their immense strength it was tempered due to their bestial nature, which restricts them from being intelligent enough to use it effectively. But when the Bijū's are sealed into humans who are called Jinchūriki's, they are able to benefit from the knowledge of their hosts, giving them the ability to speak and better utilize their powers. It was after learning this that Naruto discovered how Jinchūriki's came into existence, he had learned that when his ancestor Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage (the First Hokage) had captured eight of the nine Bijū's using his Mokuton (Wood Release) techniques. His ancestor spread them to the other, newly-formed villages the Iwagakure (The Hidden Stone), the Kirigakure (the Hidden Mist), the Sunagakure (the Hidden Sand), the Takigakure (the Hidden Waterfall) and the Kumogakure (the Hidden Cloud) in an attempt to maintain peace and equalize the powers between the Shinobi Nations.

Naruto learned that the Ichibi no Shukaku (the One-Tailed Shukaku) was sent to Sunagakure, the Nanabi no Kabutomushi (the Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle) was sent to Takigakure. The Sanbi no Kyodaigame (the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle) and the Rokubi no Namekuji (the Six-Tailed Slug) were sent to Kirigakure. The Gobi no Irukauma (the Five-Tailed Dolphin Horse) and the Yonbi no Saru (the Four-Tailed Monkey) were sent to Iwagakure and the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat) and the Hachibi no Kyogyū (Eight-Tailed Giant Ox) were sent to Kumogakure. While the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) remained free, as it was never caught by the Shodaime Hokage. Although he did defeated it when he fought Uchiha Madara who had the Kyūbi under his control, thanks to the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, but the Kyūbi was later on killed by the Yondaime Hokage (the Fourth Hokage) when it attacked Konoha Ten years ago.

Unfortunately giving each village a Bijū did not stop the outbreak of the First Great Shinobi World War, where both he and Naruto's other ancestor Senju Tobirama the Nidaime Hokage (the Second Hokage) died during it. Where after his death the other Shinobi Nations discovered that they couldn't control the Bijū by themselves and the beast began to run wild along the Elemental Continent. The Shinobi Nation's then decided that the only way they could stop them and still use their powers was to seal them into humans, where they created Jinchūriki's since to seal the demon into a human cost another their life whether it be their sealer or someone else.

Naruto then learned that when the person is made into a Jinchūriki it is when they are very young, so that that their bodies can develop to handle the excess Chakra they get from their Bijū and handle the changes to their bodies that happens from carrying a certain Bijū. He then learned that one of the things they get from carrying a Bijū is unique abilities that only they can do the most famous and well know of these abilities is Ichibi no Shukaku Jinchūriki ability to manipulate Sand. Another noted fact was that all Jinchūriki's have certain unique appearance where certain traits from the Bijū would be added to the appearance to the host for example the Ichibi no Shukaku Jinchūriki would have dark rings around his eyes.

Naruto also sadly learned that in most place's except for Kumogakure, Jinchūriki's were naturally hated, despised and feared by their own people making them into outcast due to people fears of their Demons.

As Naruto learned more and more about Jinchūriki's and their Bijū's, he could not help but fell sympatric to Jinchūriki's for their hard life's and did not feel that they deserved to be treated as outcast for something that was not their fault. He also could not help but feel somewhat responsible for their plight, since it was his ancestor that indivertibly led to their harsh lives even though he had given the villages the Bijū's to maintain peace in the lands.

After a while Naruto decided to find out more about the Kyūbi attack on Konoha since he found it curious as to how the Yondaime Hokage killed the most powerful of all the Bijū's, when his own ancestor the Sondaime Hokage could not with his Mokuton powers, where all he could do was Seal them away.

As Naruto looked through all the records, books and scrolls on the Battle against the Kyūbi, he found little to nothing that explained how the Yondaime did it. All that the books, scrolls and records said was that the Yondaime used some kind of powerful forbidden Jutsu that he created and that it cost him his life to do it nothing more. None of them even gave the name of the Jutsu that he used to do it. After going through all the records, scroll and books he could, Naruto decided to go at it a different angle, where he might find a clue if he looked up the Yondaime himself and learn as much as he could about him.

After tiding up all the books, scrolls and records he had taken out and putting them back where they belonged. He then went back to the index book to get all he could find on the Yondaime Hokage, although he already knew a lot about the Yondaime, from what he had heard from Jiraiya, since he had taught the Yondaime, there was still much he did not know about him. Once Naruto had gotten all he could on the Yondaime Hokage he opened up the first book he had found called "_The World's Greatest Shinobi's_".

As Naruto looked through the book to find what he wanted he could not help but take note of several other Shinobi names and their faces from their pictures on the pages about them such as his own ancestors Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. His ancestor's greatest rival and nemesis, Uchiha Madara and his own younger brother Uchiha Izuna (2). As well as Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzō of the Salamander) the man who had defeated his mother, Godfather Jiraiya and their former teammate Orochimaru and gave them their title the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja). He also saw his mother's and Godfather old Sensei Sarutobi Hiruzen who was known as Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi's), The Professor and the Sandaime Hokage (the Third Hokage), after him Naruto saw his mother, his Godfather and their former teammate Orochimaru. He even saw some other people he was familiar with like Kakuzu of Takigakure who had fought his ancestor Senju Hashirama, he also noted Chiyo the Puppet Master who had a kind of rivalry with his mother. Naruto also saw Killer Bee and his Brother Ē the Yondaime Raikage along with Yagura the Yondaime Mizukage, who was also a Jinchūriki like Killer Bee and Yugito. Not to mention The Sandaime Kazekage of Suna as well as Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand) and the Sandaime Tsuchikage (the Third Tsuchikage)Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki (Ōnoki of Both Scales). But the most notable of them all though were Uchiha Itachi who was the youngest person mentioned in it since he was only sixteen in it, and the Rikudō Sennin (the Sage of the Six Paths) who was also know as the Shinobi no Kami as well and was the founder of Ninjutsu and the Ninja world as well as the Strongest Shinobi to ever exist, but at last Naruto finally found the Yondaime Hokage.

When Naruto final found the Yondaime Hokage he was shocked beyond belief when he saw the Yondaime's picture, since he had never seen the Yondaime's picture before and when he saw it, he immediately saw the almost near mirror image of him and the Yondaime. With the expectation of skin colour where Naruto's was lighter than the Yonadime's and his hair colour was a more lighter shade of blond like his mother (although his was still brighter than hers). His eyes shape were also different (but same colour) along with a few small minor facial difference the resemblance was still unmistakable and it was almost like looking at an older version of himself.

For a few minutes Naruto just stared at the photo of the Yondaime, Naruto knew enough about Genetics from his Medical studies to know that the facial resemblance between him and the Yondaime was no coincidence since the resemblance was too strong. As Naruto study the Yondaime face more and more he became more convinced with what he realise…….the Yondaime was his father. Everything fitted the resemblance between him and the Yondaime, the fact that the Yondaime died on the very day he was born which was what his mother had told him. The fact that Jiraiya was his Godfather since not only was he his mother's teammate but was also his Father Sensei, also the fact that the his father had an affinity to Wind and Lightning. Even though children did not always inherit the same affinities at as their parents and could have completely different one, it was still not out of the question that children could still inherit their parent's affinity. Naruto knew he gotten Earth and Water from his mother side since like with the Uchiha Clan being affiliated with Fire due to being so proficient in it, the Senju were well known to be affiliated with Earth and Water. Since the two Elements combined to create his Great Grandfather Mokuton powers and his Great, Great Uncle was known for his high skill in Water Jutsu. Not to mention his mother had both Elements (but still lack the bloodline to do Mokuton) so it made sense that he got his other Two Elements from his father. The final proof was the fact that when he was younger he remembered one or two times when Jiraiya was training him, and how Jiraiya, had accidentally called him Minato before quickly saying something different to cover up his mistake. At the time Naruto had passed it off as nothing, but now it made sense since considering the resemblance, it would be only naturally that he would remind Jiraiya of his father when he was younger, since Jiraiya had trained his father.

But still some other things did not make sense; the first being, why neither Shizune, Jiraiya nor his mother had told him who his father was, although he could understand their need to keep secret about being the Yondaime's son. Since he knew he had to keep secret about being the son of Tsuande and his Mokuton power, but still if he could keep secret about those things surely he could have kept secret about, who his father was.

Also the other thing that didn't make sense was the fact that his mother always got angry at the mere mention of his father, since when Naruto asked about his father his mother would get angry and change the subject. At first when he was younger Naruto had thought that she was just sad at the memory of his father dying, but he soon realised that the memory made her angry at that she was angry at his father about something.

Naruto pondered over this for a while trying to think what would make his mother hate his father so much. He knew the Yondaime hadn't abandon them since he died when Naruto was born and he knew the Yonadaime hadn't renounce them since no-one knew he even existed as either the Yondaime's son or Tsunade son let alone both. Besides from all the things Naruto had heard from Jiraiya and from what he read about him the Yondaime would never renounce his own child and its mother simply because he was born out of wedlock.

As Naruto thought about why more and more it suddenly came down on him like a ton of bricks, the fact that the Yondaime was able to "kill" a Bijū when his ancestor could not, the fact that he was born with unusually high amount of Chakra for a boy his age much like with Yugito. The fact that his father died to "kill" the Kyūbi, the reason as to why he had whisker shape birthmarks on each his cheeks and why they disappeared soon after awakening his Mokuton powers and why he was able to heal so quickly and recover so quickly from Chakra exhaustion and why he had never gotten sick in a day in his life. Not to mention why his mother hates the mere mention of his father since it would now make perfect sense as to why she got so angry at her father, since his father had made him into a Jinchūriki……..the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi no Yōko.

It all made perfect sense since normal people born with perfect Chakra control had low levels of Chakra, which was why women mostly had perfect Chakra control. It also made sense why he healed so quickly and never got sick as well as recover so quickly from Chakra exhaustion, since the Kyūbi was known for having a powerful healing factor which it showed when it battled his father the Yondaime. Also the markings on his cheeks that looked like whiskers from a cat, dog ….or a fox, which disappeared soon after he awakened his Mokuton bloodline, since it would make sense that the his Mokuton powers would suppress certain influences from the Kyūbi. Not to mention it would only be natural that his mother hated his father since considering the life that most Jinchūriki's have had. As well as the life he might have had, had he stayed in Konoha and if the people of Konoha knew he was the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi, chances were, he be an outcast there as well, which was why Naruto could not help but be slightly angry at his father for making him into a Jinchūriki.

Even as Naruto became more convinced with this new revelations now, he still needed to be certain and from knowing a little about Sealing from his lessons with Jiraiya. Naruto knew that there would have to be some kind of Seal on his body that would show that he was a Jinchūriki, since a Seal that held a Bijū, better yet the strongest of all the nine Bijū's the Kyūbi would have to be placed on him to keep it in check. Knowing that the Seal would have to be on his upper body, Naruto took off his sword that was on his back, his jacket and then his shirt showing a slim but fairly well built upper body for a Ten year old, which was thanks to all his training. He then went over to a nearby mirror and stood in front of it, since he knew that he would have to release Chakra around his body for the Seal to show. Since it was obvious that it could only been seen when he release Chakra since he had never seen any kind of Seal on his body before.

Once Naruto released some of his Chakra around his body he saw a large Seal appear on his stomach confirming what Naruto knew, he was the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi no Yōko. When Naruto took a better look at the Seal he couldn't make heads or tails of it since from what little Sealing knowledge he knew, Naruto knew that the complexity of the Seal was far too advance for him to understand right now. But he could tell at lest it was really strong due to be so complex and because it was able to hold and contain the Kyūbi the strongest of the Bijū's.

After a few minutes Naruto quickly put his shirt, jacket and sword back on and then put back all the scrolls and books he had taken, after which when he was done, he decided to leave the library and get some fresh air since he had a lot on his mind right now and needed to clear his head a little and short things out.

--------- A few Minutes Later --------

As Naruto walked down the open hallway that looked out to the Garden on his right hand side he could see the beauty of the well maintained garden, unfortunately Naruto was too lost in thought of what he had learned and discovered about being the son of the Yondaime and being the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi to admire it.

Naruto was tempted to go find his mother and confront her about what he had discovered and demanded why she, Shizune and Jiraiya never told him. But he decided against it since he knew this wasn't the time or the place for something like this, also he knew he had to wait and think up an excuse as to why he was even learning about Bijū's and learned about Jinchūriki's. He knew that if he didn't handle this carefully then he would have to reveal his meeting with Killer Bee and the others and that was something that Naruto wanted to keep hidden for now at lest.

As Naruto thought more about what he was to do, let alone how he should feel about being the host of one of the most powerful and feared creatures in the world and never even know about it until now. He failed to pay attention to his surroundings and what was going on around him, since he crashed into someone. Who was just coming out from the hallway to his left, where they both fell to the ground, with Naruto on top of the person.

"Ow…sorry my fault, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going", said Naruto, as he then looked to see who he had bumped into. When he looked he saw that he had crashed into a young girl who looked to be about his age, she had yellowish blonde hair that fell down to her to her shoulder blades, she had large emerald green eyes and well sculpted face that was quite pretty for a girl her age. She was just slightly shorter than Naruto and wore a bright pink formal kimono with White oval shape spots and sunflower designs decorated on it.

As Naruto was about to get off her and help her up he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and thrown off her and landed on his rear, several feet away from her. When Naruto got back up and look over to where he bumped into the girl, he saw two men standing over her and helping her up, after which the two men then stood in front of her and glared at Naruto.

The first man was a tall tin man wearing a traditional guard's uniform of the Royal family of Hi no Kunai, with a long Katana on his left side. He had blue-black hair and his eyes were icy blue and he had strong sculpted face.

The other man was a muscular built man and wore the same guard's uniform that the other guard wore; he also wore a pair of large sunglasses. The man also had very little hair on his head as it was mainly bald except for the small Mohawk in the shape of a lightning bolt and a muscular face.

"Hey…what the hell is the deal", cried Naruto angrily from being grabbed onto and then being thrown off.

"How dare you ask such a question you filthy vagabond, after you crashed into Rurichiyo-hime (Princess) favourite Granddaughter of his Lordship the Fire Daimyo and land on top of her", spoke the tine man angrily as he glared at Naruto.

"It was an accident….it not like I meant to, besides I said I was sorry", said Naruto while at the same time cursing his bad luck, since of all the people he had to crash into the he had to crash into the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter.

"You think that a simple apology is enough for disrespecting Rurichiyo-hime in such a manner…..you should be on your hands and knee begging her forgiveness and pray she does not send you to the dungeon for the rest of your life", cried the tin man angrily.

"Look I don't care if she is the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter or even if she was his sister, neither of us was hurt and I said I was sorry and that should be enough. Besides there is no way in hell I going to go down on my knees and beg", said Naruto as he was starting to lose his cool as these guys were getting on his nerves.

"You insolent child you shall pay for your disrespect" cried the tin guard as he drew his Katana and charged forward.

Naruto let the man charge at him and once he was close enough Naruto quickly ducked under the man sword slash, where he then grabbed the guard's wrist and twirled around. So that his back was facing the guard, where as Naruto twirled around he twisted the man's wrist causing him to let go his sword. After which Naruto then took a step back and kicked the man hard in the shin where he lost his footing which allowed Naruro to flip the guard forward and causing the guard to land hard on his back when he hit the floor.

As soon as the other guard saw what happened to his comrade he charged forward and drew out his sword, seeing this Naruto quickly side step the guard just as he was about to attack him and let him pass him by. At the same time that Naruto let the guard go by him, Naruto stuck out his leg so to trip the guard and making him fall forward and crash head first into a nearby railing.

Before either of the guards could pick themselves up off the floor, Naruto quickly made a Shadow Clone of himself, where he had his Clone sit of the tin guard's chest and point a Kunai at the guard's face. At the same time Naruto jumped on the larger man's back and pointed his own Kunai at the back of the guard's head. When the two guards felt the Kunai's both of them knew they had been defeated, although neither of them could still believe that they had been defeated by a mere boy.

This could be especially said for Princess Rurichiyo who could not believe that a boy about her own age had defeated both her personal guards Kenryū and Enryū so easily with very little real effort.

Before the Princess could even try and order Naruto to release her guards someone else spoke from the other end of the Hallway.

"My, my, my you certainly were speaking the truth Tsunade, when you said he get himself into interesting situations"

When Rurichiyo, Naruto and the two guards named Kenryū and Enryū turned to see who had spoke they were surprise to see the Fire Daimyo along with his Samurai bodyguards and other Royal guards, along with Tsunade, Shizune and TonTon.

"Naruto what do you think you are doing", asked an annoyed Tsunade.

"Teaching these guys a lesson in humility and in manners", replied Naruto with a slight scowl since they had attacked him first and he was only defending himself so he wasn't going to let these guys get him into trouble for something they started.

At his answer, Tsunade could only signed since her son did have a short temper when people got him angry or annoyed much like herself, "Naruto please get off them, we don't need you starting trouble here".

At this Naruto scowled slightly but nodded and dispelled his clone and got of the guard he was on.

"Now then….may I ask what all this commotion is about", asked the Fire Daimyo with a bit of amusement in his voice. Since it wasn't every day that he saw a young Ten year old boy take down and defeat two of his best guards, with little to no trouble and he had to admit it was quite entertaining to watch.

"My lord as Rurichiyo-hime and we were on our way to visit her uncle, your other son Crown Prince Akihito, who as you know already is gravely ill. Where on our way this lowly commoner crashed into Rurichiyo-hime and landed on top of her and then insulted her by not apologising to her and then attacked us", spoke the tin guard named Kenryū.

"That a lie", cried Naruto, "I did apologise they just got angry because I refused to go on my knee's and beg like a dog and when I refused they attacked me with their swords and I just defended myself".

At this Tsunade narrowed her eyes and glared at the two guards who could not help but flinch at the look Tsunade was giving them.

"Is this true?" asked Tsunade as she glared at the two guards, since she would not stand for anyone attacking her son whether they be Kage or Daimyo or any kind of person and those who foolish did would pay the butchers bill for doing so.

"Well yes sort of", said Kenryū slightly nervously as he tried to keep his nerve under Tsunade frightening glare, "But still the boy should have bow down and beg forgiveness for crashing into the Princess and for not watching where he was going and disrespecting his betters".

At this Tsunade began to growl and crack her knuckles as she got ready to lay a beat down on the two guards, when the two guards saw this they began to get very nervous.

Deciding to avoid any needless destruction of his home and to avoid his guards from being killed or being beaten to a an inch of their lives for a foolish misunderstanding the Fire Daimyo decided to intervene and signalled Tsunade to stop.

"Tsunade-san…. if I may, before you go and beat my Granddaughter's personal guards, would you please wait and let me explain to them their folly to them and give them a chance to apologise. For acting so rashly and foolishly, since they are very loyal and protective to my Granddaughter and it would upset her greatly to lose them and see them hurt and it would be also very hard to find guards as loyal and proactive to my Granddaughter as they are", said the Fire Daimyo.

After a moment or so Tsunade relented and nodded her head that she would not attack.

At this the Fire Daimyo then turned to Kenryū and Enryū, "Tell me Kenryū, before you confronted this boy did you perchance ask his name or who he was?"

"Eh…No my lord since there was no need to since it was quite obvious that the boy is a commoner by the way he is dressed, my guess is he some low rank ordinary Genin from Konoha", spoke Kenryū.

At this Naruto just glared at Kenryū saying he was some low rank ordinary Genin, since for one thing he wasn't even a Genin of Konoha and he was most definitely not low since he was skilled enough to defeat them both easily.

The Fire Daimyo of course then smiled since he was going to enjoy the looks on both guards faces for what he was about to tell them next.

"Well then Kenryū…….if you believe that, then I'm afraid your very much mistaken since this boy is no low rank ordinary Genin from Konoha, since for one thing he is not a even a Ninja of Konoha. Also he is not any ordinary boy either……since this boy is Senju Naruto, son of Tsunade the Slug Princess, member of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's). Making him the Great Grandson of Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage (First Hokage) and the Great, Grandnephew of Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage (Second Hokage) and he is the sole heir to the Senju Clan", spoke the Fire Daimyo with a slight smirk at the shocked looks on his Granddaughter and her guard's faces.

Both Kenryū and Enryū were both naturally shocked since the Senju Clan was the closest thing that Konoha had to royalty, since it was the Senju Clan who practically created the village by themselves along with some small bit of help from their allies the Uchiha Clan and several other allied Clans. Also even though the Senju Clan weren't really a royal family they still held with the same respect and reverence that other royal families or Noble Clans were held in, by all Shinobi and non-Shinobi Nations. Especially in Hi no Kuni, since everyone knew the close ties that the Senju Clan had with Hi no Kuni royal family, as it was the Senju Clan who first negotiated the setting up of the First Hidden Shinobi village in Hi no Kuni. So as far as social ranking was concerned Naruto held the same social ranking, as a visiting prince from another Nation. Not to mention both men were very familiar with Tsunade's infamous reputation and short temper, where both men knew they were in a lot of trouble with her since they knew that Tsunade would not take well the fact that they tired to attack her son, which would result in very "severe repercussions" on them from her.

When they realised their grave error in judgement, both guards immediately went on their knees and bowed their heads down to Naruto.

"Forgive us Senju-sama for our error in judgement, we deeply apologise for our mistake and beg your forgiveness, we swear never to make the same mistake again", spoke Kenryū as Enryū just kept his head down.

"Fine, fine its ok you don't need to bow down to me, a simple apology would have been ok and call me Naruto not Senju-sama it make me sound like some stuffy spoiled kid", said Naruto has he waved the two that it was ok.

"Yes of course Naruto-sama and thank you", spoke Kenryū as he and Enryū bowed down to Naruto again which just caused him to sigh in annoyance, since he knew that this would be the best he could get from them.

Deciding to change the subject from him, Naruto then turned to his mother, "Kaa-chan how is the Ojii-san son, and will he be ok?"

Sighing at her son for calling the Fire Daimyo old man again and ignore the shocked and outrage looks on the Princess and her guard's faces, Tsunade decided to answer the question.

"The prince needs some serious treatment to get over his illness and I have just given him something to help break his fever, but the illness itself won't be anything that Shizune and I can't handily, although we will have to stay here for a little while. So that we can handle the prince's treatment and help his recovery, but he should be fine soon enough, the Fire Daimyo was just leading us to the medical room and his herbal room when we saw you with the guards here".

"Oh!…..that good" replied Naruto neutrally, unlike his normal shelf, which cause Tsunade, Shizune and even the Fire Daimyo to raise their eyebrows in curiosity, as to Naruto's sudden change in attitude from earlier.

But before any of them could ask what was wrong with him Princess Rurichiyo suddenly spoke up for the first time.

"Excuse us but is it true, about we have just heard….that our Uncle Akihito will recover", asked Princess Rurichiyo. (3)

"Yes Princess you Uncle she should be fine", replied Tsuande respectfully

"Then we thank you on behalf of our Uncle, I'm certain my Grandfather will reward you well for your services", replied Princess Rurichiyo before she then made a passing curious glance a Naruto before turning to her guards. "Come we are hungry and would like something sweet to eat", said the Princess as she walked away, from Tsunade and the other.

"Yes of course Princess, what is it that you would like to eat?" asked Kenryū as he and Enryū quickly got up and followed the Princess.

"Spoilt much?" spoke Naruto as he didn't like the Princess attitude much at how she treated his mother like she were some local second rate Healer. That healed someone just for money, when his mother did it as both a favour and because it was the right thing to do.

"Naruto!" cried Tsunade angrily at her son for insulting the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter right in front of him.

"Now, now Tsunade-san that quite alright what your son said is not untrue I'm afraid. I will not deny that my Granddaughter is a bit snobbish, spoiled and a bit self-centred, since she has gotten nearly everything she every wanted from a very young age, but she is still a good and sweet girl at heart" said the Fire Daimyo.

At this Naruto just shrugged not really caring, before he then turned to his mother "Kaa-chan if its ok with you I'm going to train with my sword for a while".

"Ok Naru-chan just don't over exert yourself", said Tsunade, to which Naruto just nodded and walked off to the Garden to train.

---------A few days later---------

For the next few days Naruto spent most of his time reading in the library and training by himself as well as even thinking over what he had learned since it was still a lot to take in.

During that time when they weren't treating the Fire Daimyo's son, Tsunade and Shizune had helped Naruto in his training and on more than a few occasions they had asked him what was bothering him, since they could see that something was wrong with him. But when they asked him Naruto would either say nothing was wrong or would just Change the subject. The reason to this was because Naruto did not what to raise the subject to him being the Yondaime's son, as well as the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko while on the Fire Daimyo Country Estate since it could cause a scene if someone over heard them talking about it.

Also during those few days Naruto had be unaware that someone had been watching him when he trained. This person was Princess Rurichiyo, who after meeting Naruto and seeing how he defeated her guards so easily became interested in him. After she had met him Rurichiyo decided to learn as much as she could about Naruto and his Clan.

Two days after first meeting Naruto, Rurichiyo discovered little to nothing about Naruto himself as her Guards and her servants could find next to nothing about him, since none of them even knew that Tsunade had a son until he came with her. But despite that she did learn a great deal about Naruto's ancestry as well as his Clan, she learned that his Clan were considered the strongest Clan in the world. Before the founding of the hidden villages and during a time called the Shinobi Clans Wars and were still considered by many as the strongest Shinobi Clan even despite the fact that there were only two members left. She also learned that Naruto came from a long line of powerful Shinobi's where his Great Grandfather was Senju Hashirama the main founder of Konoha, as well as the Shodaime Hokage and was considered the strongest Shinobi of his time. Naruto was also the Great, Grandnephew of the Nidaime Hokage Senju Tobirama younger brother of Hashirama and he was considered the Strongest Shinobi in Konoha of his time when he was the Hokage. While his mother Tsunade was hailed as both the strongest and most beautiful Kunoichi in the world as well as the greatest Medical Ninja and Healer. She was also a member of the Densetsu no Sannin whose fame and powers were know by all. Altogether just from his mother side of the family Naruto had a great deal of potential and just as her guard Kenryū had told her, Naruto was basically royalty in Konoha much like she was here.

After learning all this Rurichiyo decided she wanted to watch Naruto as she was curious as to what type of person he was since despite the fact that he came from Noble Clan (as Noble as a Shinobi Clan can get in the Shinobi World), he did not act like any boy she knew from a Noble family, in fact he acted the complete opposite from them. He hated being called "Naruto-sama" or "Senju-sama" by servants, he was polite to everyone and she had even seen him help a young servant girl pick up broken plates she had dropped when she accidently tripped. She also saw him go to the kitchen to make his own lunch instead of ordering a servant to do it; it was because of all these things that made Rurichiyo become more and more curious about him.

After a few days of just watching Naruto and after losing her guards again so that she could be alone she decided to go up to him and speak to him. When she came up to Naruto, who was so focus on training that she did not notice her until she coughed loudly enough so that Naruto would notice her.

When Naruto turned around and saw her he raised one of his eyebrows in curiosity as to why she was here. "Is there something I can help you with Rurichiyo-hime?" asked Naruto.

"Yes there is Naruto-sama we would like to offer you the distinct honour and privilege of inviting you to have afternoon tea with us now", spoke Rurichiyo with the high upper class tone that a person of royalty would often speak with.

"That is very kind of you to offer Rurichiyo-hime and I would be very happy to take your offer of tea, but I' am in the middle of my training session right now and I would like to finish it first. But in a few hours time when I'm finish and I have cleaned up I would be happy to have tea with you then", said Naruto as he tried to be as polite as possible.

Unfortunately, the Princess did not take well to Naruto declining her invitation to tea now and to have it later well, as she found it to be an insult to her. Since whenever she wanted something she wanted it done right away and no-one had ever refused her anything.

"How dare you, you should be honoured that we find you worthy of having tea with us. We are the Granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo and although you may be someone of somewhat noble blood in your speck of a village, you are still not of royal blood. Now I demand that you come with me now before I lose my patience and decide that you are no longer worthy of being in my company", demanded the Princess.

Naruto simply ignored the Princess demand as he did not wish do deal with the spoilt girl, who although was a year older than him was still like a little child that did not like it when it was refused something.

Of course when the Princess saw that Naruto was ignoring her she got even angrier and started to throw a tantrum, since no-one had ever ignored her before and when Naruto did it infuriated her.

"Are you even listening to us…..do you not even know that with a single word we can have you cast in irons and thrown into the deepest darkest dungeon for your insolents", ranted the Princess.

"Rant all you what "_Princess_" you may be the Granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo, but I highly doubt he put me in a dungeon for simply not doing what you want me to do……besides all your ranting proves what I thought you were from when I first met you", scoffed Naruto.

"And what's that?" said Rurichiyo angrily.

"It proves that your nothing more, but a spoiled little girl who thinks that just because she the Granddaughter of a powerful Daimyo that the world revolves around her and that everyone in it is at her beck and call just because she was lucky even to be born in nobility. I beat you even stayed in this Estate your entire life and never even go out of it", sneered Naruto with just made the Princess angrier.

"So what if we haven't why would we need to go out and mix with you commoners when we have all that we need here, nobility does not mix with lowly commoners", scoffed the Princess.

At this Naruto shook his head finding Rurichiyo belief foolish and almost humorous in away.

"There you go again just proving me right at how foolish you are, didn't you ever wonder how Royalty like your family ever came to be, no-one is born noble your own ancestors were merely commoners like everyone else at one point. Until they became powerful leaders by getting people to follow them, which is how any noble retain power, since you noble's are only allowed to have the lives you have, because of the hard work of other people who you are suppose to lead and help protect and rule. In the real world where people like me live in, you must work hard to get what you want and I know that spoilt little boys and girls like you. Who have been sheltered all their lives in golden palaces and mansions like this wouldn't survive a single day outside these walls by themselves", said Naruto with a sneer.

Princess Rurichiyo sheeted in rage at Naruto remark,

"We see about that!......I show you that I can do anything you can do", cried Rurichiyo angrily before stomping away.

Seeing this Naruto just shook his head at the foolishness of the Princess and decided to forget all about the Princess and continue on with his training.

----------Two Hours Later----------

After Naruto had finish his training he decided to head to the Kitchen and get a bite to eat since he was hungry after all of his training, just when he was about to turn around the corner, two people who were running collided into him as they were turning around the corner.

"Ow!" cried Naruto as he rubbed his rear and stood up again, when he looked up he saw that he collided with Kenryū and Enryū who were now picking themselves up off the floor.

"Hey Kenryū and Enryū what's the hurry?" asked Naruto when he saw the Princess two personally guards friendly, since he had become friendly enough with the two guards over the past few days despite their ruff start.

When the two guards saw who they had collided into they both quickly bowed respectfully to Naruto, "Naruto-sama forgive us for colliding into you we are in search of Rurichiyo-hime, since we have been unable to find for several hours, have you see here at all lately?" spoke Kenryū

"Yea I saw her about two hours ago, but we kind of got into an argument when I told her I was busy training and couldn't have tea with her at the time", spoke Naruto.

At this both guards grew concerned about the Princess and were about to start running again to find the Princesss, but before they could another servant ran up to them and Naruto holding a piece of torn cloth.

"Kenryū-san! and Enryū-san! I have just found this torn piece of Rurichiyo-hime kimono near hanging from a tree branch next to the Estate wall. The Princess must have climbed the tree and left the Estate", spoke the servant.

"_Damn that stupid stubborn spoiled girl_" thought Naruto since even though he didn't like the Princess much he still didn't want her to get hurt which would happen if they didn't find her soon.

"We must find immediately before something happens to her", cried Kenryū as he and Enryū were about to head out to the front gate and start looking for her.

"Wait!" cried Naruto stopping the two men. "If you two go out there by yourself you won't find her since the forest is too big to search by yourselves. You two should try and gather a search party and gather as many people as you can to help search for her. While you two do that I will go search for her myself, since I can cover more ground than you two and I can search more area's then you both", spoke Naruto which got a confuse look from his the two guards faces.

Seeing this Naruto quickly did a **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique) and made two dozen Shadows Clones of himself.

Seeing so many Naruto's at once, surprised both Kenryū and Enryū, but they quickly got over and realised what Naruto had meant. After which they both thanked Naruto for his help and then left to get others to help in the search and said they would join him in the search as soon as they could.

Once they left Naruto and his Clones quickly left the Estate and spread out in different directions of the forest outside the Estate in the hope of finding Rurichiyo before she got hurt.

---------Half an hour Later with Rurichiyo--------

"Stupid boy……How dare he treat us like some little child…….how dare he look down of us…….we will show him……we show him, that we are just as tough as him", ranted Rurichiyo as she stomped through the forest not really knowing or caring where she went.

For the past two and a half hours since her argument with Naruto, she had been walking through the forest by herself. Since she wanted to prove to Naruto that she could do whatever he could and that she could handle the real world as well as he could.

But soon enough her anger faded and she decided that she would go back to the Estate, but the problem was that she did not know which direction to go. As she had been so angry that she did not pay attention to where she was going, where she then realised that she was lost.

After a minute or so Rurichiyo decided to just turn around and go straight ahead in the hopes of finding something that was familiar and that would lead her back home. For a few minutes Rurichiyo walked through the bushes and pass the trees and not recognising anything, but as she walked on through a large bush she suddenly hit something large Black and furry, which then started to growl after she bumped into it.

When she stepped away from the thing it stood up and roared revealing it to be a massive Black Bear, seeing the Bear Rurichiyo, let out and massive scream and started to run as fast as she could away from the Bear, which quickly chase after her.

--------With Naruto------

For the past half hour Naruto (the real one) had been tracking the trail that he found that was left by Rurichiyo as she stomped through the forest. Thankful Naruto had learned how to track people fairly well thanks to his friend Omoi, who had taught him how to track people, although Naruto had to admit, it was fairly easy. Since the trail Rurichiyo left was pretty easy to follow especially when you consider the fact that she had no real experience outside her Grandfather's Country Estate.

As Naruto ran through the tree tops he suddenly heard a girl screaming loudly, quickly realising that it was Rurichiyo, Naruto quickly ran off to the direction that the scream came from.

It didn't take him long to find Rurichiyo, where he found her on the ground with a large Black Bear standing over her with it claws ready to rip her apart.

Acting quickly Naruto jumped down to them, where he did a falling midair spin kick with his super human strength to send the Black Bear flying into a nearby tree.

"NARUTO!" cried Rurichiyo in surprise and relief at being saved from the Black Bear.

"Are you alright Rurichiyo-hime?" asked Naruto while still watching the Black Bear.

"H-H-Hai we are fine thanks to you", said Rurichiyo, after which he heard the Black Bear's roar again, where when she turned back to it she saw the Bear had got back up and charged forward at them.

"STAY BACK!" cried Naruto as he charged head on into the Black Bear, where he ducked right under the Black Bears massive claws and using his super human strength again, punched it right in its stomach with his right first and sending the Black Bear flying right into five tree's.

When Rurichiyo saw this she could not believe her eyes that a mere boy, who was a year younger than her could have such incredible strength, but she then remembered that one of the things that Naruto's mother Tsunade was famous for was her monstrous strength, which Naruto clearly had inherited.

Once Naruto had dealt with the Black Bear Rurichiyo went over to Naruto, "I-Is it d-dead?"

To which Naruto shook his head, "No it's just knocked out".

After dealing with the Black Bear Naruto then went and healed the small minor wounds that Rurichiyo had gotten from branches and thorns that she had hit as she ran from the Black Bear. He also then healed the Bear so that when it woke up it would be ok, this of coursed surprised Rurichiyo and when she asked him why. He simply told her that the Black Bear only attack her because it had believed you had attacked it, in which it was only defending itself and did not deserver to be hurt or die from its wounds.

Once the Black Bear was healed Naruto then had Rurichiyo got onto her back where he then carried her on his back as he travelled back to the Fire Daimyo's Country Estate through the tree-tops. When they got to the Main Gates they where they met Naruto's mother and Shizune, along with the Fire Daimyo and most of his Guards, Samurai and servants along with Kenryū and Enryū who were overjoyed along with the Fire Daimyo to see the young Princess safe and unharmed.

--------Three Weeks Later--------

"Ow!" cried Naruto has he fell on the ground hard when he fell on his back when his Katana was knocked away.

"Not Bad Naruto-san, but your stance is still much too rigged you need to loosen up and bee more flexible and your grip is not tight enough, since you lost your sword", spoke a tall young long redden haired man. Whose hair was tide up in a pony tail that reach down to his shoulder blades and wore a Red Kosode and a White Hakama along with a pair of White Tabi, and a pair of Waraji.

This man's name was Kensai and was the strongest Samurai and Swordsman in Hi no Kuni. After hearing the story at how Naruto had searched and found Rurichiyo and then save her from the Bear, the Fire Daimyo insisted that he reward Naruto for saving his Granddaughter, Naruto had refused Gold or other valuable objects he hand enough money (4) and didn't need or want any more. He tried to refuse other rewards that the Fire Daimyo tried to give him but the Fire Daimyo insisted, so Naruto then ask him the Fire Daimyo could find him a Swordsman to help train him in Kenjutsu, which the Fire Daimyo did, by summoning Kensai to the Estate and having him train him for as long as he was here.

"Come on Naruto you can beat him!" cried Rurichiyo, as she cheered Naruto on as she watched him along with Kenryū and Enryū.

After the incident with the Black Bear, Rurichiyo apologised to Naruto for being so rude and arrogant to him earlier, where Naruto accepted her apology. Soon after Naruto and Rurichiyo became friends and thanks to the incident and Naruto friendship, Rurichiyo began to change for the better.

She became more understanding to people and was even polite to the servants when she asked for something or got something and even said "I" instead "we", she was also more understanding of other people thanks to Naruto. She was also willing to get and do things herself instead of ordering servants around to do it for her. But still she called herself the royal we from time to time and was still stubborn and did not have too much patience, but she was still a better person than she was before.

Naruto also became better friends with Kenryū and Enryū as well, where he learned that Enryū had a high pitched voice, which was why he usually remained silent most of the time as he was very self-conscious about it and Naruto had to swear that he would never tell anyone about it.

Naruto soon got up and got his Katana and got into his stance again and did what Kensai had told him to do, after which he then attacked Kensai with his Katana.

Unknown to Naruto and the others the Fire Daimyo had been watching them from the balcony above them and was enjoying watching Naruto train and seeing his Granddaughter cheering him on. The Fire Daimyo had been watching Naruto train with Kensai for much of the past weeks and could see that Naruto swordsmanship was improving very well, and when Naruto was not training, he was hanging around and talking or playing with his Granddaughter which made the Fire Daimyo smile when he saw them.

After a little while he was soon joined by another person, that person being Naruto's mother Tsunade.

"Ah Tsunade so nice of you to join me, I take it that since you're here my son has nearly recovered", spoke The Fire Daimyo.

"Yes he has, in a few days time your son should be fully recovered", replied Tsunade as she looked down to watch Naruto train with Kensai.

"That is excellent new, I'm very much relieved to hear it" spoke the Fire Daimyo as he was glad to hear that his son would recover. "I'm certain that Rurichiyo with be equally relieved to hear it as well, as she had been greatly worried about him since before your arrival".

"I also take it that once he had healed you and your son as well as your Apprentice will leave", spoke the Fire Daimyo.

"Hai, since we cannot stay in one place too long in case we draw attention to ourselves", replied Tsunade.

"I understand and know that I shall keep my word and no-one will her about your son from my servants, my guards, my Samurai or myself and I certain that they will not hear it from Rurichiyo, since I have explained the consequences for Naruto to her if she did tell anyone".

"Thank you I grateful for that", replied Tsunade after which she then heard a sad sigh come from the Fire Daimyo.

"It is indeed a shame that you must leave since my Granddaughter had become quite fond of your son and is the first real friend her own age that she has had. Not to mention your son has had quite the effect on my Granddaughter where she is more sensitive to others feelings and more understanding. Ever since my daughter's (Rurichiyo's mother) passing when giving birth to Rurichiyo and her father being killed in an accident a year after her birth, I have tired to make sure that she was well cared for and made sure she would have everything she could want. But sadly my doting on her made her spoiled and she did not value other people as she should have, that was until your son arrived and changed her for the better", spoke the Fire Daimyo with a smile.

"Yea, Naruto has a knack for changing people for the better, he did it for me by being born and giving something to live for and he did the same for the High Priestess daughter Shion", said Tsunade with her own smile.

At this the Fire Daimyo raised his eyebrow in curiosity, "When you say the High Priestess, do you mean the High Priestess of Oni no Kuni (Demon Country), Priestess Miroku".

"Hai"

"So I guess from what you have just told me you and your family were somehow involved in her Daughter being saved considering the exact details of the attempted kidnapping of the High Priestess daughter and how it was prevented were never released", said the Fire Daimyo.

"Hai, Naruo was the one who helped save her", replied Tsunade.

"I see……. It seems your son has quite the talent for saving Princess's in danger", chuckled the Fire Daimyo.

"Unfortunately yes" replied Tsunade with a slight annoyance, "He gets it from his father", mumbled Tsunade slightly, which thankfully the Fire Daimyo didn't hear.

"I guessing then that you have heard what happened last year in the Country", said the Fire Daimyo.

"Huh!.....What Happened in Oni no Kuni", asked Tsunade.

"Oni no Kuni was attacked by a Demon called Mōryō, the High Priestess was able to stop it by separating its spirit from its body and then seal them separately away from one another. Unfortunately, doing so cost the High Priestess her life", said the Fire Daimyo sadly since he knew the High Priestess well and had enjoyed talking to her.

"_That's must be why Shion has not replied to any of Naruto letters…the poor girl must be distraught…But I can't tell Naruto if I do he will what to go there immediately and we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves, since if we go there we surely will_", thought Tsunade sadly. After which she decided that she would not tell Naruto, although he would probably be angry with her later on when he finds out, but hopefully he can one day understand why she did it.

"Thank you for informing me of this Daimyo-dono" replied Tsunade.

"So do you intend to go back? Since your son and the new High Priestess Shion were friends" said the Fire Daimyo.

"No!" said Tsunade, which surprised the Fire Daimyo, "If we go we could very well draw attention to ourselves there and that is the last thing we need right now".

"Very well then Tsunade that is your choice, but I believe that is a mistake since often enough when you keep certain secrets like this from your son they often come back to haunt you later on in your life", spoke the Fire Daimyo.

Tsunade nodded in understanding but did not change her mind since it was for the best and whether Naruto would hate or not for it in the future, did not matter to her as long as he was safe from harm.

Soon enough both Tsunade and the Fire Daimyo decided to end their conversation and decided to just watch Naruto train.

--------Several Days Later at the Main Gate of the Daimyo Estate--------

Once the Fire Daimyo's son had fully recovered, Tsunade had decided it was time to leave.

"Goodbye Tsunade-san and thank you for all your help", spoke the Fire Daimyo, to which Tsunade nodded that it was ok.

"I wish you a safe Journey", said Kensai as he shook Naruto hand and handed Naruto some Kenjutsu scrolls.

"Thanks Kenasi-sensei", replied Naruto as he took the scrolls and put them in his side pouch, where then turned around to say good-bye to Rurichiyo.

"Good-bye Rurichiyo-chan it was nice meeting you", said Naruto.

"Take care Naruto-kun", said Rurichiyo, before she then held out a small silver ring to Naruto, "Take if as a small token from my Grandfather and me for saving my life".

Naruto took it and put it on and looked at it, the ring was made of silver and with the symbol of a bird on it. (5)

"The Bird on the Ring is a Phoenix and represents Fire which is the symbol of my family, I thought it suited you since you said you are going to be a Konoha Ninja one day and Fire is said to embody energy and passion, so I thought it was perfect", said Rurichiyo with a small smile and blush.

"Thank you Rurichiyo-chan it great", said Naruto

"Good-bye Naruto saw it was a pleasure meeting you", spoke the Fire Daimyo.

"Thanks Ojii-san it was nice meeting you as well", said Naruto, which cause Daimyo to chuckle as Naruto amused him so much. While Tsunade yelled and bonked her son on the head and yelled that she was going to drill some manners into her son if it was the last thing she did.

Soon enough Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune and TonTon left the main gate and walked away as they did Naruto cried out that he would see them all again.

"I have to say young Naruto is quite and interesting young man and I'm certain that we will be seeing and hearing great things from him soon enough. Where things will become very interesting", spoke the Fire Daimyo as he looked down at Rurichiyo who was still looking out to Naruto and the others who were walking away.

"Hai I think so too jiji-sama (respectful term for saying Grandfather)", said Rurichiyo with a look that the Fire Daimyo and the others were very familiar with, it was a look that Rurichiyo saw something she wanted.

--------A Month Later---------

One month after the events at the Fire Daimyo Country Estate Jiraiya met up with Tsunade and the others to give Naruto his next lessons in Ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu. After finishing one of his lessons with Jiraiya he decided that since Jiraiya was here, he could finally confront them about him being the Yondaime's son and the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi no Yōko. So after he had washed up from his training Naruto then went into the next room to find his mother and Jiraiya sitting down having a plate of sake while Shizune was reading a romance book with TonTon sitting next to her.

"Kaa-chan, Ero-sennin, I want to ask you something", spoke Naruto.

"Sure, Naru-chan what is it", said Tsunade as she was taking a sip of sake along with Jiraiya.

"I want you to tell me why none of you told me that my father was the Yondaime and that I'm the Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi no Yōko".

Once Naruto said this, both Jiraiya and Tsunade spit out the sake that they had been drinking, and stared wide eye in disbelief at him. Since out of all the things they expected Naruto to say they never expect this. Shizune dropped her book and let out a gasped as she was equally as surprised as well.

"Naruto! WHO TOLD YOU THIS", cried Tsunade panic like fearing that somehow someone had learned the truth about Naruto and told him, since she knew that neither Shizune, Jiraiya nor herself told him and the only other person that was suppose to know, was her Sensei Sarutobi.

"I found out myself", said Naruto calmly

"HOW?……WHEN?......WHERE?" said Jiraiya who was as worried as Tsunade was about how Naruto found out.

"I found out about a month ago at the Daimyo' s Estate", replied Naruto where upon seeing the worried, fearful and confused looks on everyone face Naruto went and explained how he found out.

Once Naruto had finished explaining how he discovered that Minato was his father and sealed the Kyūbi into him. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and even TonTon had looks of being completely stunned on their faces, as they could not believe that Naruto had figured out everything out by himself without any help.

Jiraiya was the first come out of his shock, where he then quickly went and got three more sake plates and poured some sake into them and then handed two of them to Tsunade and even Shizune. Who then all took a large gulp of sake with Jiraiya to help settle themselves.

Once Jiraiya had finished he started to laugh "Damn brat your defiantly your parents son that for sure since you defiantly got bit of both your mom's and your dad's brains".

"Thanks I guess, but none of you have answered my question yet, which is why did none of you tell me the truth about my father and that I'm a Jinchūriki", said Naruto calmly despite the fact that he was quite angry at the fact that they kept something so important about himself.

At this his mother sighed since she had dreaded that this say would come and had thought it wouldn't have come so soon not to mention that Naruto would discover it himself.

"I'm sorry Naru-chan, we thought that it would be best at the time that you didn't know about it since if people found out that you were not only my son but the son of the Yondaime Hokage as well. Then they would come after you twice as hard as they would if they just found out that you were my son, since both your father and I were the strongest Shinobi's in our fields. Where if people learned that you existed and were the by product of your father and myself where the chances of you inheriting some, most or all of our best known qualities were quite high. Then there would be countless people after you as either revenge for something that we did to them or in the hopes of somehow controling you as using you for their own gains", said Tsunade.

"I understand that well enough, but if I could keep the fact that I have the Mokuton bloodline and that I'm your son secret, I could keep the fact that I'm the Yondaime son a secret as well", replied Naruto coolly.

"Well you see brat we were kind of afraid that if you knew that Yondaime was your father, you be so excited, since you idolised him so much, which was kind of my fault that you did, but still we thought that you would tell people that he was your father. But still, you're right we were wrong to keep it from you since you were able to keep your Mokuton bloodline secret and your mother's identity a secret. It was just that bringing up your father is kind of a touchy subject with your mom", said Jiraiya as he saw the scowl on Tsunade face at the mention of Minato.

"You mean over the fact that he made me into a Jinchūriki", spoke Naruto neutrally, to which Jiraiya nodded.

"You have to understand Naruto your father had no choice if he didn't do it then the Kyūbi would have destroyed Konoha and killed everyone", explained Jiraiya earnestly.

"I understand that but still why me?"

"Your father knew that to seal the Kyūbi, he would have to seal it into a very young child so to keep it contained and although he could have held it in another young child, he did not. The reason was because he could not bring himself to ask another family or another parent to make that kind of sacrifice when he could not himself with his own son", said Jiraiya since Minato was always too noble in that way.

"I surprised you let him Kaa-chan, didn't you try and stop him?" asked Naruto as he had wonder this as well especially at how angry she was at him.

"I didn't know at the time I was unconscious from a sedative that Shizune gave me to let me rest after giving birth to you so I didn't know until a few days later. If I had know I would never have allowed it and I would killed him myself for even suggesting it, the only reason you didn't grow up with the same hard life as most Jinchūriki. Is because no-one knew you were the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi and if they did the villagers would have attacked you or treated you as an outcast for being it if you had stayed in Konoha. Which was one of the reasons why I didn't stay there to raise you", growled Tsunade, since even over the years her anger against Minato had not lessened one bit.

"Fine but that still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me about it, were you just going to keep it hidden and hope I never found out", asked Naruto as he was still angry about being kept in the dark about something this important about himself.

"No of course not, it was just that we thought that you were too young at the time and we thought it would be best if we would wait till you were older where you could handle it better. Since we were afraid that if you found out when you were young you would think that you were a monster or something and be afraid you would hurt others and would make yourself into an outcast. I also didn't want you to wake up a nights fearing that the Kyūbi would come out and destroy all of us", said Tsunade truthfully, since on more than one night she had nightmares that the Kyūbi got out of Naruto and killed him.

After hearing this Naruto just sighed although he understood both Jiraiya and his mother's reason's along with his father's reasons, he still felt a little angry at them all, although he knew over time he would get over it. But still there was still something else that he was wondering.

"So when were you going to tell me the whole truth", he asked.

"We had planned to tell you about your father right before you would go to Konoha, while we were going to tell you about the Kyūbi about a year after once you had fully settled into Konoha", said Tsunade. Which Naruto nodded accepting it since although he did not like the way they did it he still understood why.

"If I may, there something I would like to know", spoke Shizune for the first time as she had been watching the whole event from the sidelines.

"And What's that Onee-chan?" asked Naruto.

"How did you know about Jinchūriki's in the first place, since none of use ever mention them to you", spoke Shizune.

This also got Tsunade and Jiraiya curious since they were wondering the same thing.

Normally a question like that would worry Naruto, especially it he wanted to keep his meeting with Killer Bee and the others secret from his mother and the others. But thankfully Naruto had come up with a believable excuse, since he knew something like this would come up. This was why he waited a while to ask them about the Kyūbi and Yondaime since he needed time to come up with a believable excuse to tell them.

He told that he had went to the library to find out more about his Mokuton bloodline and its effect on the Bijū's since Tsunade and the others knowledge of it were limited and he thought that he might find something new about it in the library. He then told them that during his research he "accidently" learned about Jinchūriki's, when people sealed the Bijū's into humans. He also "accidently" read about how the Yondaime had killed the Kyūbi, which was something he found strange, since not even the Shodaime was able to do that, with his Mokuton powers and the Bijū's were monster made out of Chakra, which would make them virtually impossible to kill physically. So when he did researched on the Yondaime and saw his picture he slowly put the pieces together and discovered the truth by himself.

Thankfully Tsunade and the others believed Naruto, since technically the story was half true, which made it all the more believable to his mother and Jiraiya as well as Shizune.

Once all the questioned were answered Naruto then turned to Jiraiya.

"Ero-sennin do you have any of those pieces of paper that are made from those special types of tree, that allow you to find out what Nature affinity you have?" asked Naruto.

"Yea I have one, but why do you want one, but we already know you have Earth and Water affinity thanks to you have the Mokuton bloodline, it would just be a waste of time for you to use it", replied Jiraiya.

"Well you see during my Medical studies with Onee-chan I read that a lot of times children will often inherit their affinity from one of their parents and in some cases inherit two Nature affinities from both their parents and I read that the Yondaime had an affinity to Wind and Lightning", said Naruto.

"But there's no certainty that you will inherit any of your father's affinities, most people are only born with one and sometimes it a completely different one from their parents. Sarutobi Sensei own son Asuma has an affinity to Wind and neither Sensei nor his wife had an affinity to Wind. The only reason you were born with two affinities is because of your Mokuton bloodline, since the only reason why many bloodline users are born with two or more affinities is due to their bloodline abilities. The Chances of you having another Nature affinity that isn't connected to your bloodline is about a million to one if not more", spoke Jiraiya.

"Just humour me Ero-sennin, since it can't hurt to just try and see why happens", said Naruto

"Fine" grumbled Jiraiya as he found this to be a waste, but decided to just prove to Naruto he could not have been born with any other affinities other than Earth and Water.

Jiraiya then took out the paper from his side pouch and then held the paper to Naruto for him to touch.

When Naruto did, Jiraiya jaw hit the floor along with Tsunade's and Shizune's when they saw the paper cut into three pieces as it fell to the ground. Where the first one turned to dirt, the second became damped and the third crumpled up, showing Jiraiya and the others that Naruto had four natural Nature affinities, one for Earth, one for Water, one for Wind and one for Lightning.

"_Impossible_" thought Tsunade

"_It can't be_" though Shizune

"_How the hell is this possible_" thought Jiraiya

"Jiraiya!....Are you certain that there nothing wrong with the paper, it must be defective or something", said Tsunade as she still could not believe that Naruto had four natural nature affinities.

"No there nothing wrong with I certain of it I picked it up a while back with a few others an they all worked fine", said Jiraiya.

"But how can Naruto have four natural nature affinities?" said Shizune.

"I don't really know", said Jiraiya, "I can explain his Earth and Water affinity easily enough, but as for the Lighting and Wind…..well it obviously came from Minato. Since he had both, but he naturally had an affinity to Wind and later trained to get Lightning, he didn't have it naturally. Like I said before for Naruto to have both his mother's and his father's nature affinities were about over a million to one, more so when he got Minato's Lightning affinity natural instead of training for it like he did. My only answer was luck of the draw, where Naruto was one of those very lucky few that were allowed to inherit both his parents nature affinities", replied Jiraiya as he was still baffled at what just happened.

"Could of it because of the Kyūbi?" asked Tsunade

"Possible but I doubt it since other than his quick recovery and healing all other effects that the Kyūbi may give would be nullified by Naruto Mokuton bloodline", said Jiraiya

"Naruto did you know that this would happen?" said Tsunade since considering that Naruto was the one to push for it, then it was likely that he knew about it.

"No not really I suspected that I might of inherited one of the Yondaime's affinities but I didn't know for certain", lied Naruto since he could not tell the truth as to how he knew he had four nature affinities.

At this Tsunade frowned since she suspected that Naruto wasn't telling her the truth really, but she decided to let it go for now since she knew that Naruto would eventually tell them the truth when he was ready. Besides she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, where her son had four natural nature affinities, which would help him greatly in his training and would give him a big advantage in the future.

"So what will we do we do now?" asked Naruto.

"Well were going to train you a lot harder now since you need to master those knew nature affinities you discovered and even though none of us have those affinities we will help you the best we can. But it will still be hard since like with Mokuton you won't have us to show you first hand to do Jutsu's that involve those elements", said Tsunade.

"That's ok I master them both in no time flat", said Naruto with a grin.

At this Tsunade and the others smiled since, if anyone could do it, it would be Naruto.

"Ok gaki, I guess we better start work again now", said Jiraiya as he and Naruto went out to train again.

"Naru-chan certainly is full of surprises", said Tsunade, to which Shizune nodded with a smile.

Author's Note:

Well that another Chapter to The Hope of the Senju Clan, Hope you all enjoyed it with Naruto discovering the truth about himself and making friends with the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter. The Next Chapter of this story will be finally the Chapter that you all been waiting for the Chapter when Naruto goes to Konoha. Where you will read with how Sarutobi welcomes Naruto and read the reaction of Konoha's Council to Naruto's existence and the reaction of the Rookie nine to when they meet Naruto.

Also for fan's of my Raikage story know that I working on the next Chapter now and will update it as soon as possible I will be updating that next and after that I will update my Brother's Bond story.

Also please note that I do know that my grammar and spelling may be a bit of a problem for some people, but I try my best to make as few as possible but I still make some since I'm no beta. I have tried about four ties to get a beta but each time a person agrees the abandon me without so much as a word and ignore all my PM's to them hence I do the best I can with what I can do. But if anyone wish to be my beta for this story and is good at noticing and fixing grammer mistakes and spelling mistakes please contact me.

Please Read and Review

Also note that any and all suggestions for this story are welcome; if you have any I will listen to them and tell you what I think of them.

Another thing, please note that Flames are unwelcome so if you don't like my stories then don't read them and if you do send any flames then they will be ignored or answered back with a firm reprisal where said Flamer will be flamed back by me.

(1). Go to Profile page for an image of what the library looks like

(2). Well Izuna was once a rival to his brother Madara and he was pretty strong considering he had the Mangekyō Sharingan, since look what Itachi was able to do when he had it, so considering things you have to say he was most likely was pretty strong not to mention he was able to fight on when he lost his eyes.

(3). The Princess uses the royal we term where she refers to herself as "we" instead of "I" like a lot of royal Monarch's do or even Bishop's, Pope's and University Rector's like for example Queen Victoria most famous quote "We are not amused" .

(4). Naruto knows about the winnings he won at the Casino, which is 720 million ryo for those of you who don't remember.

(5). Go to Profile Page to see an image to what the Ring looks like.

Also P.S I kind of having a poll since in the coming Chapter when Naruto is in Konoha I will give him three summons, the Slug from his mother, the Toad from Jiraiya and one other and I have yet to decide which one so I decided the let you readers vote for them, the polls will end after the Chunin exam so here are you choices

A Bear Summon (Connects with Naruto Mokuton powers since a Bear is often referred by many people as the King of the forest plus it also connected to Earth in a way for brute power)

A Badger (Live in a forest like with a Bear and can be associated with Earth also a Badge gas a mystical side in Japanese mythology)

A Eagle (To associated with Naruto affinity with air)

A Dragon (To associated Naruto with both his affinity to Wind and Lightning since often enough in Japanese mythology it is associated with the weather as well as Wind and Lightning)

A Wolf (A Wolf can be associated with the Wind is certain mythologies and is one of the fierce animals that live in the forest hence in a way it can be associated with Naruto Mokuton powers as well)

Other (This choice is where I allow any suggestion from any readers, where it I think they are good enough or if other readers think so I will add the suggestion to the poll)

You can vote in your reviews or on my poll section on my profile or do both if you want


	9. Chapter 9

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Nine: Return.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

About two years after meeting Killer Bee and his team as well as meeting the Fire Daimyo, Naruto was on his way to Konoha to become an official Ninja there.

At first his mother was against the idea but after Jiraiya reminded her that Naruto needed to go there to master his Mokuton Bloodline, along with the fact that with the Akatsuki now starting to move around. It would be in Naruto's best interest to join Konoha where Konoha could help support him and even help protect him when they eventually come after him whether it was for his Mokuton Bloodline or the Kyuubi

Eventually after much arguing Tsunade finally agreed that Naruto would go to Konoha, which made Naruto happy as he had wanted to go to the place he was born and that was founded by his ancestors.

Currently accompanying Naruto on his journey to Konoha was Jiraiya, as his mother and Shizune along with TonTon were in Kiba no Kuni (Fang Country) currently dealing with a disease that had spread in a large town in the Country, where many people in the town had been affected by it. Once the disease had been dealt with Tsunade said that she would meet Naruto in Konoha.

Naruto was fairly tall for his age as he was about five foot two; he wore a Black sleeveless vest with a Green sleeveless zip up top over it. He also wore Green pants and Black boots with Green elbow pads and Green fingerless gloves, also on his back he carried the Katana that Killer Bee gave him in its sheath on his back with the sling to keep it there around his chest. (1)

Soon enough Jiraiya and Naruto could see the large gateway for Konoha in the distance; once Jiraiya saw the gateway he stopped and turned to Naruto.

"Ok brat this is where we part ways for now", said Jiraiya

"What do you mean Ero-sennin? ...Aren't you coming with me into Konoha and explain everything to jiji?" asked Naruto.

A tick mark appeared on Jiraiya head at being called the nickname as he hated being called that and he couldn't get Naruto to call him something else, plus it didn't help with the fact that Tsunade encouraged and praised him every time he called Jiraiya that.

Quickly deciding to ignore Naruto's nickname of him, Jiraiya decided to explain why he wasn't going to Konoha with him.

"Sorry brat, but I have somewhere I need to go first, but once I have that done I will comeback here", answered Jiraiya.

At this Naruto raised his left eyebrow as he didn't believe Jiraiya,

"Does this little side trip involve you going to some Hot spring to look a naked girls, because if it is Ero-sennin not only will I tell Kaa-chan about you leaving me to go off peeping. But I will also administer my own form or payback on you", said Naruto with a evil look and smirk on his face that he had inherited from his mother, which never ceased to freak Jiraiya out at how much Naruto was like his mother.

But what got Jiraiya really worried was Naruto mentioning that he would administer his own punishment, as Naruto was vicious when he was punishing someone.

"Hey…Hey…Hey now Naruto there no need to for that as I'm on the up and up on this…don't you believe me".

"Nope", deadpanned Naruto, which caused Jiraiya to fall on the ground after hearing Naruto's reply and muttered about disrespectful brats these days.

"Well I'm serious this time, I'm meeting a contact of mine who sent word to me yesterday that he had information for me and I have to meet somewhere. But once I have that done I will come back here….ok" said Jiraiya.

For a moment Naruto said nothing, but then sighed and then spoke, "Fine then! ...but I promise you Ero-sennin, if this is one of your "_research_" missions for one of your books. I will make sure that you pay for skipping out on me again and it will be worse off than that time at Crater city and I will reveal you "_little secret_" to everyone in the village".

At this Jiraiya audibly gulped at the threat as what happened there was second time he came close to being killed, the first being when he peeked in on Tsunade when they were younger and Naruto also had something over Jiraiya that he didn't want anyone in the world to know.

-Flashback One Year Ago-

_Jiraiya was currently hiding in the leaves of a tree nearby the local Hot spring and looking through his telescope at the different young girls who were relaxing in the Hot spring._

_As he was looking through the telescope a new young girl with raven like hair and bright green eyes who looked to be about in her mid twenties had just entered the Hot spring area, and was about take off her towel and enter the hot water with the other young girls._

"_OOOOHHHH YYYEEEEAAA…that's it baby take it off…this is gold, you are so to be in my next book" said Jiraiya out loud as he lead forward to get a better look at her. But just as the girl was about to take off her towel, a voice suddenly cried out._

"_HEY ERO-SENNIN, GET DOWN HERE AND STOP PEEKING ON THOSE GIRLS I NEED YOUR HELP WITH THIS JUTSU YOU SHOWED ME!"_

_Naruto's sudden shout had caught Jiraiya by surprise where he lost his balance and fell forward and landed flat on his face on the ground._

"_OOOOOOOWWWWWW…Damn you brat what is it can't you see I'm busy", said Jiraiya as her picked himself up._

"_I told you I need your help with this Jutsu as I still can't get it" said the eleven year old Naruto as he crossed his arms and looked down a the Toad Sage who was still on the ground._

"_I already told it to you how to do it" said Jiraiya as he lifted himself up._

"_No you didn't…all you did was show me the Jutsu once and just told me the bare basic's of it and the left to go peeking on those girls in the Hot spring, I need to know more and I don't know what I'm doing wrong" said Naruto with a frown._

"_Listen brat I can't be holding your hand all the time you eventually have to learn to do things by yourself without someone always watching over you…besides I not peeking I doing researched for my next book" replied Jiraiya._

"_It the same thing no matter how you say it and to be honest I don't know why you even write those trashy books", replied Naruto._

"_They're not trashy they are a work of art" cried Jiraiya with annoyance, where he then took out one of hi s books from his pouch and held it up like some kind of Holy book._

"_They're trash…" repeated Naurto, "…even Kaa-chan and Shizune Onee-chan say so and they even said that no-one really reads them"._

"_Hey, that not true! ...I have you know I have hundreds of loyal fan who eagerly look forward to each of my books", spoke Jiraiya with pride._

"_Huh! …more like hundreds of pathetic men, that can't find themselves girlfriends and need to read your trashy books to escape reality", scoffed Naruto._

"_Hah! ... Like a brat like you would know anything about finding himself a girlfriend" scoffed Jiriaya back._

"_I know a lot more than you, as at lest I don't end up being attack and beating up by a mob of angry women every mouth for peeking on them like you. Besides I can sure as hell say that I won't stay a virgin until I'm forty unlike some people I know", replied Naruto with a smirk, which got bigger when he saw the shock look on Jiraiya's face, which turned to horror._

"_WHO TOLD YOU THAT?" cried the panic Jiraiya, as Naruto had just uttered Jiraiya' deepest darkest secret that no-one should know_

"_You did when you got drunk after drinking too much sake at my Tenth birthday, luckily for you Shizune Onee-chan wasn't in the room at the time and Kaa-chan was asleep", answered a smirking Naruto. "Although I'm sure Kaa-chan will love to know that little bit of information…I think I go find her now and tell her as punishment for not helping me train and going off peeking"._

"_NO YOU WILL NOT!" cried the panic Jiraiya, as he chased after Naruto, as he couldn't let Naruto tell his mother. Since if Tsunade found out, she would never let him hear the end of it and would tease, torture and hold it over him for the rest of his life and probably the afterlife as well. _

_For the next ten minutes Jiraiya chased after Naruto through the forestry behind the Hot Spring, after which Naruto came to the edge of the forestry with Jiraiya hot on his tail. When he reached the forestry edge he saw the large group of girls that Jiraiya had been spying on a few minutes ago coming out of the entrance of the Hot Spring fully clothed. _

_Upon seeing them Naruto quickly came up with a cunning and evil plan that would have made a certain Snake Sennin proud. _

_Quickly Naruto got some water from his water bottle and spread some on his eyes to make it look as if he was crying. After which upon hearing Jiraiya nearing where he was Naruto quickly ran out to the girls coming out of the Hot Spring, started to put out the water works with fake tears and cries._

"_WWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA, WHA, WHA, WHA…." cried Naruto as he ran up to a young blond hair girl who quickly bended down to Naruto to "comfort" him, while the other girls surrounded him to see why he was so "upset"._

"_There, there, there…Are you okay sweetie what wrong?" asked the Blond girl_

"_Hip! Hip, Hip….." sputtered Naruto as if he really was crying, "….there a big tall old white hair man chancing after me….Hip, Hip…He offered me sweeties to eat and brought me to into the forest and made me read some weird book with him that had pictures of naked men and ladies doing funny things with each other…..Hip, Hip…. He also started to touch me in places I didn't like, which was why I ran away and he still after me", said Naruto in a scared innocent voice to make him sound all the more convincing._

_Upon hearing this, the women became filled with feminine rage and angry, where they were about ready to go and hunt down this man and make him suffer for trying to corrupt the "innocent" boy._

_And as if answering their prays, Jiraiya appeared from out of the bushes looking for Naruto, "There you are!" he said and was about to go over to him, but the group of women quickly put themselves in front of Naruto._

"_We won't let yet touch a hair on this little boy and try and corrupt him you fitly pervert", said the young raven haired girl that Jiraiya had been spying on earlier._

"_Hey, Hey, Hey….now girls I don't know what the kid there has told you there, but don't believe whatever he told you as it isn't true….I can assure you", said Jiraiya. _

_The girls might have been willing to hear Jiraiya out had he not been still holding the __Icha Icha book in his hand, which furthered to infuriate the girls and solidify Naruto's story, it also helped that Naruto kept his "innocent" look on so that the girls would side with him._

_And if Jiraiya wasn't in enough trouble, then Naruto put the final nail in his coffin for him, "That him…"he pointed at Jiraiya accusingly, "He's the one who tried to make me read those books that he said he wrote…and I also saw him peeping on you in the Hot Spring when you were bathing"._

_Upon hearing all this flames or righteous female rage and anger filled the women's eyes and Jiraiya then knew he was a dead man as there was no way he could talk himself out of this situation._

_When he realised this, he could also see from behind the group of girls, Naruto was smiling evilly at what he had just done, and waved good-bye to Jiraiya, knowing what would happen next._

"_**Damn you Naruto**__!" cursed Jiraiya inside his mind, although a small part of himself could not help but admire Naruto for being able to manipulate the girls so well into doing his bidding._

_Quickly pushing that thought aside Jiraiya then did the only thing he could do and what any man in his situation would do…He Ran, where he was quickly followed by the large group of girls ready to lay a beat down on the Super Pervert._

_After awhile many people around the city could hear the girly screams of pain and cries agony coming for Jiraiya._

-Flashback Ends-

Jiraiya could not help but wince at the memory of the pain that he felt after the beating that he went through from the girls, as there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't in pain after it. After a few hours he had somehow managed to get back to where Tsunade, Naruto and Shizune where staying so that he could be treated for his injuries.

Unfortunately, instead of receiving care from Tsunade, he received another beating at the hands of and wrathful Tsunade and Shizune. As they had heard from some of girls who had been among the group that had beat Jiraiya, who had come to them to heal some bruised fists. That a tall white haired man who was the author of the Icha Icha books was trying to corrupt a young blond hair boy by making read his books.

Needless to say that when Tsunade and Shizune heard this, they were less than pleased, when Jiraiya tried to explain that it wasn't true and that Naruto was lying. Naruto just played the innocent act perfectly, as he had both Tsunade and Shizune wrapped around his fingers, where they would believe anything he said to them. Hence both Shizune and Tsunade decided to "_teach_" Jiraiya a lesson about trying to corrupt Naruto.

Jiraiya could not help but shudder as he remembered the vicious beating that he received at the hands of Tsunade, which was only matched by the one when he peeked on her when they were young. He also could not help but rub his rear end as he remembered how Shizune turned his rear into a pincushion and shudder again at how close she came to turning his manhood into one as well.

After the beating Jiraiya was in for several months of long agonizing recovery and any thought of payback on Naruto was quickly pushed aside. When Naruto came to Jiraiya and told him when he was in his cast that he was put in after the beating, if he tried any kind of payback or try to skip out on his training again to go out peeking. Then he would prank Jiraiya back with equal force if not worse and he even threaten to tell Tsunade his little secret as well.

Jiraiya of course agreed to this, and ever since then Naruto has had Jiraiya in his back pocket.

"Honestly brat this is on the up and up, I be back in about two days' time tops, but I don't want you to tell Sarutobi-sensei about your powers or what you can do. I also don't want you to tell or show anyone them, at lest not until you become a official Genin and are fully integrated into your team by which time I should be back to explain everything to the old man, as its probably best that I explain everything to him", said Jiraiya.

Naruto just nodded, where they then separated, where Jiraiya went off to meet his contact and Naruto continued on to the village.

Soon after separating from Jiraiya, Naruto reached the main gate, where he quickly showed a sighed permission slip, that Sarutobi sent him a few months ago so that he could enter the village without trouble. After entering it Naruto headed to the Hokage Residence to see Sarutobi, as he headed there he looked around the village and saw all the different buildings and things in it, including the several Ninja's walking in the streets with the civilian and even leaping on the roof tops.

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Naruto decided to walk on the street and take in the scenery. As he looked around he saw the Hokage monument in front of him, with the heads of his Great Grandfather, the Shodaime Hokage, his Great, Granduncle the Nidaime Hokage, his mother's teacher and his surrogate Grandfather the Sandaime Hokage and his Father the Yondaime Hokage.

As Naruto looked at the faces carved into the mountain, he knew he had a lot to live up to and both his parents and his ancestors left a long casting shadow over him. That he would need to overcome if he wished to be acknowledged, not as the son of the Yondaime Hokage and Tsunade of the Sennin. Nor as the descendant of the founders of Konoha and of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, but as himself, where he wished to stand up on his own two feet and prove himself worthy of standing on equally footing with them and become Hokage.

Naruto had dreamed of one day becoming Hokage ever since he was five and learned about his ancestors, he became even more determined to become Hokage soon after he learned that the Yondaime was his father. But not only that he also wanted to surpass them all as he believed that it was the only real way that he would truly step out of the rest of his family shadow and for people to truly acknowledge as himself and not as the child or descendant of other great and famous Shinobi's.

Soon enough Naruto reached the Hokage Residence and entered it and went over the stairs that led to the Hokages' office.

When he got there he saw the Hokage's Secretary to his right, who was at her desk writing up something, when she looked up she saw Naruto to see what he wanted.

"Can I help you young man?" she asked.

"Eh, Yes …I would like to see the Hokage please", replied Naruto.

"I sorry….But the Hokage is a very busy man and you have to make an appointment to see him", said the Secretary politely.

"Well the Hokage will be expecting me, as he knows I'm arriving here as I'm not from this village", spoke Naruto although the Secretary did not look convinced as to what he is saying.

"Look…Could you just go into him a say that Naruto is here, he will know who I 'am and if he doesn't then I leave…ok", said Naruto. As he didn't want to waste any time on trying to convince the women to let him see his surrogate Grandfather for the first time, plus he didn't want to cause a scene in here which was why he didn't tell her his full name.

"Very well then" said the Secretary with a sigh, as she believed she was wasting her time asking the Hokage as often enough young children came here wanting to talk to the Hokage. But when she entered the Hokage office and told him that a young blond haired boy carrying a Katana on his back named Naruto was outside his office wanted to speak to him and saying that he was expecting him. The Secretary was surprised to see an eager and happy look appear on the old Hokage's face, where he quickly called his ANBU that were hidden in his room rafters and told them to leave. After which he then told her to tell the ANBU that where outside his room to leave as well and told her that she was dismissed for the rest of the day and she was to tell Naruto to come in.

After the Secretary and the ANBU left the Hokage's office Naruto entered it, where Sarutobi quickly went over to Naruto and went and gave his surrogate Grandson a long overdue Grandfatherly hug which Naruto was more than happy to return. "Naruto my boy it so good to finally see you… Look at you! ….. You've gotten so big! …" spoke the Sandaime as he looked Naruto over. "It seems like only yesterday when I last saw you, where you were just in diapers", he said, which caused Naruto to smile a little.

As Hiruzen looked over his surrogate Grandson, he could not help but be amazed at how he looked so much like his father despite the small differences he got from his mother like her skin colour and eye shape. "…You look so much like your fa-" spoke Hiruzen but quickly stopped himself from saying father.

"Like who? ...my father!" said Naruto with a smirk, shocking the old Kage.

"Y-Y-You know about h-him" said the surprised Kage to which Naruto just nodded, "Did your mother or Jiraiya tell you?" he asked to which Naruto shook his head.

"Nope I figured it out myself", replied Naruto surprising the old Kage further.

"You figured it out yourself!" repeated the old Hokage in shock, where Naruto just nodded again, "H-H-How?"

"That's a long story that I can explain if you would sit down first", replied Naruto to which both he and Sarutobi sat down on the two seats in front of the Hokage's desk.

Naruto then went on to explain how he discovered about the Yondaime being his father and finding out about how his had sealed the Kyuubi in him, which of course surprised Sarutobi at first but then started to chuckle, at how Naruto was defiantly his parents son. Naruto also then went on to tell how he had been doing over the years and what he had been up to, although he made it a point to leave out what his mother, Jiraiya and Shizune had trained him in as Jiraiya had told him.

When Sarutobi asked him what they had trained him in Naruto had told him that, Jiraiya would explain when he got here in a few days time from meeting his contact. Since Jiraiya had told him not to tell or reveal to anyone until he was fully a Konoha Ninja and was on a team, which Sarutobi nodded in understanding and accepted to wait for Jiraiya to arrive and inform him. Naruto also told Sarutobi why his mother and Shizune weren't with him, since Sarutobi had wondered why they hadn't come with him.

After explaining all this Naruto and Sarutobi spent the next few hours talking and catching up with one another, were Naruto told him many different stories about the different things he did. Including the different pranks he would play on Jiraiya which made the old Hokage laugh in a amusement, Naruto even told Sarutobi how he had befriend both Shion and Rurichiyo (Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter) and how he had saved them both (2). Sarutobi had of course heard about both incidents as he had heard from one of Tsunade's letters that Naruto had saved the High Priestess daughter Shion from a group of Ame-nins. While he had heard about Naruto saving the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter from a Wild Bear from the Daimyo himself, both incidents made the old Kage very proud of the his surrogate Grandson proving for certain that he was his father's son. As just like with Minato Naruto put himself in harms way so to help save and protect others, he also could not help but chuckle to himself, as he had also heard that both girls had also been quite taken with him. Which will no doubt, cause Naruto much trouble and his mother many headaches in the near future if he continued with saving and attracting princess and other girls.

After a while the two stopped talking where, Sarutobi got off his seat and went over to behind his desk, and the came back and handed Naruto a set of keys and a note and told him that they were the keys to his apartment where he would be staying and where it was. As the old Senju Clan compound had been destroyed during the Kyuubi attack and Naruto couldn't stay in his father's home yet as it would draw too much unwanted attention to him.

Naruto of course understood this and nodded his head in understanding, after which Sarutobi then spoke.

"Now Naruto, the class graduation exam will began tomorrow at nine thirty and I have already explained to the teacher a Chunin named Iruka to expect you, although all he knows is that you're a new student who is going to take the exam who was trained else where. He doesn't know who you really are as I didn't want any leaks that you were arriving here, but that note will tell him who you really are, ok!" explained the Sandaime to which Naruto just nodded.

"Also you should know that tomorrow morning, I will reveal your existence and your arrival to the Council tomorrow morning and then to the rest of Konoha later on in the evening. Since as soon as the students learn who you really are, they will then tell their parents who in turn will tell everyone else. But your father's identity must be kept secret, since as you know if people learn your entire lineage then it was cause endless amount of trouble for you both inside and outside of Konoha. But even still keeping out who your father is, there are still many who will try and use you for their own means when they learn that Tsunade is your mother and that you're the heir to the Senju Clan" explained Sarutobi further to which Naruto nodded.

"I understand jiji, as Kaa-chan and Ero-sennin explained it all to me before I came here so I'm more than ready to handle them", answered Naruto. To which Sarutobi nodded and smiled at being called Grandfather and at Jiraiya's nickname since it fitted him perfectly.

Just as Naruto was about to leave the double door flung open and a small brown haired boy who looked to be about eight and wore a long scarf around him burst in holding a wooden Kunai in his hand.

"Prepare to be defeated old man" cried the boy as he charged forward with his wooden Kunai only to trip over his scarf and fall flat on his face, causing both Naruto and the Sandaime to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads. Embarrassed the boy picked himself up and then quickly pointed his finger at Naruto accusingly.

"YOU TRIPPED ME!" accused the boy.

"I did not, you tripped over your scarf", replied an annoyed Naruto as the boy was starting to annoy him.

"Yes you did!" cried the boy, "You ruined my super cool entrance".

"Huh! ...not much of an entrance if you ask me, with you being so clumsy and falling flat on your face", replied Naruto, simply which caused the boy to loss his cool and charged at Naruto with his wooden Kunai.

Naruto quickly side stepped the boy's attack and grabbed his hand with the wooden Kunai and slapped it out of his hand and then bonked the boy on the head causing him to fall on the floor on his rear and hold his head in pain.

"Hey! You can't don't that to me!" cried the boy has he held his swore head and looked up at Naruto. "Can't I?" said Naruto with a raise eyebrow.

"Yea….As I'm the Grandson of the Hokage", said the boy angrily, where he thought that upon hearing this Naruto would go on his knees and beg forgiveness. Unfortunately for him, Naruto wasn't intimated by this news a bit, where he just grabbed the kid by the collar and lifted him up so that he was eye level with Naruto.

Upon doing this another voice shouted out, "Let his Honourable Grandson go immediately you ruffian", where a tall man wearing dark sunglasses and a dark Shinobi uniform entered the office.

"Yea let me go or you will be in big trouble", said the boy as he struggled to get out of Naruto gripe, but could not.

At which point Naruto just brought the boy right up into his face and look directly into his eyes, "Listen Brat, I couldn't care less if you were the Hokage's Grandmother, because if you think that's going to scare me then you got another thing coming. Besides if you want to talk about social rank, then I out rank you, as my Great Grandfather and my Great, Granduncle were the ones who built this village. Not mention both of them were Hokage's as well, so there!" said Naruto.

Naturally both the boy and the man, who had entered the office, had been stunned and confused when they heard this, while Sarutobi just sighed and rubbed his head feeling a headache coming on, where he then decided to do some damage control before things began to go further out of control.

"Naruto could you please let go of my Grandson…..please, he didn't mean anything by it", pleaded the old Kage and sighed as his Grandson was always getting into some kind of trouble.

Naruto of course let him go, where the boy landed on his rear hard, after which he then picked himself up, while still ribbing his sore bum.

"Now before things escalate further I believe some introductions are needed", spoke Sarutobi, "Naruto! Allow me to introduce you to my Grandson Konohamaru and his private tutor Ebisu.

After which Sarutobi then turned to Konohamaru, Ebisu, "Konohamaru, Ebisu allow me to introduce you to Senju Naruto…. My former student Tsunade's son and as he said, the Great Grandson of the Shodaime Hokage and the Great Grand nephew of the Nidaime Hokage as well as sole Heir to the Senju Clan", spoke Sarutobi completely shocking Konohamaru and completing stunning Ebisu.

After a minute or so Ebisu regained himself, where he quickly bowed respectfully to Naruto, "It is an honour to meet you Senju-sama, please forgive my rudeness a moment ago as I had not known who your were", he spoke. As he had no idea what so ever that Naruto was the heir to the founders of Konoha and heir to the noblest Clan in all of Konoha if not the Shinobi world, let alone the fact that Tsunade had a child.

"Forget it… call me Naruto and don't bow as I hate people bowing to me", replied Naruto.

"Yes of course, thank you Naruto-sama", replied Ebisu, where he bowed again, much to Naruto's annoyance as he hated when people called him by those stuffy titles and bowed to him, as all he wanted was to be treated like a regular person.

"Hey jiji…." spoke Naruto surprising both Konohamaru and Ebisu at how he addressed the Hokage, "….I'm going to take a walk around the village and get my bearings here, so I can at lest enjoy being a normal person for the remainder of the day before half the entire village starts to treat me like the son of Kami or something like it", said Naruto

"Very well Naruto, I see you tomorrow", replied the old Kage where he then turned to talk to Konohamaru and Ebisu.

-Several Hours Later-

For the past few hours Naruto spent his time walking around the village and getting his bearings, during his walk around the village he saw things like the Konoha Hospital, the Konoha Hot Springs, the Konoha Library, the Memorial stone, the Ninja Academy and the different Training Grounds.

After he had fully looked around the village, Naruto decided to get something to eat, but just when he was about to go find a restaurant he suddenly heard some arguing around the corner.

"…..come on why won't you go out with me, plenty of other girls would love the chance to go out with me", said a young man's voice.

"Then why don't you go ask one of them, since I have already told you about a dozen different times….I' am not interested in you. Besides I heard plenty of things from girls you already dated and I have no interest in being one of your conquests for you to talk about to your friends, Gouzen", answered a young girl's voice.

Upon hearing this Naruto peaked around the corner to see what was going on when he did he saw three tall medium built boys, who were blocking the way of a medium tall brown haired girl, who was carrying a brown paper bag full of groceries in her arms. The boy in the middle, who was clearly the leader of the three, then grabbed hold of the girl's arm and pulled it slightly causing her to drop the bag and spill the groceries onto the ground.

"Now listen to me, you will do as I say and you will like it, because if you don't, I can get my father to make things very difficult for you and your old man and that run down of stand of yours", spoke the leader.

"LET GO OF ME!" cried the girl as she tired to get out of the grip of the leader, but could not as it was too strong.

Having seen enough Naruto decided to intervene and stop this, since if there was one thing that Naruto hated was bullies, especially those that gang up on a helpless girl.

"She said let go, so I suggest that you do it", spoke Naruto as he came out from the corner.

"Beat it kid this doesn't concern you", spoke the leader as he just gave Naruto a passing glance before turning his attention back on the girl.

"I'm afraid it does, as if there is one thing I can't stand it's seeing a bunch of thugs, ganging up on a helpless girl and forcing her to do something against her will by threatening her and her family", said Naruto.

"You got a big mouth kid and if you know what good for you, you will shut it and leave while you still can", said the leader as he glared at Naruto.

"Sorry can't do that", replied Naruto as he took off his sling and sword and held it in his right hand.

Upon seeing Naruto taking his sword off his back, the leader and the two others started to laugh, "Ha, ha, ha, ha…You actually think you can take on all three of us by yourself", said the leader.

"I don't think I can, I know I can, now let go of the girl and you and your boyfriends won't have to limp your way to the hospital", said Naruto.

The leader just sneered at Naruto threat, believing that Naruto was no threat to him and was just some punk kid trying to act the hero. "You got guts kid I give you that….but not a lot of brains and guts can only get you so far. Where they usually result in you getting into situations that are over your head….just like now", said the leader where he then turned to the two boys next to him "…..get him!"

The two boys quickly went over, where the first one to the left went over and try and grab Naruto by the Collar. But just as the boy stretched out his hand to grab Naruto, Naruto quickly grab onto the boys wrist with his free left hand, and twisted it causing the boy to fall onto the ground onto his knees and cry out in pain, has Naruto was a small twist away from breaking his wrist from the wristlock.

Upon seeing what had happened to the first boy, the second boy quickly raised his fist to hit Naruto and help his friend. Seeing the second boy, Naruto let got of the first boy's wrist and ducked under the second boy's fist and the hit the boy right in the stomach with the end of his sheathed Katana, causing the boy to double over in pain as he held his stomach.

Naruto the quickly raised his sheathed Katana up and smacked right into the bottom of the boy's chin, causing the boy's head to be smacked backwards and break several of the boy's lower teeth. The boy then fell backwards, where he held his bleeding mouth in pain and cried muffled screams of pain with his hand covering his mouth.

As this was happening, the first boy quickly got up off the ground and went to try and hit Naruto when his back was turned, but unfortunately for him, Naruto saw him and he quickly twirled around to avoid the hit. He then hit the first boy at the back of his head with his sheathed Katana, where thanks to his momentum from charging forward combined with the hit to the back of his head, the boy fell forward onto the ground. The boy then tried to turn around and get up, but just as he tried to turn his head Naruto kicked him right the face breaking the boy's nose.

The boy stayed on the ground as he held his now broken nose, unable to concern himself with anything else other than his now broken nose.

After seeing his "friends" being handled by Naruto, the leader of the three started to get nervous, but he quickly pushed that aside, as he wasn't going to let some "kid" intimated him.

After which he let go of the girl and quickly charged forward at Naruto, who just sighed when he saw the leader of the three charging at him like a fool and just muttered "Baka".

Naruto then let the boy come right up to him, where he then sidestepped the leader, when he tried to punch Naruto, after which Naruto then stuck out his leg causing the leader to trip over it and fall onto the ground.

As the leader tired to pick himself up, Naruto kicked him in the side causing him to fall onto his back, where the leader then tired to pick himself up again, but when he did he felt a foot stand on his groin causing the boy to howl in pain, after which he then found the tip of a Katana blade right above his neck.

When he looked up his saw annoyed Naruto looking down, gathering what courage he had left and sneered up at Naruto.

"Do you have any idea who I' am…I'm Furyoku Gouzen, son of Furyoku Kagato, who is one of the wealthiest and most influential men in all of Konoha, and is a member of the Council of Konoha and the moment he hears about this he will make you pay dearly for what you did to me".

Unfortunately for Gouzen, Naruto wasn't the lest bit intimated by Gouzen threat and just lowered his sword at bit more down at the boy throat and cutting the skin slightly and making it bleed.

When Gouzen felt the blade at his neck and causing it to bleed slightly he started to get scared and began to believe that Naruto was going to kill him.

"W-W-Wh-What are y-y-yo-you doing? ..." said Gouzen panic like, "W-Wh-Wheren't you-l-l-lis-listening to me?"

"I heard you quite clearly…..and I don't care…..even if you were the son of Kami himself I still would not care", replied Naruto, as he glared down at the now scared older boy.

"W-W-Wait d-don't d-d-do it…I g-g-give you a-a-an-anything y-you want…..money, jewels, gold ….I e-even d-do anything y-you what me to do…just please don't kill me" begged the boy.

Becoming disgusted with the cowardly older boy, Naruto then spoke, "Fine then….here's what I want you to do….. From now on, you're never to bother or even come near this girl ever again. Because if you do I will take away what makes you a man, despite how small it is…" said Naruto as he lowered his Katana between the boys leg, making him even more nervous. "…..And the same goes if I ever hear that you trying to force yourself on another girl again…**_am' I clear_**", said Naruto and then finished with a small Killing Intent, which caused a large wet spot started to form between his legs.

Not trusting his voice to speak, the boy just nodded, where Naruto then removed his Katana from between the boy legs and stepped away, he then told him to help his friends and to get out of his sight. The boy quickly helped the other two boys up and they then all ran off with their tails between their legs.

Once the three older boys were gone Naruto put his Katana back in his sheath and then slung it back on his back, after which he then turned around to the brown haired girl he rescued from the boys.

"Are you ok Miss?" he asked.

"Yes, I fine thank you", replied the girl, where she the started to pick up the groceries that fell to the ground after Gouzen had grabbed her.

"Here let me help you", said Naruto as knelt down to help the girl with her groceries.

"Thanks again….eh?" said the girl slightly embarrassed, as she did not know her saviours name.

"Naruto", he replied.

"Then thank you Naruto …and by the way my name is Ayame" said the girl named Ayame.

"It is nice to meet you Ayame", said Naruto as he held out his hand and shook her hand when she held it.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful because I' am, but you should not have done that…as Gouzen will tell his father and can cause a lot of trouble for you" said Ayame.

"Don't worry about me I can handily the likes of them", said Naruto to which Ayame just smiled.

Once all the groceries had been all picked up they headed back to Ayame's father stand, as Naruto had insisted on carrying the groceries for her and escort back, in case Gouzen and his goons tried something else on her way back to her father's stand.

Soon enough they arrived at the stand, where Naruto saw that it was a Ramen stand, "Your stand is a Ramen stand?" asked Naruto, to which Ayame just nodded. After which Naruto almost yelled out in excitement as Ramen was he favourite meal in the world.

When they went into the stand Naruto saw a middle age man in the stand making some noodles with his hands, when he turned around he saw Naruto and Ayame entering the stand.

"Ah good Ayame your hear, I was beginning to get worried as I expected you back fifteen minutes ago", said the man who was clearly Ayame's father.

"Sorry Tou-san, but as I was on my way back here from the store I met Gouzen and his goons", replied Ayame with a frown. To which her father had his own frown as he knew all about Gouzen and his attempts to woo his daughter and make her yet another one of his conquests, but thankfully Ayame was too smart for his smooth talking. Where she politely told him each time he tried that she wasn't interested in him, although it had not stopped him from keep trying.

Ayame's father had been on more than one occasion been tempted to punch the spoilt punk as he continued to harass his daughter, but each time Ayame had calm him down telling him doing so would only cause him trouble from Gouzen father.

"Was he harassing you again?" asked Ayame's father, to which she nodded and told him how this time Gouzen had threatened to ruin their stand if she didn't do what he wanted her to.

When Tenchi (Ayame's father) heard this, he was furious and was about to go out and hunt down Gouzen and wring his neck. Fortunately for Gouzen, Ayame was able to stop her father and tell him how Naruto came and helped her and how he handled Gouzen and his goons. After hearing this Tenchi, smiled in satisfaction and thanked Naruto for helping his daughter and as a reward he offered Naruto a free meal at the stand, which Naruto quickly agreed, as he was hungry.

For a while Naruto talked to Ayame and her father as they made the Ramen and told him how he was new here and was entering the Ninja Academy for the finally exams. Since he had been training outside the village with his family and was given special permission by the Hokage to do the exam and skip the Academy years. This of course impressed both Ayame and Tenchi, as they knew that for Naruto to be allowed to skip the Academy years and to simply do the finally exams to become a full Konoha Shinobi he would have to be quite skilled. Although Ayame already had a fair idea considering how easily Naruto had handled Gouzen and his goons.

After a little while Ayame handed Naruto a large bowel of hot Ramen and told him to enjoy it, which he did for the moment that the hot noodles were in his mouth Naruto had stars in his eyes as this was the best Ramen he had ever tasted. Within seconds Naruto quickly ate everything in the bowel.

"That was great Ayame-chan", said Naruto, which made the girl smile.

"Thanks, my Tou-san thought me everything I know about cooking", she replied.

"Is there anymore?" asked Naruto as he was still hungry and was hoping to have more of Ayame's delicious Ramen.

"Sure as much as you like", said Ayame with a smile and went to get more Ramen from the large pot.

As Ayame turned around to get more Ramen Naruto started to get a dreamy look in his eyes as he stared at Ayame, "_A pretty girl who can cook delicious Ramen for me whenever I want…I think I'm in love_", thought Naruto as he thought about him and Ayame married and her cooking him lots and lots of Ramen every day when he came home. (3)

After about half an hour and twenty seven bowls of Ramen later, Naruto was finally full. The amount of Ramen that Naruto ate naturally shocked Ayame and Tenchi, as the only people that they knew that could eat that much Ramen were the Akimichi Clan members and Uzumaki Kushina.

Once he was full Naruto thanked Ayame and Tenchi for the free meal and promise to comeback again soon, both Ayame and Tenchi said that he was more than welcome to. Although Tenchi did joke that next time Naruto would have to pay, which caused Naruto to smirk a little.

After his meal Naruto started to head to his new apartment, which was in a quiet area with not to many people so that Naruto wouldn't be hounded by people once they knew he was Tsunade's son and Heir to the Senju Clan.

As Naruto headed home he felt that someone was following him, at first he had thought it was nothing but when he quickly turned around he saw a small figure hiding behind a corner. Deciding to find out who was following him Naruto quickly turned into the next corner that led to an empty street, where he then made a quick shadow Clone and had the clone continue down the street. While he jumped up to a nearby rooftop and hid himself so that he could see who was following him.

Soon enough Naruto saw that the figure that was following was the Sandaime's Grandson Konohamaru, who from the corner he was hiding behind, was watching the Naruto Shadow Clone walk slowly down the street.

Deciding to find out why the boy was following, Naruto quickly but silently jumped down from the roof and snuck up on the unsuspecting Konohamaru. Where he then grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and lifted him up in the air with just one hand.

"What the hell?" cried Konohamaru in surprise, before he then started to cry out and yelling to let him go, but when he saw that it was Naruto who had him a confused look appeared on the on the young Sautobi's face.

"YOU" he pointed accusingly, "But…But….But how? ...I was watching you and you were down there", said Konohamru. As he looked back down at the Naruto Shadow Clone who had stopped and waved at him with a smile before he puff out of existence.

"Huh!" said Konohamaru in confusion as he still did not understand what had happened.

Seeing this Naruto told him that it was just a **Bunshin**.

"I knew you were strong and this proves it" cried the boy, after which he started to say out loud about how he was finally able to find someone strong enough to teach him to beat his grandfather and be finally ride of his lame tutor Ebisu. As he started to say this to himself, a large sweat drop formed on the back of Naruto's head since the Jutsu he used was just a clone and although the technique he used was a Jonin level one, it still wasn't a big a deal as Konohamaru made it out to be.

Deciding to find as to why exactly Konohamaru was following, Naruto asked asking why he was following.

"Ok kid why are you following me and what do you mean by training you? You already have a Jonin training you, so you don't need me to train you", said Naruto.

"Yes I do! As you're the only one that won't treat me like a royal brat and keep calling me Honourable Grandson as well as all that other stuff", replied Konohamaru. Where he began to explain how people were always treating him like royalty just because he was the Grandson of the Hokage, where they never really acknowledged him as himself and were always comparing him to his Grandfather.

Upon hearing this Naruto was sympatric towards Konohamaru plight as he knew what it was like to grow up in the shadow of Great people where he had a lot to live up. Since his father was the Fourth Hokage aka Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha Yellow Flash), hero of the Third Great Shinobi World War and Saviour of Konoha from the Kyuubi. His Mother was the Legendary Slug Princess, member of the Densetsu no Sannin and probably the world Greatest Medic whose skill helped Konoha win the Second Great Shinobi World War. While his Great Grandfather and Great, Granduncle were the main founders of Konoha and the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage's of Konoha and the teachers of the Sandaime Hokage. Hence like with Konohamaru, Naruto had a lot to live up to as the rest of his family cast a long shadow over him, where he had no doubt that people here would soon start calling him Senju-sama and keep comparing him to his mother and ancestors. Which was why, like with Konohamaru, Naruto wanted to become Hokage so that he would finally stand out from the rest of his family and stand on equal or higher standing they had.

After thinking for a few minutes Naruto decided to help Konohamaru out a little, where when he told the boy that he help train him, Konohamaru then started shout and jump for joy. As Konohamaru did this a devious smirk appeared on Naruto's face, as he thought of something that would make for an excellent prank for both the Sandaime and many other people.

Once Naruto had calm Konohamaru down, he brought him over to a small clearing in the forest near one of the training grounds. Once there Naruto taught Konohamaru a Jutsu that he created that would be useful to him and that would allow him to beat his Grandfather, although it had taken several hours he eventually got it. Once he did he made Konohamaru swear never to tell anyone who taught him it.

-Later on in the Sarutobi's home-

After a long day of doing paperwork the old Hokage came home to relax and even spend some time with his Grandson who lived with him, ever since his eldest son and his Daughter in-law (Konohamaru parents) died on a mission together.

Just when Sarutobi was about to sit down in his armchair in the living room, Konohamaru came running into the room with a excited look on his face.

"Hey Jiji….I learned a new Jutsu that I want to show you", cried the boy as he was eager to try out the Jutsu that Naruto had told him could beat his Grandfather and nearly any guy in the village.

Smiling at his Grandson's excitement Sarutobi told Konohamaru to show him his new Jutsu.

Having his Grandfather go ahead, Konohamaru quickly did a hand seal for a Hedge and then cried out "**Oiroke no Jutsu **(Sexy Technique)" after which a puff of smoke appeared around Konohamaru. Where once it dissipated, a young attractive brunette women appeared where Konohamaru was. The women was naked and had long brown hair that went down her rear, the smoke although did cover certain key parts of her body, Sarutobi could still see her perfect hourglass figure and her attractive face.

When the old Hokage saw this, a geezer of blood shot out of his nose and blasted him across the room to hit the wall at the other end of the room and passed out from the blood loss, although he did have a perverted grin on his face.

When Konohamaru saw this he quickly turned back to normal and started to jump up and down shouting happily that he had finally beat his Grandfather. Where he then went over and took the Hokage hat from his unconscious Grandfather and ran off happily shouting out that he was the Hokage now, all the while leaving his unconscious Grandfather bleeding from the nose with his perverted grin still plastered on his face.

N/A

Well that's another Chapter done folks hope you enjoy it now I sorry that it wasn't the Chapter with the reaction of the Council and everyone else. But unfortunately as I was writing this Chapter I realised that if I added that to this Chapter, then I would have to add other things to it which would then make it too long a Chapter for this story. Hence in the next Chapter it will have the Council finding out about Naruto, Naruto taking the Academy exam and other things.

But still I hope you all like the Chapter and to make up for not having certain things in this story I will make it up to all you fans by posting the next Chapter up next week and as a special threat to all you Hope of the Senju fans for the following three weeks I will post up a new Chapter of this story each week, so I hope that will make you all happy.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapter I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as well please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

(1). Go to profile for image of what Naruto looking like

(2). Although he left out exactly how he did it as he didn't want to tell Sarutobi what he could do yet, at lest not until Jiraiya spoke to him first.

(3). Please note that this is not the pairing as this is just Naruto having a crush on Ayame, as he loves her Ramen cooking, Naruto is not really in love with Ayame since it just a boyhood crush. Since every boy has one on an older girl when they were younger, hell I did when I was younger as I had a huge crush on Jessica Alba when she was in Dark Angel, as there is always something hot about a girl who kicks butt, wears those tight black outfits of hers and rides a motorbike.


	10. Chapter 10

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Ten: Revealed.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

Hello every I know I said that the next Chapter would be next week but I felt in generous mood and since everyone was so eager to read everyone's in Konoha's reaction to Naruto's existance that I decided to treat you all with this early Chapter, so enjoy.**  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

**- **9:00 Konoha Council Room-

In the early hours of the next morning The Council room in Konoha was busy with activity as all the Clan Heads of all of Konoha's major Clans along with several Civilian Council members, as well as the ANBU Commander and the Shinobi Elders Homura, Koharu and Danzo.

They had all been gathered here in this early hour due to the Sandaime Hokage had summoned them all for a special emergency Council meeting. Although the strange thing was that none of them knew what was the emergency that the Hokage had summon them for, not even the Hokage's advisors, the Shinobi Elders.

After a little while, once everyone had settled into their seats in the Council room, the Sandaime Hokage entered the room and took his high seat in the Council room.

"Good-morning to you all and thank you all for coming so quickly for this meeting in this early hour on such short notice as I know it must be an inconvenience for you all", spoke Sarutobi.

"What is it that was so urgent that you had to speak to us about Hokage-sama" asked Homura.

"The reason why I have gathered you all here today is to inform you all that yesterday a new Genin hopeful, a young boy in fact, has arrived and will be participating in the Academy exam today to become a Genin of our village", answered Sarutobi.

"Surely you did not call this meeting just to tell us this?" asked Koharu.

"Actually I did Koharu" replied Sarutobi surprising many at the Hokage calling a meeting for such a trivial matter.

"Then there must be something different about this boy then, if you called this meeting to tell us about him", spoke Nara Shikaku who was on the verge of falling to sleep during this "troublesome" meeting.

At this Sarutobi smirked "_Trust a Nara to hit the nail with the hammer_"

"You are quite correct Nara-san as there is indeed something different with this boy", answered the Sandaime with a growing smirk, "This boy has lived and has been trained outside the village for his whole life".

"And you have let this boy, who is an outsider to our village in it, and allowed him to try and become a Shinobi for our village without even scanning him or interrogating him", spoke Danzo with a raised eyebrow. "It seems that you are getting senile in your old age Sarutobi, to let a boy from outside our village, who you say has been trained in the Shinobi arts outside our village, and let him try and become a Shinobi for our village. For all we know the boy could be a deep cover spy sent into our village to spy on it".

Letting the insult about his ability to run the village slide, Sarutobi decided to answer Danzo remark as he was going to enjoy the look on Danzo we he revealed Naruto heritage (or at least partly reveal it).

"The scanning and the interrogation was not needed Danzo as I know who the boy is and his mother who trained him", replied Sarutobi with his smirk growing all the more.

"And exactly who is this boy Hokage-sama?" asked Yamanaka Inoichi who was starting to get annoyed, as the Hokage had yet to answer the question, as to who was this boy and why he was being allowed to skip the four year long training in the Academy and go right to the exam.

"The boy name is Naruto or to be more precise…Senju Naruto", said Sarutobi with a grin, as he saw the utter shocked and stunned looks on all the Council members face's.

Nara Shikaku was now wide awake and wide eyed,

Yamanaka Inoichi jaw had dropped and hit the Council table,

Akimichi Choza who had been eating some buttered toast had actually stopped eating and dropped it, showing how shocked he was, since to see a Akimichi dropped food was like seeing a hyperactive Nara.

Aburame Shibi dark sunglasses actually slide down enough to allow the Sandaime to see that the Aburame Clan head had dark grey eyes.

The Civilian Council members were gapping like fish out of water,

Homura and Koharu were wide eyed and gapping in disbelief, while Danzo was simply wide eyed.

Inuzuka Tsume was utterly speechless, which was a first as usually the Inuzuka Clan head was never quiet for very long and was often the most vocal member of the Council (well maybe except for the Civilian members when something upset them).

Although the ANBU Commander mask kept Sarutobi from seeing the ANBU Commander shocked face his keen Shinobi hearing, did allow him to hear a gasp of utter astonishment coming from the ANBU Commander.

Finally Hyuga Hiashi who's face had a look of being utterly flabbergasted which was the most humorous looking face among the Council members, since it was very rare to see the normally neutral and unreadable Hyuga Clan head to be so emotional and utterly out of his normal controlled element.

Soon enough the Council members got out of their shock where there was much shouting and arguing in the room among them was Furyoku Kagato who was the loudest one shouting.

"That's impossible!" cried Kagato in utter disbelief, "…Tsunade-sama is the only remaining member of the Senju Clan…he must be an impostor".

"I can assure Council member Furyoku that Naruto is indeed a Senju in both name and in blood", replied Sarutobi calmly.

"And how exactly can you be so certain of this Sarutobi", asked Koharu as she found it hard to except that there was another Senju member other than Tsunade alive, without any of them knowing about it. Although still at the same time she knew that her former team-mate Sarutobi was no fool and could not be easily tricked, hence he had to have some kind of hard evidence that proved this astonishing claim.

"That is rather simple Koharu…I was there when he was born…and I know his mother" replied the Sandaime. Who was smirking again as he was going to enjoy the looks of shock and disbelief on the Council faces once he told them.

"And who is his mother?" asked Shikaku who had already guessed who it was as it was obvious to him and a few other Council members.

"His mother is my former student…Tsunade", replied Sarutobi calmly as if he was discussing the weather with them, while inwardly he was laughing his head to at the faces of the Council members as they could not believe what their Hokage had just said.

As the Council were frozen in complete shock, while a certain Nara Clan head sighed and muttered silently to himself so that no-one could hear him "Troublesome Hokage".

Once the Council member got over their shock the Council once again was filled with load voice's of arguing and shouts of disbelief.

Another Civilian Council member named Akira Shin who was able shout over the other voices and cry out in disbelief, "TSUNADE-SAMA HAD AN CHILD!" to which the old Hokage just nodded.

"Hokage-sama when did this happen", asked the stunned Homura as he still could not get over his head that Tsunade actually had a child. As he along with many others thought that the Senju line would die with her, as she never tried to have any children with anyone after the death of her lover Dan. Although it was not because of lack of effort on Koharu and his part, as both of them, along with several other members on the Council had tried dozen of times to arrange for her to have children with several different Shinobi candidates. That would help her produce strong children who would become powerful Shinobi's when they grew up.

Unfortunately for them, Tsunade had stubbornly refused all of them and left the village shortly after with her new apprentice, the niece of her late lover Dan, Shizune and along with her was their hopes of rebuilding the Senju Clan. But now with this revelation their hopes were restored, at the Senju Clan line continuing to exist.

"Tsunade had Naruto about twelve years ago in this village, as she was brought into it secretly", answered Sarutobi.

"And why were we not informed of this, when she was giving birth?" asked Danzo with a neutral expression, although inside he was very knee on learning everything he could about Naruto. As he knew that Naruto would be an extremely valuable asset to both him and the village if was trained and used correctly.

"The reason why no-one was told about this was because Tsunade wished it to be kept quiet and made me along with her apprentice Shizune and Jiraiya not to tell anyone", replied the old Hokage.

"And why were we not told? We had a right to know this" said Koharu as she believed that news such as this should have been revealed to them the moment it happened. As she and Homura believed that as members of the Council and as former students of Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage they had a right to know of a new Senju heir being born. As the boy was the best hope of rebuilding the Senju Clan, the main founders of Konoha and was the descendant of both the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages.

"Tsunade believed that if she told you or other members of the Council, you would try and force her to stay here and raise Naruto here" said Sarutobi.

"And why should he not? The boy is of Senju blood and heir to the Senju Clan and he belongs in Konoha as it was his Clan who were the main founders of our village. If the boy had stayed then he could have been protected here and have gotten anything he needed, Tsunade took an unnecessary risk in leaving the village with the boy. If the other villages had learned of his existence and found out that he was living outside the village, then they would have either sent Shinobi's to kidnap the boy so to rebuild the Senju Clan in their village's or they would have sent Shinobi's to kill the boy and prevent him rebuilding the Clan in Konoha, " replied Koharu.

"Tsunade believed that the risk was worth taking, which I agreed with as well at the time, since if Naruto had stayed in the village and the people learned of Naruto's lineage, they would have treated Naruto like royalty and given him everything and denied him nothing", answered Sarutobi.

"And why should he not be treated as so, the boy is the sole heir to the most noble Clan in all of Konoha", spoke another Civilian member named Tanaka Soka.

"Because if Naruto had been raised here, with all that fame and attention especially at a young age, it would be enough to turn any child's head, where Naruto would grow up spoiled, arrogant and would not value hard work. Since he would believe that just because he is descendant of powerful Shinobi's he would be handed power on a silver planter. Naruto would also believe that he is better that others because of his heritage and belittle and look down on others, who he believe were not worthy of being around him. Which many people would help encourage by continuing praising him for being the heir to the Senju Clan. Hence this is why I believed it was best that Naruto was raised outside the village where he would be away from all that and would be raised as a normal boy. Who respects others and does not believe he is better than them because of his noble heritage", spoke Sarutobi, who was glad that the plan worked as Naruto had become a perfectly normal and respectful young man just as he had hoped for.

After hearing The Sandaime Hokage's reasoning many of the Council members such as the Clan heads, the ANBU Commanders and even most of the Shinobi Elders had to agree that what the Sandaime and Tsunade had done was indeed the correct decision. As the last thing that they needed was a spoiled and arrogant Shinobi who would most likely embarrass or shame the Senju Clan and their village.

But still there was some that still did not like the fact that the Knowledge of Naruto's existence was kept from them.

"But Sarutobi the fact remains, that you and Tsunade took a great risk with the boy's life, where he could have been easily killed or kidnapped by our enemies had they learned of his existence", spoke Koharu.

"True there was some risk Koharu, but not as great as you claim…As Tsunade took every precaution, when keeping Naruto existence a secret and not to attract attention to them. The fact that Naruto is here, alive, healthy and safe, shows how she was able to do it and raise him to be a happy, healthy and normal boy", said Sarutobi with a hit of pride, as Tsunade had raised Naruto to become a fine young man showing she had been a good mother to him.

Deciding to change the subject a little Shibi decided to ask something that he had been wondering since he learned of Naruto being Tsunade's son. "Excuse me Hokage-sama, but I have been wondering who is Naruto-sama father?"

At this question much mutter began with the Council as many of them had forgotten that fact and were now curious as to who was Naruto's father.

"I'm afraid I do not know", lied Sarutobi, "As Tsunade refused to tell me, who was Naruto's father. Although she told me before she gave birth that Naruto's father was dead".

Upon hearing this many of the Council members were unhappy, but the soon got over it as it was not really important who Naruto's father was.

At the same time though Sarutobi was smirking inside his head, as he imaged to look of shock that Council members would have if he told them who Naruto's father was. But he quickly pushed that thought aside as he knew that if he did tell the Council then it would most likely be leaked to the rest of the village. Where the people would be practically bowing to Naruto on hands and knees wherever he walked, because of his heritage and he would be hounded by an endless amount of families that would try had have Naruto marry one of their daughters, so to improve their social status. Not to mention other villages like Iwa would eventually find out and they would send out countless assassins after Naruto for revenge for what the Yondaime did to them and to prevent him from growing up and becoming a threat to them.

"It seems then that Fate must love Ironies…spoke Hiashi and gaining everyone's attention, "…As it seems that there are now only two members each, belonging to the Senju and Uchiha Clans. Where the youngest members and heirs of both Clans are in now in Konoha and are now in the same Graduation Class. While the other members of each Clan's are living outside the village, where one is a wanted S-Class missing-nin and the other is living in self-imposed exile".

At this much murmuring was heard in the Council room, as many had to agree with the Hiashi's statement about it being ironic. As it was very likely that the legendary rivalry of the Senju and Uchiha Clans could once again restart with those two boys, in the very village that their ancestors help built together. Especially if you consider the fact that they are in the same Class together and will be on either the same team or on rival teams, where if you also consider their pedigree. As both boys have the same blood as some of the most powerful Shinobi's that have ever lived running through their veins. Then you can no doubt expect that both their Clans ancient rivalry for one another would remerge again in them.

"Hokage-sama!" spoke the ANBU Commander "If I may ask? Do you know what exactly young Naruto-sama is capable of and what his mother has taught him?"

This question of course got much muttering from the Council members as they were all curious to know what the new Senju heir was capable of doing and if he had inherited any of his mother's talents.

"I'm afraid not, as Naruto would not say, but he has told me that my other former student Jiraiya would be arriving here in a few days time to inform me as he helped to train Naruto", replied the old Kage truthfully.

Although many on the Council were disappointed at not knowing what Naruto was capable of, there was still exciting muttering to be heard in the room. As the fact that Naruto had been trained by not one but two Sennins, told them that Naruto could be very powerful for his young age. Many even began to mutter that Naruto could be the Senju Clan version of Itachi, although without the whole going mad and killing off his Clan part.

For the next few minutes the Council continued to discuss different things about Naruto, but after awhile Sarutobi decided to end the meeting as the Council knew all that they needed to know for now.

When the meeting ended, the Council members left the Council room continued to mutter amongst themselves about Naruto. Many who had sons around Naruto age planed to try get them to befriend Naruto, while those with daughters planned to try and get their daughters to get close to him in the hopes that they could eventually setup an arrange marriage between their daughters and him. Since sooner or later Naruto would have to marry and have children of his own so to rebuild and continue on the Senju line.

-9:30 at Konoha's Academy-

Today was a big day for Chunin tutor Iruka who was standing in front of twenty-nine young Genin hopefuls who had been his students for the past four years. Many of which he was going to miss as he had grown quiet found of them all.

As he looked over them he saw several that he knew would pass and become Genins and possible great Ninja's in time. Students such as Uchiha Sasuke who was the last surviving Uchiha member of the once great Uchiha Clan in the village, who had been wiped out by Sasuke's older brother Uchiha Itachi. Another person was Nara Shikamaru who despite his lazy habits, where he would do hardily any work and spend most of his time sleeping, had a brilliant mind and was a tactical genius. Also another note worldly student was Aburame Shino, who was like all Aburame Clan members, who were logical calm thinking Shinobi's with sound minds and good tactical skills.

After a few minutes of reminiscing Iruka believed he had done enough and decided to get things going for the exam, where he then signalled to his assistant Mizuki that it was time to begin the exam.

"Good morning Class" spoke Iruka, where the class responded in like.

"Now as you know today is the last day that we will be together as a class and I hope you are all ready from your exam now as you know we wil-"said Iruka, but was then interrupted by a knock on the door.

Iruka then turned to the door and told the person to enter where a young spiky blond haired boy in a Green zip up top and green trousers and a sword on his back came in.

"Excuse me are you Iruka-san" asked the boy, where Iruka just nodded, "I was told that you were expecting me" replied the boy.

Upon hearing this Iruka suddenly remembered that a few weeks ago the Hokage had told him that a boy from outside village would be attending the Academy exam as he had been given special permission by the Hokage to do so. Iruka mentally slapped himself for forgetting this, where he then looked over to the boy and smiled.

"Yes of course forgive me, I forgot that you would be joining us today", said Iruka.

"That is ok Iruka-san, I understand…..also I was told by the Jiji to give you this" said Naruto who got a confused look from Iruka and everyone else in the room (excepted for Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru as they hardily ever show any sign of interest in anything) when Naruto said Jiji.

"And may I ask who is your Jiji?" asked Iruka.

"The Sandaime Hokage of course" said Naruto plainly.

"That's a lie!" cried a long pink haired girl as she stood up and pointed at Naruto accusingly."The Hokage has only one Grandson and he is only eight".

Naruto turned to the girl and looked at her angrily as he hated be called a liar when he wasn't lying, "I'm not lying. Jiji may not be my Grandfather by blood, but he is the closest thing to one that I have as he was like a father to my mother… "HERE"…..this explains everything", said Naruto as he then turned and handed Iruka the note that Sarutobi gave him yesterday.

Iruka took the note and spent the next few minutes reading what the Hokage had said on it, when he finished, Iruka eyes were as wide a saucers, where he turned to Naruto who just nodded telling him it was true. Iruka knew it wasn't a fake as he knew the Hokage's writing, but he still had a hard time believing what he had just read and just spent the next two minutes staring at Naruto. This of course greatly annoyed him as he didn't like people staring at him as it felt creepy.

"Iruka-sensei what's wrong?..." asked and blond haired girl named Ino "…what was in that note….and why are you staring at that boy", she continued to ask as she hated being ignored and kept out of some juicy gossip and this look definitely looked liked the juicy kind.

Iruka quickly got over his shock and then turned to his class although the shock of what he just found out could still be seen on his face.

"Class we have a new student who will be joining us in the exam, who has been trained outside the village with his family. Hence he has been given special permission by the Hokage himself to be allowed to skip the standard Academy training years and go right to the graduation exam to become an official Shinobi of Konoha…", spoke Iruka where he would have continued had Kiba not interrupted him.

"WHAT?" cried Kiba, who was angry that this "kid" who came out of nowhere was given special permission by the Hokage to skip the four years of training that the rest of them had to do. Even Sasuke was annoyed by this as he was never given that offer and he was the last Uchiha in Konoha.

"As I said Kiba, he has been training with his family outside the village and the Hokage feels that he is more than ready to take the Academy exam. Due to his training with his family and to put him in the proper training programme of the Academy would just hinder his growth", replied Iruka calmly.

"Then who they hell is this guy!" said Kiba angrily as he pointed at Naruto and glared at him, "And what the hell makes him so much more special than us to be allowed to skip the Academy training years that the rest of us did", said Kiba and was backed up by his K9 partner Akamaru who barked in agreement.

"His name is Naruto…Senju Naruto" replied Iruka shocking everyone in the room including Iruka assistant Mizuki.

"It is nice to meet you all" spoke Naruto as he bowed respectfully to the class.

"But Iruka-sensei that's impossible! ...you said that the only remaining member of the Senju Clan was Tsunade-sama of the Sennin" said the long pink haired girl in surprise.

"Well Sakura I'm afraid that I was misinformed, as Naruto here is indeed a member of the Senju Clan as he is Tsunade-sama son" answered Iruka shocking everyone in the room further, as none of then even knew that Tsunade of the Sennin had a child.

For the next few minutes everyone in the room minus Iruka just stared at Naruo in a mixture of wonder and awe, which greatly annoyed Naruto.

"_A member of the legendary Senju Clan, and the son of one of the __Densetsu no Sannin__ (Legendary Three Ninja's), Perhaps he might be worth some time and actually be a challenge…unlike the rest of these losers_". Thought Sasuke as he eyed Naruto with a calculated look and measured him up, so to see if he was worth his time.

"_Tsunade-sama had a son! ...__Orochimaru-sama will want to know this_" thought Mizuki.

"Now Naruto if you please will you sit up at the top next to Hinata over there so that we can begin the exam", said Iruka.

"Naruto nodded and even smiled at the Chunin tutor as he was glad that Iruka treated him like any other student and didn't call him "Naruto-sama". Although his smile quickly faded when he saw that everyone in the class were staring at him as he went up to his seat to the young Hyuga girl called Hinata.

"Ohayou Hinata-san it's nice to meet you", said Naruto with a friendly smile and held out his hand in friendship.

Hinata of course being very shy and insecure and was very hesitant to say anything to someone from such a famed, renowned and powerful Clan (one more renowned, powerful and famous than her own) as well as the son of the strongest Kunoichi in Konoha if not the entire world. Hence it was only naturally for her to be intimidated by him, as she was afraid of saying or doing something wrong that would make him angry at her and her Clan, making her an even greater shame and failure to her father and to her Clan.

"K-K-Konnichiha N-N-N-Naru-Naruto-sa-sama" stuttered Hinata nervously.

"Please call me Naruto as I hate being called Naruto-sama along with the rest of those stuffy titles", replied Naruto with a friendly smile, which of course made the girl blush bright red. At being allowed to call someone of the same if not higher social status as Naruto in such a common title as if they were on equal status or were already well acquainted.

"H-H-Hai, Na-N-Naru-Naruto-s-san", stuttered Hinata again, which caused Naruto smile, which in turn made the girl blush brighter red.

Before either of them could even speak again, Mizuki came up and handed them both the question sheets for the exam.

For the next two and a half hours, Naruto and the others students worked on the exam questionnaire, the questionnaire wasn't all that hard as Naruto had already gone all over this kind of stuff with Shizune and his mother. Once time was up Mizuki came up and collected all the sheets from the students, where Iruka then told them to come outside with them to do the practical parts of the exam, which was something that Naruto was looking forward to.

Iruka then told them that they were going to test them on their throwing and aiming, where they would first throw their Shurikens at the target poll, after which they were then to throw their Shurikens at the three target dummies.

For the next hour each of the students took their turns at the target polls and the target dummies.

Shino hit eight out of the ten targets points on the target poll, and got three out of five target points on the first target dummy, four out of five on the second dummy and four out of five again on the third.

Kiba hit six out of the ten targets points on the target poll, and got three out of five target points on the first target dummy, two out of five on the second dummy and four out of five on the third.

Sakura hit five out of the ten targets points on the target poll, and got two out of five target points on the first target dummy, one out of five on the second dummy and three out of five on the third.

Hinata hit seven out of the ten targets points on the target poll, and got four out of five target points on the first target dummy, three out of five on the second dummy and four out of five again on the third.

Finally the last students remaining were Sasuke and Naruto, Sasuke got all the targets points on the target poll at once, where he threw all ten of his Shurikens at once, where they all hit the targets points' on the target poll dead centre at roughly the same time. Upon seeing this Sasuke's fan girls started to scream and cheer loudly at how their "Sasuke-kun" was so cool and talented and that he was the best. Sasuke for his part ignored the girls screaming, while Naruto cringed at the loud screams, after which he shook his head in annoyance, as his mother had told him all about fan girls and how they were the bane of all true Kunoichi's. He could also not help but be disappointed that all the girls in the class, minus Hinata, were fan girls, which went to show how far the Konoha Academy standards had fallen since his mother's time and it would greatly annoy her when she came to Konoha and he told her this.

Naruto then turned to watch Sasuke as he then threw some more Shurikens at the target dummies where he hit all five target points on all three target dummies. This of course resulted in more screams of joy from Sasuke's fan girls, much to Naruto's annoyance.

After Sasuke was finished, Iruka then called Naruto up, but as Iruka handed Naruto the ten Shurikens he needed to throw for the target poll, Naruto decided to ask Iruka a question.

"Excuse me Iruka-sensei, but I was wondering would it be ok if we threw something else other than Shurikens at the target poll and the target dummies, if we have them.

At this question Iruka began to think it over for a moment, "Well at the target poll you have to throw the Shurikens that I gave you, but with the target dummies, I see no problem as long as they are standard Shinobi weapons and you have them yourself".

Naruto nodded in acceptance as he found it fair, where he then turned to face the target poll and like with Sasuke he threw all ten of his Shurikens at once. Where they all hit the targets points' on the target poll dead centre at roughly the same time, much to the shock and surprise of everyone.

After which Naruto the turned to face the target dummies and took out five Senbons needles and five Kunai's from his pouch, where he held the Senbon needles in his left hand and held the Kunai's in the right hand.

And like with the Shurikens at the target poll, Naruto threw all five Senbon needles and all five Kunai's at once at the first and second target dummies and hit all five target points on each of the dummies dead centre at roughly the same time.

He then quickly took out another five Shurikens and threw them all at once at the last target dummy, where like with the others they hit all five target points dead centre at roughly the same time.

Many of the students were greatly surprised by this as they didn't expect anyone other than Sasuke to get a perfect score like that on the throwing exam.

After seeing this Iruka was just as surprised, but quickly smiled, "_It seems that Naruto lives up to his heritage and by judging the look on Sasuke face. It seems that the ancient rivalry of the Senju and Uchiha Clan stills lives on in the last of their descendants_", though Iruka. When he turned and saw Sasuke looking at Naruto keenly with a calculating gaze.

Soon after the throwing and aiming test Iruka began the Taijutsu exam, where he started to call out people in pairs and had them fight each other in Taijutsu to see how well their Taijutsu skills were.

For the next forty minutes the students fought each other in Taijutsu where some won and others lost, Naruto watch their fights, but most weren't really worth watching, but even still there were a small few that were.

Some like Hinata's fight against Sakura, where Sakura attacked Hinata with her knowledge of basic Academy level Taijutsu and was easily defeated by Hinata, who used her superior Gentle fist fighting style to quickly disable and defeat Sakura.

Another was Choji against a student named Kōta where he used his size and power to defeat Kōta.

The final one of note worthy attention was Sasuke against another Academy student named Tobio, where Sasuke used his more advance Taijutsu skill and training to completely overwhelm Tobio and defeated him without too much trouble.

Finally came Naruto turn, where funny enough his opponent was Kiba.

When Naruto heard his name being called out with Kiba's, he took his Katana off as he could not wear it on his back during a Taijutsu fight even if he wasn't going to use it. He then gave it to Hinata who was standing next to him and asked her to hold it on for him while he fought Kiba. This of course caused the girl to blush bright red again at being trusted to hold onto Naruto Katana's while he fought Kiba, where she then stuttered to Naruto that she would.

"Hah! Yes! I got that Senju guy, now I can show him who is the top dog here", said Kiba as he was confident that he would beat Naruto.

Kiba's comment was then followed by several barks from his K9 partner Akamaru, who took the barks as encouragement from Akamaru, telling him that he could beat Naruto with no problem.

"Don't worry boy I going to kick this guy butt so badly that he will wish he had stayed home", said a confident Kiba. As he took Akamaru off his head and put him on the ground, as this was Taijutsu only battle and Akamaru could not help him, not that he believed he needed Akamaru's help.

Unfortunately for Kiba if he had listen more carefully to Akamaru instead of listening to what he wanted to hear, he would have heard what Akamaru was really saying, which was Akamaru saying that Kiba should watch out and not underestimate Naruto as he could sense that Nasruto was very strong.

Soon enough Kiba and Naruto were on the fighting platform facing one another,

"I don't care even if you are of the Senju Clan and the son of a Sennin, you're going down and I going send you crying back to your mammy", spoke Kiba confidently.

"Big talk, but then again I expect nothing less from the runt of the litter, who is all bark and no bite" retorted Naruto, which got Kiba angry at the dog insults to him.

When Iruka cried out "Begin" Kiba charged right at Naruto, but before he could even run accross halfway through the gap between him and Naruto, Naruto disappeared within a blink of an eye. Before Kiba could fully realise that Naruto was gone, he then felt a massive overwhelming pain coming from his stomach that almost made him throw up his breakfast. When he looked down he saw Naruto kneeling down and elbowing him in the stomach.

"H-H-Ho-How d-d-di-did y-you…." said Kiba but could not form the words due to the pain, but still Naruto knew what he was trying to say, where he quickly got back up on his feet and looked down at Kiba, who was now keeled over and holding his stomach in pain.

"How did I do that? You ask", said Naruto with a smirk, "Simple really when Iruka-sensei said begin and you charged at me I saw a opening that just screamed at me to attack…and I just did", stated Naruto as if it was nothing.

After which he then left the platform, where Mizuki quickly went onto the platform and went to check over Kiba. At the same time as Naruto was walking off the platform many of the students could not help but stare at him, as many of them could not believe at what they just saw as they all knew that Kiba was no wimp in a Taijutsu battle, but yet Naruto had beaten him like he was nothing.

"Did you see that!" said one student.

"He just disappeared and beat Kiba with a single hit!" said another student.

"He's Good!" spoke another student

"He's spectacular!" said a female student,

"Well come on what to you expect he's "IS" a Senju and "IS" the "SON" of Tsunade-sama of the Sennin" said another female student.

Naruto ignored the students stares and comments, even though he hated them, he knew if he reacted to them it just would encourage them to talk about him more. Although unfortunately had he been paying just a little more attention to them he would have found out that there was now a new fan club being formed out of now many former Sasuke fan-girls. Hence the Senju Naruto fan club was now born, spelling trouble for Naruto in the future as well as Hinata, as many of Naruto's new fan girls did not like how friendly Hinata was with "their Naruto-kun" and how he would talk to her and how she would blush every time that Naruto talk to her.

At the same time Iruka was watching Naruto with nothing short of amazement as he was barely able to follow Naruto movements where he took down Kiba with just one hit, "_Incredible! To be so strong at such a young age…but the again I'd expect nothing less from a member of the Senju Clan_", thought Iruka.

"_So it seems that your are strong..._" Though Sasuke as he watched Naruto talk to the shy Hyuga heiress with the same calculating eyes he been watching him since he first saw him, "_…You just might be worth fighting and testing myself against Senju Naruto_".

Soon after the Taijutsu test Iruka told the class that they would have a one hour lunch break and then they would have the Ninjutsu test.

When Iruka said this Naruto then turned to Hinata, "Hey Hinata would you like to have lunch with me? As I don't know many people here and it would be nice to have some company while having lunch".

"Y-Y-You a-a-ac-actually w-w-want t-t-to have lunch w-with me?" asked Hinata in nervous surprise as she did not think that Naruto would think that she was worth having lunch with.

"Yea, why not? ...We're friends aren't we?" asked Naruto.

"F-F-Friends!" asked Hinata, as she did not have many friends other than her younger sister as most of the other students kept away from her. Thinking that she would not talk to commoners like them as she came from one of the most Noble Clans in all of Konoha, not to mention many of the students thought that Hinata was kind of weird as she hardly ever spoke, always stuttered and never looked at people in the face and always looked down when speaking to someone.

"Yea we are, so come on" said Naruto as he took Hinata's hand, which made to girl turn bright red, where Naruto the led her to a bench nearby.

For the next hour or so Naruto and Hinata talked about different things, well technically Naruto talked and Hinata stuttered. Hinata told Naruto about the different things that there were in Konoha and what happens in it at certain times as well as talked about bits about her Clan.

Naruto in turn talked about some of the things that he did when he travelled with his Mother and Shizune and even told her all about their pet big Tonton, which Hinata found a little strange but did not comment much about it.

As the two talked, they were also being secretly watched by the newly formed Naruto fan club, as they watched Naruto and Hinata many of the girls were jealous of the fact that Hinata got to eat lunch alone with "their Naruto-kun". Many of the girls wanted to go over there and break up the two send Hinata off while they spent time with "their Naruto-kun". But fortunately for Hinata (and them), the smarter members of the club (as smart as fan girls go) convinced the others not to do so as it would most likely cause "their Naruto-kun" to think badly of them for doing so. Besides spying on him and Hinata and listening to Naruto talk about the different things he did with his mother, allowed them to gain more insight on Naruto, which they could use to get close to him to make him theirs.

When Lunch time was over Naruto and Hinata headed back to classroom, where the rest of the class would be waiting to do the Ninjutsu part of the exam.

For the next two hours the students went one by one into a small room in next to the classroom, where Iruka and Mizuki had them do the basic Academy Ninjutsu. Where if they were able to do all three then they would have official pass the exam and become a Genin and if they failed to do all three then they would fail and have to repeat the year.

During the course of the two hours the students came in and out of the small room, some came out with headbands on their heads, while others came out with none with disappointed faces.

Over time Naruto notice many different people had succeed becoming Genin's some like Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata and much to his surprise Ino and Sakura, who from what Naruto saw where probably the biggest fan girls in the whole class. As all they cared about was dieting so to have the bodies look tin, washing their hair, and making themselves look good and gain Sasuke attention, when Naruto saw them with their headbands on their heads. He just shook his head, since it was the final proof he needed to prove how the Shinobi Academy in Konoha had fallen very low in their standards if they allowed fan-girls like those two become Ninja's for Konoha.

Eventually Naruto's turn came up, after Sasuke came out of the room with a Konoha headband on his head, which caused his fan girls to scream and cry out that Sasuke was the greatest

After Naruto's name was called out by Iruka, Naruto got out of his seat to go over to the room, as he did Hinata wished him luck.

"G-G-Good l-luck N-N-Naruto-san".

"Thanks Hinata".

Soon enough Naruto entered the room, where he found Iruka and Mizuki sitting behind a small wooden table and facing him.

"Ok Naruto to pass this test you need to complete all three standard Academy Jutsu's the **Henge** (Transformation Technique), **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Body Replacement Technique) and **Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique). Once you have completed that you will have passed and officially become a Konoha Ninja", said Iruka, where nodded just nodded in understanding.

Naruto first did a **Henge** where he turned into a perfect copy of Iruka, after which Naruto then did a **Bunshin no Jutsu**, where created a perfect copy of himself. After that he dispelled the Clone and then did a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **with a broomstick that was at the corner of the room behind Iruka and Mizuki.

"Very good Naruto that was perfect", spoke Iruka with a smile where he the handed Naruto a Konoha headband, who took it gladly and tied it to his head and walked out the room with a smile. When the class saw Naruto coming out with his headband on his head, the newly formed Naruto fan club started to cry and scream out that they new he could do it and that he was the best. Naruto just politely nodded his thanks to them and went to sit next to Hinata who slyly smiled at Naruto passing while Naruto grinned back to her.

Once everyone was done Iruka and Mizuki came out of the small room and gave out the score where in the exam both Naruto and Sasuke tied with the top score of the exam. But since Sasuke did all four years in Academy he would be give the Title of the Rookie of the Year, since the title was given to the student with the highest score which was added by his or her total grade throughout the four years of the Academy and the exam.

Sakura would be given the Title of top Kunoichi as she had gotten the highest score on the paper exam and a perfect in the Ninjutsu, despite getting an average in the throwing and aiming part of the exam and the Taijutsu.

Upon hearing this Naruto had to hold back a groin as this once again proven without a shadow of a doubt that Konoha Academy standards had fallen to an all time low if fan girls like Sakura were the top Kunoichi's.

Finally Iruka then announced that Naruto was the dead last of the class due to the only grade they had for him was the grade of the Graduation exam. Upon hearing this Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he didn't really care about Academy Title like Dead last or Rookie of the year as they meant nothing to him and they meant nothing in the real world. He was actually glad he got the title as it showed that Iruka was being fair and not treating him special because he was a Senju and Tsunade son. If Iruka had tried to give him the Title of Rookie of the year he would have refused it as he knew he would have only given it to him because of his heritage and not because he had earned it.

When Kiba heard that Naruto was the dead last he started to cheer and yell happily.

"HAH!" cried Kiba he pointed up at Naruto, "See… this proves that you're not so hot after all you're the class dope".

"Kiba! …that's enough!" said Iruka angrily, as he did not like Kiba was saying, especially since he hated seeing children making fun of others and making a show out of them. "The only reason Naruto is the dead-last is because we added up your total scores over the four years in the Academy. Where we add them up together to make up the grade and since Naruto only joined us today we only have this score to base him on. If he had been with us the full four years in the Academy, I have no doubt that Naruto would have tied with Sasuke for Rookie of the year as his score in the exam was as high as Sasuke's.

At this remark Kiba just scowled as Iruka had ruined his chance to make a show out of Naruto and pay him back for beating him in their Taijutsu spar and humiliating him in front of everyone in the Class.

"That's ok Iruka-san, I don't really care about his remarks as they mean nothing to me as titles like that dead-last and Rookie of the year mean nothing to me and they mean nothing in the real Shinobi world. Besides my mother's team-mate and my Godfather Jiraiya was the dead-last in his Class and yet later on he along with my mother and their team-mate Orochimaru, became the Sennin, some of the Greatest Shinobi's in Konoha and he is also the strongest one among the three of them", replied Naruto.

Sasuke muttered a grunt in agreement with Naruto as what he said was true and besides he could care less about being named Rookie of the year, as it was a meaningless title to him as well.

"Hah!...your only saying that so to make yourself look like a less of a dope than your are", retorted Kiba as he wasn't going to let Naruto get away without getting back a little at Naruto, even if they were only cheap remarks.

"Kiba!" cried Iruka as he was about to hold the boy back for dentition if he continued like this even if today was his last day here as a student. He was then about to tell Kiba to sit down and be quiet, but stopped when he saw Naruto hold out his hand telling to let him handily Kiba.

"Really Kiba! …Because if I'm the dope, then what does that make you then? Since I did beat you in our Taijutsu spar with just one hit…so wouldn't that make you worse than the class dope?" said Naruto with a smirk on his face. Where the whole class then erupted in laughter at Kiba's humiliating as he had walked right into that one, Kiba himself turned beet red in angry and wanted nothing more than to attack Naruto then and there for making him into a even bigger fool in front of the class. But fortunately for him Akamaru, started barking at him, telling him not to or he get into more trouble than he already was in, hence Kiba sat down and fumed at his seat for the remainder of the day.

Once Class fully ended Iruka and Mizuki bid farewell to the Class, where the students all went out to their parents, who were waiting from them, to greet them and congratulate or comfort their children, whether the passed or failed.

Naruto accompanied Hinata out of the Academy telling her that he would keep her company until her parents came to pick her up. Hinata blushed red from embarrassment and mumbled out that he did not have to as she would be ok by herself, but Naruto insisted as they were friends now, which caused the shy young girl to blush again.

As they waited Naruto saw mothers, fathers or both greet their children as they came out, as Naruto watched then he could not help, but think about his mother and his surrogate Big Sister/Aunt/Godmother Shizune. As this was the first real time that he had been away for so long from either of them and although he would not say it out load he did miss them and wished they were here with him.

As he watched the parents and their children being together, he noticed several of the students pointing at him to their parents, no doubt telling them who he was to them. Where many parents turned to stare at Naruto with looks of shock, amazement and wonder, seeing this Naruto quickly looked away pretending not to notice them, as he did not want to deal with stuff like this right now.

Fortunately for Naruto, a distraction arrived to distract him away from the gawking students and their parents. This distraction came in the form of a tall and very attractive looking raven haired woman, with bright Crimson red eyes, who wore a single red sleeve and white patterned bandages with a ninja fishnet shit underneath it.

When Naruto saw this women he had a small blush on his face as the women was extremely beautiful, where she could easily challenge his mother's beauty when she was young. He also had no doubt that if his Godfather Jiraiya was here right now, he would already be writhing down her description on his notepad and place her as one of the main Characters in his next book.

"Hello Hinata, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, as I was delayed with some things", spoke the women in a polite and kind voice, where she then turned to Naruto and smiled. Showing her crimson coloured lip, which made Naruto blush again, "And who is your friend here?"

Hinata then stuttered out nervously who Naruto was, where the women eyes quickly widened in shock, when Hinata told her who Naruto was. After which Hinata then introduced the women as Yuuhi Kurenai and told him that she was her private tutor that her father had assigned to her and was her escort to and from the Academy.

Naruto politely bowed to Kurenai, telling her that it was a pleasure to meet her, Kurenai of course replied in so and called him "Senju-sama" where Naruto then told her that Naruto would be fine, where Kurenai nodded in understanding and called him so.

After seeing the large group of parents now staring at him Naruto decided to take his leave before he drew any more attention to himself by being her.

After which he bide good-bye to Hinata and Kurenai and told Hinata he would see her tomorrow for the team placements, which cause to girl to blush a smile a little. After which he then **Shunshin'd **(Body Flickered) away in a whirlwind of leaves, surprising Kurenai and Hinata as well as the rest of the people watching from afar. Since many of them did not expect a Genin fresh out of the Academy to know that Technique.

-Later in the evening in front of the Hokage's Residence-

At near around sunset the people and Shinobi's of Konoha were gathered around in the open area in front of the Hokage's Residence.

They were here because they had all been informed that the Hokage was going to make an important announcement.

Soon enough once everyone had arrived, the Hokage came out of his office accompanied by his advisors Danzo, Homura and Koharu and stood up on the balcony and began to speak to the people and Shinobi's below.

"People of Konoha thank you all for coming here this evening on such short notice", cried the Sandaime in a load voice so that people below could hear him. "Now as you have all been told I have a important announcement to make to you all…although I know that some of you are already aware or have guessed what this announcement is about, but most of you are still unaware, hence I shall tell you now".

"Yesterday morning a young boy arrived in Konoha, to become a Shinobi for our village….now many of you may ask why something like that should matter and cause me to have this gathering. The reason being is because of who this boy is…" said The Sandaime, which cause much muttering and commotions among the crowed, but it was quickly silence when the Sandaime began to speak again.

"…This boy to whom I speak of is Senju Naruto, son of my former pupil Senju Tsunade of the Sennin, Great Grandson to the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama the main founder of our village. As well as Great, Grandnephew of my Sensei the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama and Heir to the Senju Clan" announced Sarutobi completely shocking and stunning nearly everyone in the village. As no one could have ever guessed that another member of the Senju Clan existence and was in fact the son of Tsunade the Slug Princess.

Before the people could fully get over their shock and would start shouting why they were only being told now and where has Naruto been the past twelve years, the Sandaime quickly spoke out again.

"Now many of you are no doubt wondering why I 'am only telling you all now and where Naruto has been the past twelve years. The reason is that upon Naruto's birth, Tsunade feared for her son's life, as she feared that her enemies would learn of her son existence and that they would attack him as revenge for her act against them. Hence she kept her pregnancy and her giving birth to a son secret and then went into hiding so that he would be safe, until the time was right for him to come to Konoha to become a Shinobi for Konoha", spoke old Hokage.

Even though the story was not exactly true, it was still believable and everyone accepted it without question as it made sense. Where after hearing the explanation excited chattering erupted in the crowed as it was just revealed to them that Tsunade had a heir and their was now a heir of the Senju Clan where Clan could continue on.

Soon enough Sarutobi called for silence again, where he then asked for the people and the Shinobi's to treat Naruto as a normal person as he did not wish for any special treatment and he also asked them to respect Naruto right to privacy. Although Sarutobi knew that only some would do what he asked (mainly the Shinobi's and some Civilians), many people (mainly Civilians and some Shinobi's) would still go out of their way to treat Naruto like some kind of prince, despite what he said, but it was still worth a short.

Once Sarutobi had finished his announcement, he called the gathering to an end and wished the people a goodnight, where the crowed then began to disperse where many people began to head home. All the while talking amongst themselves what they had just learned.

-Later on that evening in the forest just outside the Konoha walls-

Just outside the main walls of Konoha, in the forest Naruto was travelling back into Konoha, Sarutobi had allowed Naruto to go outside the village to train as he announced Naruto's identity to the people. So that he would not be hounded by the people of Konoha after they learned who he really was.

As he neared the main gate of Konoha, Naruto sense that someone was heading right for him, not knowing who it was Naruto decided to hide and see who it was.

After a minute or so Naruto saw that the person he sensed was Kiba with Akamaru following closely behind him, fortunately for Naruto, Kiba had not smelled him with his enhanced smell as he was to preoccupied with heading to his destination. As Kiba went past him Naruto noticed that he was carrying a scroll on his back, Naruto quickly recognized the scroll as the forbidden scroll of Konoha as his mother had told him all about it when she told him about the History of their Clan. Inside the scroll was a list of extremely powerful Jutsu's, the scroll had been found by his Great Grandfather the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama before he founded Konoha. The scroll also contained other forbidden Ninjutsu's that were created by the other Hokages over the years.

Naruto knew that if that scroll were ever to fall into the wrong hands or to Konoha's enemies then Konoha would surely be destroyed. Also Naruto started to wonder why Kiba had stolen the scroll from the Hokage's Residence, since as arrogant and as big of a jerk as Kiba was, he was still no traitor. Hence Naruto realised that there was more to this than it appeared.

But before Naruto could even chase after Kiba he sensed another person coming towards him, deciding to see who it was Naruto stayed hidden in the bushes he was in. Soon enough Naruto saw the Chunin Iruka go by, who was clearly chasing after Kiba. Deciding to see the events unfold and in case Iruka needed help Naruto followed him.

As Kiba travelled toward his rendezvous point he could not help but be pleased with himself at completing a task that neither Sasuke nor Naruto were able to do. He remembered Mizuki coming up to him later on after the Academy when he saw Kiba alone. Where he then told him of a special test that only certain students could take, where if the completed they would be given a powerful A rank Jutsu as a prize. He told Kiba that both Sasuke and Naruto had tried and failed the test as they were both allowed to try it since they were from powerful Clans. Mizuki then told him after seeing how Naruto humiliated Kiba in front of the class, he had called in a favour from a friend to allow him a chance to do the test and prove that he was better than both Sasuke and Naruto.

When Kiba heard this he jumped at the Chance of showing up not only Naruto but also Sasuke, soon enough Kiba arrived at the clearing where he waited to meet Mizuki as planned.

But after a minute or two, someone arrived, but it wasn't Mizuki, it was Iruka and he didn't look pleased with him.

"Hey Iruka-sensei I didn't think I meet you here" said Kiba still thinking that this was all part of the test.

"Kiba! ...What the hell do you think your doing?...Do you know what you have just done?" asked Iruka angrily.

"Of course! ..." replied a smiling Kiba, "….I passed the test, that neither Sasuke nor Naruto could pass, and it was a piece of Cake".

"Shocked and confused by Kiba's response, Iruka barely noticed and dodged a giant Shuriken that was thrown at him form behind".

When Iruka turned around he was shocked to see that it was his best friend Mizuki who had thrown the Shuriken at him"

"Kiba… go on ahead and get out of here, Iruka is part of the test and he trying to keep you from passing the test….once I've dealt with him, I catch up with you and you can give me the scroll were you will have passed", said Mizuki.

Believing Mizuki story Kiba nodded and told Akamaru to follow, who was starting to have doubts that what his master/partner was doing and was suspecting that something was wrong. But regardless of his doubts he still followed after Kiba into the forest, when he ran off with the forbidden scroll still on his back.

From his hiding spot behind some trees, Naruto watched to whole event unfold in front of him, he quickly realised after listening to Mizuki's little story to Kiba. That it was Mizuki who was the traitor and had used Kiba's grudge against him to trick Kiba into stealing the forbidden scroll for him.

After Kiba had left, Naruto watch Iruka asked Mizuki why he had betrayed the village as he was Iruka friend and he trusted him. When Mizuki heard Iruka ask, he had just laughed and told him that he was never really Iruka's friend and he had just been using him to further his own career as a Ninja. Where once he realised that he would get no further in rank or gain more power, he decided to steal the Forbidden scroll and go somewhere else and gain more power than he ever would in Konoha.

He also explained that after he saw Kiba's grudge against Naruto, he decided to use it and get Kiba to steal the scroll for him, where everyone would chase after him and he be labelled the traitor. Where he would then met up with Kiba kill him and run off with the Forbidden scroll, where by the time everyone realised the truth it would be too late and he would be long gone.

After hearing this Naruto growled softly at Mizuki and glared at them man, as if there one thing he hated it was traitors as well as those who use people for their own selfish gains and since Mizuki was both. He was on Naruto's list of people he would have no regret beating to a bloody pulp.

For the next few minutes Naruto watch Iruka and Mizuki fight an even battle between one another, but during the course of the fight, Mizuki used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **to replace himself with a log when Iruka hit "him" with a Kunai. After which he then ran off into the forest to get the Forbidden scroll off Kiba, seeing this Iruka ran off after him, with Naruto following closely, but secretly behind him.

As Naruto followed Iruka he saw him **Henge** into Kiba, he then saw him meet up with himself (Iruka), but when "Iruka" asked the disguised Iruka to give him the Forbidden scroll, "Kiba" then attacked "Iruka" and revealed that "Iruka" was Mizuk. After which the real Iruka released his own **Henge** to show who he really was, the two them fought one another for a short while, until Mizuki got away again, where Iruka decided to chase after Kiba and get him and the Forbidden scroll back to Konoha safely.

Naruto went for follow Iruka, where after a few minutes he saw that Iruka had finally found Kiba with the scroll and Akamaru, seemly he was in a small clearing not far from where Iruka and Mizuki where fighting for the second time. When Iruka arrived, seemly Kiba was arguing with Akamaru about what was going on as seemly Akamaru had concerns about this so called test.

When Iruka arrived he started to talk to Kiba and try convince him that Mizuki had tricked him and that there was no test. After a few minutes it looked liked that Iruka might have gotten through to Kiba, but just as it looked like that Kiba might agree to come back to Konoha with Iruka. A another Giant Shurrican was thrown at Iruka, but this time Iruka was not able to dodge as if he had moved Kiba would have been killed instead, hence the Shurrican hit Iruka in the back wounding him badly.

When Kiba looked up he saw Mizuki on a high tree top grinning sadistically at finally getting Iruka. After which he then jumped off and went over to Kiba with his hand stretched out.

"Kiba, give me the scroll" said Mizuki, with a friendly face on him now to try and convince Kiba to give him the Forbidden scroll. "Come on Kiba you didn't actually believe Iruka in what he said. He was just saying that because he wanted you to fail the test, since he didn't want you to prove that he was better than Sasuke or his new favourite student Naruto, as you saw how he favoured him when he helped humiliate you in front of the whole class.

At this Kiba began to have doubts about what Iruka had told him moment ago as to him what Mizuki was saying did make some sense.

"Kiba….don't listen…to him…run!" groaned Iruka as he was badly hurt from the Mizuki Shurrican.

Akamaru also started to bark a Kiba, telling him not to trust Mizuki and to listen to Iruka and run back to the village.

From his hiding spot Naruto saw that that Mizuki hiding a Kunai behind his back and it ready to use it on Kiba if he gave him the scroll. Seeing this Naruto knew one of two things would happen the first being, that Kiba would give Mizuki the Forbidden scroll, where upon doing so Mizuki would stab Kiba with the Kunai and kill him and then kill the wounded Iruka.

The second out come would also end in a similar outcome, where Kiba would believe Iruka and run back to the village with the Forbidden scroll and Mizuki would chase after him and kill him, before he reached the village after which he would then kill the wounded Iruka. Seeing these two outcomes as unacceptable, as the both ended with Mizuki killing both Kiba and Iruka and getting the scroll and running off with it.

Naruto knew that the only way to prevent this from happening was to enter the situation and stop Mizuki himself.

Quickly coming out his hiding spot Naruto jumped out into the clearing right front of Mizuki and Kiba.

When Mizuki saw Naruto, he began to curse as things just got more difficult with Naruto's arrival, as this was not how he had planned things to go as things had taken far longer than he had planned as well, where if he did not get away soon then more Konoha Shinobi's would arrive or worse still ANBU.

"Kiba, don't give him the scroll, he's tricking you this isn't a test this it's all real, and if you give him the scroll you will be an accomplice to treason and be labelled a traitor to the village", said Naruto trying to reason with Kiba.

As Naruto was saying this Mizuki realised that a golden opportunity had now presented itself to him, with Naruto arriving here, "_If I can present not only the Forbidden scroll. But also capture Tsunade-sama son and bring both of them to Orochimaru. Then Orochimaru will reward me greatly with more power than I can even dream of_/", thought Mizuki with a small smile on his lips.

"See Kiba, it just like I told you their trying to stop you from passing the exam think about it if this was real, why would Senju be here. He just trying to stop you from passing the test and you showing him up", said Mizuki, hoping to use his dislike of Naruto to get him to give him the scroll.

"Kiba, don't be an idiot, don't give him the scroll", said Naruto as he saw Kiba being hesitant.

"I'm no idiot Senju…and I 'am not going to let you show me up again" cried Kiba angrily, where he dropped the Forbidden scroll took out a Kunai and charged at Naruto as he believed that Naruto was trying to sabotage his chances of showing him up.

"_Kiba you baka_" thought Naruto as he drew out of his Katana and charged at Kiba with impressive speed for a Genin his age, where he quickly ducked under Kiba's Kunai strike and then came up behind Kiba. Where he then quickly turned his Katana around so that the back of the blade was forward and Naruto hit Kiba in the back of the head with the back of his Katana, knocking Kiba out.

When Kiba collapsed on the ground unconscious, Akamaru ran up to his master/partner side to see if he was ok, which he was.

"Impressive, Senju…but not unexpected from a member of your Clan as well as the son of the Slug Princess", replied Mizuki as he now held the Forbidden scroll in his hands.

Naruto did not respond to Mizuki remark and just got into a stance to prepare to fight Mizuki as he was not going to let him get away with the Forbidden scroll.

Mizuki just smirked, when he saw Naruto getting into a sword stance and prepared to fight him, "Listen kid, you maybe more skilled than the average Genin, but your still only a Genin, while I'm a seasoned and fully trained Chunin", sneered Mizuki.

Naruto of course did not respond to that either and just got ready as he was going to let

Mizuki make the first move, which he did as he put the Forbidden scroll aside, and then took out and threw several small Shurikens at Naruto. Who quickly and skilfully deflected the Shurikens away from both him and the unconscious Kiba and also made sure that they would not hit the wounded Iruka either.

Unfortunately for Naruto the Shurikens were just a distraction, where Mizuki came up from Naruto right hand side to try and knock him out with the blunt side of his Kunai. Fortunately Naruto had saw Mizuki coming towards him at the corner of his eye and was able to spin around in time to block Mizuki's Kunai with his Katana.

For the next few minutes the two of them traded blows against one another with neither giving the other much ground. As this was happening Iruka watched the two of them fight and could not help but be amazed at how Naruto a mere Genin was able to hold his own in fight against a Chunin like Mizuki.

After another minute or so of fighting, both Naruto and Mizuki broke away from one another to take a break, Mizuki was panting slightly, but Naruto on the other hand was perfectly fine. As he had a lot of stamina thanks to the Kyuubi and thanks to his mother's physical and endurance training, hence he could fight like this for ages and still not be out of breath.

"Phant, Phant…. I have to admit kid your more skilled that I thought you were, but your still no match for me and you can't beat me. So why don't you do yourself a favour and give up and come with me quietly and you would get hurt" said Mizuki.

"Thanks for the offer but I don't give up and I don't intend to lose especially to trash like you" said Naruto as he had yet to go all out on Mizuki, and even then all he had to do was keep Mizuki busy for a little longer as other Konoha Shinobi's or ANBU would arrive soon. But when he looked over the wounded state that Iruka was in he was worried that he might go into shock and lose consciousness from the blood loss from the wound or the pain of the Shuriken imbedded in his back. Naruto then decided to end this now and help heal Iruka.

"Sorry Mizuki, it been fun and all, but it time to end this", said Naruto

"Hah! ... Don't go making idle threats like that kid…You can't beat me", replied Mizuki, as he was confidant that he could beat Naruto and still get away with both him and the Forbidden scroll and deliver them to Orochimaru.

"I don't make idle threats…..and I show you how I going to beat you", replied Naruto as he imbedded his katana to the ground and then did a hand sign and cried out "**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Multipliable Shadow Clone Technique)". After which a massive cloud of smoke appeared in the Clearing, where once it dissipated, both Iruka and Mizuki where shocked to see over a thousand Naruto's surrounding and filling the clearing all with their swords out and ready to fight.

"_Incredible! ...Naruto knows how to do and has fully mastered a forbidden A rank Jutsu, as all those clones are real not illusions_", thought Iruka in amazement.

"Impossible…where did all these clones come from…how could he even create so many?" cried Mizuki in compete disbelief.

"GET HIM!" cried Naruto and pointed the now terrified Mizuki, where all one thousand Naruto Shadow Clones attacked at once and pounced on Mizuki, who stood no chance against all of them and could only scream out as they bet him into a pulp.

Once Mizuki had been dealt with, Naruto went over to Iruka and pulled out the giant Shuriken out of his back and began to heal him. At first Iruka was surprised that Naruto knew how to heal him, but reminded himself that Naruto was Tsunade son, so it would be natural that she taught him some healing Ninjutsu.

Fortunately the wound was not as bad as Naruto had though as Iruka flack jacket had protected him from any serious harm, where Naruto was able to heal the small wound.

"Are you ok Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto as he helped Iruka sit-up on a nearby tree.

"Yes I'm fine Naruto thank you" replied Iruka with a small smile, where he then looked at the now beaten and battered form of his so-called best friend Mizuki and could not help but sigh sadly. For even though Mizuki was never really his friend, Iruka had still considered him as his friend, hence it did not lessen or ease the feeling of betrayal and sadness that their friendship meant nothing to Mizuki at all.

"Are you sure your ok sensei?" asked Naruto at seeing the sad look on Iruka face.

At this Iruka smiled again, but it was a sad smile, "Yes Naruto I will be alright in a little while" said Iruka.

It was then that Akamaru then came up to Naruto and started to paw at Naruto's leg, asking him if his master/partner was ok. When Naruto felt and saw what the pup was doing, he quickly realised what the pup wanted to know.

"Don't worry little guy, Kiba will be fine I just knocked him out with the back of my Katana and he waken up in a few minutes time…..although he will have a quite a headache when he does". At this Akamaru barked happily that Kiba would be ok and went back to Kiba to be there when he woke up, after which Iruka then turned and spoke to Naruto.

"Naruto I want to thank you for not only stopping Mizuki, but also saving both my life and Kiba's".

"That's ok sensei…" replied Naruto with a smile, "…You would have done the same from me, besides what are friends for". This of course caused Iruka to smile and nodded where he and Naruto shook hands.

After which, a team of ANBU arrived in the clearing and were lead by a female ANBU wearing a Porcelain a Fox mask and had long read hair that fell down to her rear.

"Iruka-san are you ok? ... and what happened here?" asked the red haired female ANBU.

Iruka spent the next few minutes explaining to the ANBU what had happened, where he told then how Mizuki tricked Kiba into stealing the Forbidden scroll and how Naruto fought and defeated him.

After hearing this, the ANBU were impressed at how Naruto was able to defeat Mizuki so easily, even though Mizuki was only a low level Chunin it was still impressive.

"Pretty good kid … thanks for the help", spoke Fox, where she then ordered one of her team to pick up Mizuki and send him into interrogation. While she and others would escort Iruka to the Hokage's Residence and bring both the unconscious Kiba and Forbidden scroll back to the Hokage's Residence as well, so that the Hokage could debrief both Kiba and Iruka personally. She also told Naruto he was not needed as the Hokage had told her to let Naruto go to which Naruto nodded and left to return to his apartment, where the ANBU and Iruka followed suit and headed back to the Hokage's Residence.

-Hokage's Office-

From his mystical crystal ball, Sarutobi had watch the whole event from the moment that Kiba had exited outside the village wall to the moment that Naruto comforted and defeated Mizuki and to when the ANBU arrived.

After the event Sarutobi turned off his mystical crystal ball and was quite proud of his surrogate Grandson, for stopping Mizuki and for how strong he had become, although he knew that he had yet to see Naruto's true potential.

"_Barely even in the village forty-eight hours and you have already created quite a stir in the village Naruto, something that has not been seen in it for decades. I look forward to what else you will do to liven the village up, while you here_", though Sarutobi with a slight chuckle as he waited for Iruka and the ANBU to arrive in his office.

N/A

Well another Chapter done and dusted, hope you all enjoyed it along with the Council, the Class and the people's reaction to Naruto existence, along with everything else and you weren't disappointed with it all. Since I know many of you have been inching to find out all their reactions to him, and I hope this Chapter has made up for not happening in the last Chapter, which you can see why I did not have it in the last Chapter.

Also another thing before many of you ask, no Hinata does not have a crush on Naruto she just nervous and very shy as she was intimated by Naruto, with him being a Senju and Tsunade's son. But still I'm not saying she will or will not either and I not announcing pairings either yet and I will not announce them until after the Chunin exam.

Now as many of you have guessed in the next Chapter you will see the team placements and before any of you ask, no I won't tell you as I don't want to spoil the surprise, also in the next Chapter you will find out what Naruto is truly capable of and so will his sensei and team-mates.

Also I hope you not disappointed that Naruto's a dead last but I didn't think it be exactly fair or realistic that they would let Naruto become the Rookie of the Year when he never attended the four long training of the Academy.

As for those who believe I'm being too hard or am bashing on Kiba, I will admit I bashing him a little, but it's just that in the anime and the Manga. Kiba came off to me as a jerk or even a bully in away at the start and I thought she should have gotten a bit more of a beat down by Naruto, But I promise eventually Kiba will get over his stupid grudge with Naruto and although they won't be the best of friend they will eventually respect each other a become somewhat friendly towards one another.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Also for fans of my Raikage story I should tell you that it might take me a little while for my next Chapter of it up as there a lot going to happen it as you can guess, but I promise I will update it as quickly as I can so that you will not have to wait too long for the next update.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as well please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons, and for those of you who are asking so far in the polls the Bear summons are winning with the Dragons summons following very close behind where they are just one vote behind and along with Eagle summons who are almost tied with the Dragon and the wolves who are not too far behind them either. While the others like Mongoose, Badger and other being trail a god bit behind them.


	11. Chapter 11

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Eleven: Team-mates.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Inner Sakura**_"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-Early next morning in The Hyuga Clan Compound-

After the near historic announcement by the Hokage at the news of Naruto's existence, the Hyuga Council, along with Hyuga Hiashi had been discussing the news for much of the night, and the early parts of the morning and how it affected the standing of their Clan in Konoha.

"Who would have ever thought that Tsunade-sama would actually have a child…one could quite well restore the Senju Clan in Konoha", spoke a Hyuga Elder.

"None of us did", replied another Elder.

"This could greatly affect our standing in Konoha, where if this boy actually succeeds in rebuilding his Clan, then our Clan's power and influence in the village will be greatly reduced", said yet another Elder.

"Tell us Hiashi, do you know anything of what the boy is capable of?" asked Hiashi's father who was head of the Hyuga Clan council.

"Unfortunately no, as the Hokage said that he has no knowledge of the boy capabilities, as he kept it secret and it will not be revealed until Jiraiya-sama arrives, to speak to him about it", answered Hiashi.

The Elders frowned at this as knowing what Naruto was able to do could have helped them plan out what they were to do and what to expect from the boy.

"Do we know who the boy's father is? ...Is he a foreign Shinobi, a noble from Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) or some kind of commoner?" asked one Elder.

"No, I do not know, as the Hokage claimed that he had no knowledge of who the boy's father was as Tsunade-sama refused to tell" replied Hiashi.

"And do you believe him?" asked the same Elder.

"I do not know….as it is possible that the Hokage does know who the boy's father was but refuses to tell for whatever reason and it is also possible he does not know as he said. But I believe it matters little as to who the boy father was as the Hokage spoke he was dead and I believe him in that" said Hiashi.

At this all the Elders nodded, where then another Elder then spoke up,

"Have you met or seen the boy yet?" asked the Elder.

"No, as the boy was attending the Academy when the Hokage announced the boy to us and he was not with him when he announced the boy existence to the rest of the village. My guess is that the Hokage is trying to keep the boy out of the view of large crowds and other influential groups such as ourselves for as long as possible, so that he won't be overwhelmed and used in the politics of the village", spoke Hiashi.

"Then we must find away to gain the boy on our side, as the boy is a Senju, the main founders of this village and when he older he will have enormous influence in the village and will most likely have the peoples support. His existence alone will shift a great deal of influence, that our Clan as had in the village to him, but if we can get the boy to ally with our Clan then the Hyuga Clan's influence will grow greatly", said one of the Elders.

"Hiashi isn't your Daughter Hinata in the same graduating Class as the young Senju heir is in?" asked an Elder.

"Yes, she is and according to her and to the Jonin tutor Yūhi Kurenai that I assigned to my Daughter, Hinata has become quite friendly with the young Senju heir and has already become friends with him", spoke Hiashi.

"Well it seems that for once, the girl has actually done something right and has finally proven herself useful to the Clan. If she can somehow get close to the boy we can then arrange a marriage between the two once the boy's mother arrives in the village. We can use the marriage to form an Alliance between us and the Senju Clan, where then our Clan influence and power in the village will raise to unprecedented levels", spoke Hiashi's father.

As Hiashi's father said this, Hiashi face remained unreadable and just nodded, but on the inside he was frowning, since despite common belief Hiashi cared deeply for his family especially after the loss of his brother and then his beloved wife Hitomi. After which Hiashi adopted the cold hard exterior that people knew him for, so that people would believe that he did not care about his daughters or more specifically Hinata. So that people would not try hurt her, to get back him, in reality he cared deeply for his daughter as she reminded him so much of his wife Hitomi. The other reason why he was so hard on her was because he wanted Hinata to become strong enough to defend herself. This was why he was so hard on her and had her become a Ninja and not stay in the Clan to become the heiress of the Clan.

Hence the idea of using Hinata as a political pawn and having her married off to make the Hyuga Clan stronger and more powerful in Konoha wasn't exactly what Hiashi wanted for her. But there was little he could do as despite common belief, Hiashi did not have full control of his Clan. Although as Clan head he had control over most parts of the Clan along with other things, he still did not have full control. Since when it came to things that would greatly effect the Hyuga Clan itself in general such as their Bloodline or status in Konoha then the Hyuga Elders could take control and overrule him on whatever decision he could make. Which was exactly what they did, when the Kumo's ambassador tried to kidnap Hinata and he killed him, where he then planned to offer himself up to prevent war from happening between Konoha and Kumo. But the Elders had overruled him on his decision believing that Hiashi was too valuable to die, where they then had his brother sent instead and although Hiashi's brother Hizashi did it of his own freewill. Hiashi still held a grudge against them for being the ones who suggested the idea and putting it in his brother's head. He also never forgave his father for it either as it was he who came up with the idea to begin with, where he saved one of his son's life by sacrificing the other.

"So it is agreed…" spoke Hiashi's father suddenly and halting Hiashi train of thought a moment ago, "…once we have gathered enough Knowledge of the young Senju Heir abilities and skills and once Hinata has gotten close enough to him. We will arrange with the boy's mother an arrange marriage between the two. Thereby sealing an alliance between the Hyuga Clan and the Senju Clan, upon the marriage between the two of them, we will place the Cage bird seal along with our Bloodline blocking seal on Hinata so to keep our Clan Bloodline in the Hyuga Clan. Where any children that they may have will not have our Bloodline, but even still the future generations of the Senju Clan will still be from our own Clan thereby we can use Hinata and that link to gain control and manipulate the Clan, where the Hyuga Clan will finally and truly become the strongest Clan in Konoha".

At this Hiashi frowned as he did not like hearing the idea of the Cage Bird seal being placed on his eldest daughter, not to mention he did not like the Hyuga Elders plan. As something like this could be easily seen as treason, where many people could see this as the Hyuga Clan trying to take over and interfering with another Clan, which was forbidden by all Clans to do. Not to mention there were still too many things that could go wrong, as past experiences on the battlefield had taught Hiashi that things rarely go according to plan.

"But we must hurry as the other Clans not to mention other families in Konoha will try and gain some kind of favour with the boy and others will try and get their own daughters to get close to the boy so that they can arrange a marriage between their daughters and him. Yamanaka Inoichi daughter would be the most dangerous of them all, as like with Hinata, she is in the same graduating Class as the boy is. Not to mention that the Nara and Akimichi heirs could help her as those three Clans have been close with one another ever since their fathers where their ages", spoke another Elder.

"Agreed then", spoke Hiashi's father, where he then turned to Hiashi himself, "Hiashi, I want you to tell your daughter that she is to use whatever means necessary to get as close to the boy as possible nor matter what it takes. She could very well hold the fate of the Hyuga Clan in Konoha in her hands".

"I understand father and I will tell her", replied Hiashi after which he then left the room, where he would simply approve of his daughter friendship with Naruto and encourage her to continue on with it. Which was not exactly what the Elders wanted him to do but still close enough as it followed along their plan in some parts. Besides who knows with some luck perhaps Hinata can find love with Naruto in the arrange marriage between them, like he did with the arrange marriage with her mother Hitomi, that is, if Elders plan works up to that point. But regardless of this Hiashi knew he had no choice but to follow the Elders plan, at lest until he found some way that would allow him to be rid of them without causing bloodshed, in-house fighting or turmoil in the Clan.

-At the Academy-

At about Nine thirty in the morning the graduating members of the Class arrived in their Classroom for the last time, as today they were going to meet their Jonin Sensei's and be formed into teams. The Students all took their usually seats in the room, as Naruto entered the room he saw Kiba and Akamaru, although Akamaru yelped happily upon seeing Naruto, Kiba quickly turned away in a different direction that would allow him not to look at Naruto as doing so reminded him too much of own personal humiliation.

Although Kiba knew he should be grateful to Naruto for not only stopping him for being an accomplice to treason, but for also saving his life as he had learned from the Iruka and the Hokage that if he had given Mizuki the scroll, he would have killed him. But even with this Kiba still could not help but hold a grudge against Naruto as every time he looked at Naruto. He would be reminded of how he had been duped, not to mention that he was still angry at how for the second time Naruto beat him easily, with just one hit.

Kiba also believed that Naruto was nothing more than a silver spoon Shinobi, where he was born into a powerful noble Clan, with a Kage level mother and Godfather to give him special training and was born naturally with talent thanks to his heritage. While kids like Kiba who were born from Shinobi Clans that weren't as revered or as powerful as Naruto's, had to work hard to gain any kind of real strength or to be noticed. People just naturally paid attention to Naruto just because of his heritage, while they ignore Kiba and those like him, even Sasuke fitted in a similar category as Naruto, but he at lest knew suffering and hardship with the lost of his Clan, Naruto did not.

As Kiba thought about last night he could not help but feel lucky that was still a Ninja as the Hokage had decided to let him still be a Genin, since he had been tricked and used by Mizuki.

Unfortunately his mother wasn't as forgiving as the Hokage, as Kiba could not help but cringe slightly at the memory, when he remembered his mother arriving in the Hokage's office and after the Hokage told her everything that happened that night.

The angry shouts and screams that came from his mother as she yelled at him could be heard all over Konoha that night and nearly made everyone in the office go deaf. His mother had been furious with him when she learned what happened, where she shouted at how much he had shamed her and their Clan and about how he could have been duped so easily all over a simple grudge he held against Naruto.

Once Tsume had stopped yelling the Hokage told her that Kiba would be not been punished as he had been tricked and the event would be kept hidden if Naruto agreed to, so that Kiba and the Inuzuka Clan would not be disgraced to the rest of the village. His mother seemed to lessen her anger at him after hearing this, but even still she had not let Kiba off the hook for attacking Naruto and for being such an idiot. Where she told Kiba for the next eight months he would be on Kennel duty in the Inuzuka Clan kennels, the worst job for any member in the Inuzuka Clan. As he would have to clean up each one of the Inuzuka dog kennels each week, which also included picking up the dogs poop around the kennels.

When Naruto saw Kiba looking away from him he could only sigh as he could tell that Kiba still held some kind of foolish grudge against him for whatever reason. As he looked at Kiba he also could not help but remember the talk he had with the Hokage earlier this morning, where he agreed to keep Kiba's part of the incident secret. Since although he thought Kiba was a jerk and a bit of an idiot, he didn't believe he or his Clan deserved to be disgraced to the whole village because of one stupid mistake. Sarutobi of course had been happy to hear Naruto choice as he was on the same mind as Naruto and believed that Kiba could still make a fine Ninja one day.

Deciding to ignore Kiba, Naruto headed up to his seat next to Hinata, where he greeted her in his usual fashion.

"Hey Hinata-chan, how are you today?" asked Naruto as he added the Chan part has he fully considered Hinata his friend now.

Blushing at the informal suffix, Hinata stuttered out a greeting to her friend, Hinata had become a little less nervous around Naruto, since yesterday as she had gotten to know Naruto better. It also helped that her father actually seemed pleased that she had befriended Naruto and later on even approved of her friendship with him and even encouraged her to become better friends with him.

For the next few minutes Naruto and Hinata talked, all the while not noticing the jealous glares that Hinata was getting from about half the girls from of the Class. After a little while Ino and Sakura came into the Classroom at exactly the same time and where the two of them along with a few other girls in Sasuke Fan Club started to yell at a boy called Tai who was sitting in a seat next to Sasuke.

After a minute or so of this Naruto had enough and decided to do go down to the girls and play peacemaker so to cease their insistent yelling.

"Ok that's enough you lot" said Naruto as he stood in front of the groups of girls, which caused many of the boys in the Class to wonder if Naruto was either very brave or very foolish or even a bit of both. As those few that had tired to stand up to Sasuke fan Club usually ended up visiting the Academy nurse.

"Now look, Tai here was sitting here first, hence you can't force him to move just because he sitting next to the Uchiha over there and if you want to seat near him then sit around him in the empty seats around him as there are plenty of them", said Naruto are he tired to reason with girls. Unfortunately for Naruto Fan girls could not be reasoned with especially when it was about sitting next to their "beloved Sasuke-kun".

"Move it Senju, your in the way of true love between my Sasuke-kun and me", said Sakura as she and two another girls pushed him aside next to Ino.

After which Sakura and the two girls tried to pull Tai of his seat, while Sasuke just watched them with an annoyed expression on his face and thinking, "_stupid fan-girls_".

When Sakura and the two girls grabbed onto the right sleeve of Tai's shirt and tried to pull Tai off his seat, Tai resisted the girls by pulling back so to stop them from pulling him off his seat, as they kept pulling on one another, eventually the sleeves of Tai's shirt ripped, which resulted everyone to fall back and crash into other people. Most of the girls fell back into the desks behind them or other girls who were behind them.

Naruto unfortunately was also caught in his tumble of bodies, where he crashed into Ino, who was next to him, when someone pushed him, this caused both he and Ino to fail and tumble down the steps that led to the different desk levels. Eventually the two hit the bottom floor of the Classroom where Naruto landed on the floor first on his back, with Ino landing on top of him.

Once Ino regained her sense's she found herself staring right into Naruto's bright blue eyes and was transfixed by them in away. For a minute or so, Ino and Naruto just stared into each others eyes, until Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"Eh, Ino-san if you don't mind could you get off me please", where when Ino looked at the position she was in with Naruto she could not help but blush. As their noses were just a hair strand away from touching on another, Ino's hands were on Naruto chest, while Naruto own hands were holding onto Ino waist and Ino's left leg was dangerous close between Naruto's legs in a very intimate manner.

Upon fully realising the situation she was in, Ino quickly jumped up off Naruto with a large "eep", as she was too embarrassed at what just happened that she could not scream or shout. Fortunately for Ino and Naruto no-one had been paying any attention to what was happening to them as they were too focused on something else.

Where when Sakura and the other girls fell backwards, Tai also fell backwards, where as he turned around and tried brace himself as he fell, he collided with Sasuke and they fell to the ground together and accidently locked lips with one another for a few seconds. Much to the shock of everyone in the classroom especially to Sasuke's Fan-girls as they could not believe what they saw and were furious at the same time as Tai had stolen Sasuke first kiss.

Quickly the two boys jumped apart from one another and began to spit out the taste of the others lips, unfortunately for Tai, Sasuke's Fan girls did not take well to the fact that he stole "their Sasuke-kuns" fist kiss from them. After which Sasuke-fan girls (minus Ino) pounced on Tai and proceeded to beat Tai into a bloody pulp for the next few minutes, where it only ended with the arrival of Iruka.

Once the class had been seated, with Tai sitting back on his seat despite what he went through and Sakura sitting right behind Sasuke and Naruto sitting back next to Hinata. Iruka started to call out the teams, their numbers and what sensei's they had.

"Next Team seven which will have Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto and your Sensei will be Hatake Kakashi", spoke Iruka but before he could call out the members of team eight, Sakura started to cheer and shout.

"HA! TRUE LOVE WINS…TAKE THAT INO PIG!" cried Sakura with joy as she got to be with "her Sasuke-kun". Strangely enough Ino remained quiet during Sakura victory cheering which surprise many as they expected her yell about it being unfair and would start to wine and complain.

As Sakura continue to cheer her other team-mates did not share her joy,

"_Kami must hate me right now for some reason to put me on the same team of the class emo and his fan girl…sure I could put being with the just the Uchiha…but why did "SHE" have to be on it._", thought Naruto.

Although he had no real reason to like or dislike Sasuke, he could tell that by the personality of Sasuke of how he would always brood and look down at others think that they were worthless that he wasn't going to get on too well with him. "_But at least I have that Kakashi guy as my sensei, as according to Ero-sennin he's the strongest Jonin in Konoha and was Tou-san student. Maybe I can learn some more things about Tou-san from him_", thought Naruto as he thought on the positive side.

"_So I'm on the same team as a worthless fan girl and the Senju, the Senju at least won't be a total waste of space like her_", thought Sasuke as he made a quick glace at Sakura, before he glanced at Naruto "_…and I will at least have someone who "might" challenge me and to test myself against…lets just hope that this Hatake can teach me something useful to use against Him_".

Once Iruka had told Sakura to calm down and sit back down he went on to state the other teams,

Team eight was made up of Hinata, Shino and Kiba with Yūhi Kurenai as their Jonin Sensei.

When Hinata heard this, she was of course pleased to know that Kurenai was her Sensei, although was a bit disappointed that Naruto wasn't on her team where she would have at least be friends with someone on her team. As she did not know Kiba all that well and she was kind of nervous around Shino as she was kind of intimidated by him, but still she hoped that they would get along after sometime.

After calling out the members of Team Nine, Iruka called out the members Team Ten which was made up of Choji, Ino and Shikamaru with Sarutobi Asuma as their Jonin Sensei.

Naturally many people expected Ino to shout out, cry and complain about not being on the same Team as Shikimaru and Choji, but much to their surprise Ino remained quiet after the announcement.

After a few more minutes the remaining other teams were announced by Iruka, after which Iruka called the Jonin Sensei's that were waiting outside the classroom, where once they entered Iruka left the room.

Hinata soon said good-bye to Naruto as she went to join Kurenai and her new team, they were soon followed by Ino, Choji and Shikamaru and their new Sensei Asuma who was the younger son of the Sandaime Hokage.

After a little while all the new Genin's expect for Team seven had left with their new Sensei's, Naruto then went down to the ground floor and began to start working on setting up a prank for Kakash. As Jiraiya had told him all about his father's former student, who was regularly late for appointments as a way for honouring another student of his father's who died on a mission.

"Senju, what the hell are you doing?" cried Sakura.

"What does it look like? ...I'm setting up a trap" answered Naruto, while not even turning to look at Sakura.

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"Because the Sensei that we have has a reputation of always being late for Appointments, hence I making this trap to teach him a lesson about being late", replied Naruto.

"OOOOOHHHHHHH…..your going to be in so much trouble with Sensei if you do that" said Sakura, while in he inside Inner Sakura was saying "_**Cha! I love it….Teach that baka Sensei a Lesson**_".

"What do you think Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura with a dreamy look.

"Hmph, I like care", replied Sasuke.

"_Sasuke-kun is ssssooooo cccoooooolllll_" though Sakura dreamily.

After a little while Naruto, was finish making his trap for Kakashi, where he then sat down opened up a book and stated to read it.

-Two hours later-

After spending two hours paying his respects to the memorial stone, Kakashi decided to go and see his new students, two of which would be interesting to meet as one was Uchiha Sasuke the last loyal Uchiha in Konoha. While the other was Senju Naruto son of Tsunade of the Sannin, naturally like everyone, Kakashi was stunned that Tsunade had a child, he was further surprised that he would be his Sensei, although considering how the Academy setup the teams he should not have been.

When the teams had been sorted out several Sensei's had stated that the teams were unbalanced as Kakashi had the top Kunoichi , along with the Uchiha and Senju heirs, both of whom were already considered by many as prodigies. Since although Naruto was classed the dead-last many still considered him a Prodigy, as he was only made the dead-last because he did not fully attend the Academy and his score was only based on the exam, which he passed with flying colours. Not top mention the news of Naruto singlehandedly defeating Mizuki had already spread to the other Shinobi ranks, further proving the claim that Naruto was a Prodigy.

But even despite the complaints the Hokage stated that if he changed them now they would have to rearrange all the teams again. But stated that once he knew what Naruto's capabilities were and if he made the team unbalance he would change the team in some form, which settle the Shinobi's that complained.

As Kakashi made his way to the classroom, Kakashi noticed a chalk eraser stuck on the door, which would fall on his head once he opened it. "_AAAAAHHHH, the old chalk eraser on the door gag, that takes me back_" though Kakashi with fond memories as he remember Obito played the same trick before one time. _"…But still you think that these kids could think of something more originally that this…..oh well, might as well play along_".

Kakashi then slid the door open and let the eraser fall on his head, which made Sasuke wonder if Kakashi was really a Jonin if he fell for that lame gag. Although there was much more to the prank that Kakashi, Sasuke or Sakura thought, as the chalk eraser was just something to distract Kakashi from the real pranks. Which was a trip wire at the door that Kakashi activated, when his foot crossed the wire and he entered the classroom.

When Kakashi hit the trip wire a massive stink bomb dropped from above the door and exploded at the door, fortunately Kakashi being a trained Shinobi was able to get away from the stink bomb before it exploded. But when Kakashi moved away from the stink bomb he tripped over another trip wire, which launched a flurry of Kunai at him. Kakashi although quickly used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique) and replaced himself with a nearby chair, which the Kunai's hit.

But unfortunately when Kakashi replaced himself he activated yet another trap, where he reappeared and stood on a loose floorboard that was actually a trap and exploded, covering him entirely in orange paint, much to Naruto's amusement as he laughed at the now orange Kakashi.

"Gomen Sensei, but it was all Naruto's doing, neither Sasuke-kun nor I were involved it that stupid prank", said Sakura, while inside her mind Inner Sakura was cheering madly at how she loved it and it was great.

"Well now, now that I have met you all, I have only one to say…I hate you all…especially you", said Kakashi as he looked and glared slightly at Naruto, who just grinned back and saluted Kakashi.

"Ok you three, I want you all to meet me at the roof in ten minutes", said Kakashi, as he used the **Shunshin no Jutsu** (Body Flicker Technique) to disappear in a swirl of leaves leaving Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura alone in the classroom.

"See you guys up there" replied Naruto as he then disappeared in the same way as Kakashi, much to Sasuke'a and Sakura's surprise. After seeing this Sasuke frowned, but quickly decided to head up to the rooftop, where he left the room, with Sakura following behind him and saying to wait up for her.

When Sasuke and Sakura arrived they found Naruto sitting on a stone bench that was on the roof reading his book as he waited to them, in front of him was also a now clean Kakashi who was reading his own book an Icha Icha book.

Once Sasuke and Sakura had sat down next to Naruto, Kakashi snapped his book close and look at them.

"Ok you three, I think we should try and get to know each other better, so how about you each tell me your name, what you like, what you dislike, your dreams for the future and your hobbies".

"How about you go first Sensei so we know what we have to say", said Sakura, which caused Naruto to roll his eyes slightly as it was obvious what they had to do.

"Ok then, I'm Hatake Kakashi, Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future ...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies".

This of course caused Sasuke to frown and Sakura to look disappointed as it didn't really tell them anything about him other than his name, Naruto on the other hand smirked as he expected Kakashi be secretive and cryptic as he didn't like people knowing too much about him.

After hearing Kakashi reply he decided to rain on Kakashi parade, "Well I guess I have to tell them a bit about you then. Like he said his name is Hatake Kakashi, he is the only son of Hatake Sakumo, also known as the Konoha no Shiroi Kiba(Konoha's White Fang). At a young age he was regarded as an extremely gifted prodigy where he graduated from the Academy in a single year at the top of his Class at age five. He became a Chunin at age six and a Jonin at age thirteen, where he is considered today as one of Konoha's strongest Shinobi's. He is also the last surviving student of the Youndaime Hokage and is also the only person outside of the Uchiha Clan to have and wield the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan Doujutsu bloodline…." spoke Naruto. Where when he said that Kakashi had the Sharingan, Sasuke suddenly become very interested in what Naruto had to say about Kakashi.

"…which is why he is known throughout the Shinobi world as Sharingan no Kakashi (Kakashi of the Sharingan) and Kopī Ninja no Kakashi (Copy Ninja Kakashi) and is said to have copied and master over a thousand different Jutsu's. He has several high ranking bounties on his head and is ranked as a high A ranked level Shinobi as he completed 1,141 official missions in total: 197 D-rank, 190 C-rank, 414 B-rank, 298 A-rank, 42 S-rank. His likes are reading Icha Icha books and eating salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. He dislikes are traitors, those who turn their back on their comrades and abandon them, any fried or sweet food and being photographed without his mask. His hobbies are reading the Icha Icha series and his dreams of the future are to write his own series of the books", spoke Naruto. Where once he finished both Sasuke and Sakura looked at him in surprise as he knew more about their Sensei than either of them did.

But none of them were more surprise or to be more precise…stunned to hear all this than Kakashi, as Naruto knew basically everything about him, if not more than most of the people in Konoha knew about him. The only real sign of Kakashi showing his shock was the raised eye-brow from his one revealing eye which had slightly widen in surprise.

"Well now that was unexpected, but impressive and may I ask where you learned all this from Blondie?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto just narrowed his eyes slightly at the nickname as he did not like it, but decided to ignore it and then smirked, "Well Hitotsu-san (1) (which caused Kakashi to raise his eyebrow again at the nickname), my Godfather is quite good a gathering information on people and besides you tell a lot about yourself in your fan-mail to him". Which caused Kakashi to sigh as he quickly realised that Jiraiya was Naruto's Godfather and it did make a bit of sense as it would be only naturally that Tsunade would make her former team-mate her son's Godfather. Hence Jiraiya would most likely have told Naruto all about him.

Although what Kakashi thought was not entirely untrue, there was still something he did not know, which was that Jiraiya also taught Naruto how to make contact with his spy network in case he needed to make contact to Jiraiya. When he could not contact him through normal means or if Naruto needed information on certain people or groups and Jiraiya was not around to get the information for him. But that did not that mean that Naruto had full run of Jiraiya spy-network or knew how to run it to the its full extent, Naruto only had contact with a few select parts of it, Jiraiya still had to teach him more about it and how to run it effectively.

"Ok then mister smarty pants why don't you tell us about yourself then", replied Kakashi.

"Fine then," replied Naruto, "My name is Senju Naruto my likes include Raman, my Ka-chan, Shizune onee-chan, our pet pig TonTon, Ero-sennin, playing pranks, my friends, training and reading. I dislike, bullies, traitors, the three minutes that take to cook my Ramen and Perverts", said Naruto. Which made Kakashi slightly nervous when Naruto said he didn't like perverts where he then gave Kakashi a "look" that seemed eerily familiar to him in some way. Even though Kakashi was not a pervert he did read Jiraiya's adult porno books, hence as far as Naruto was concerned it made him one.

"…My hobbies are Training, reading and Gardening and making perverts suffer, my dreams for the future are to be a Great Medic-nin like my Kaa-chan, to restore my Clan and to be the greatest Hokage! That way, people will stop always comparing me to the rest of my family and acknowledge me as myself and not someone related to great ninja's", said Naruto with confidence.

After hearing this Kakashi had to admit that Naruto certainly didn't dream or think small, considering what he wanted to do, then again being Hokage was in his blood in a way and he certainly had a good chance at being a powerful medic considering he had his mother to train him. Not to mention he could very well rebuild the Senju Clan in Konoha, which was something many people were hoping he would do one day. But still it would be some time before Naruto would even have a chance to be or do any of these things and only time will tell if he can.

"Wait who is Ero-sennin?" asked Sakura

"He's my Godfather Jiraiya?" replied Naruto

"You mean Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin?" asked Sakura in surprise where Naruto just nodded his head in acknowledgement, while Sasuke raised his eyebrow in interest.

"How can you call a Great ninja's like Jiraiya-sama something like that?" asked Sakura in surprise at Naruto's blatant disrespect of one of Konoha's greatest Shinobi's.

"I can call him whatever I want as he is "MY" Godfather and besides, he is the biggest pervert you could ever meet. As he spends alot of his time peeking on girls in the hot spring for his so called "research" for the trashy perverted books that he writes and Kakashi-sensei reads", answered Naruto. Where Kakashi nodded confirming what Naruto said was true, although he did not like Naruto calling Jiraiya books trashy since as far as Kakashi was concerned, Jiraiya's books were a work of literally art.

Sakura was of course left wordless as she still found it hard to believe that a "GREAT" Ninja like Jiraiya wrote porno books.

Deciding to get back to the matter at hand Kakashi decided to speak up, "Ok then how about you pinkie why don't you tell us about yourself next", said Kakashi, which caused Sakura to scowl, when Kakashi called her pinkie.

"My name is Haruno Sakura my likes are… (Looks at Sasuke and giggles)…my Hobbies are playing trivia games and … (Looks again at Sasuke and giggles)…my dislikes are Ino-buta (Ino Pig) along with Ami and her gang…my dreams of the future… (Looks at Sasuke yet again and starts to blush and giggle madly again)".

After hearing this Kakashi just shook his head while Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes again, while Sasuke just scoffed and looked away from Sakura.

"Ok then, last but not least broody over there" spoke Kakashi as he looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke only scowled slightly at Kakashi's nickname and then spoke, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my Clan, and kill a certain someone"

"_Yesh!...could it kill this guy to lighten up a little, instead of brooding and thinking darkly all the time_", thought Naruto.

"_Sigh!...I was afraid of this it seems the loss of his Clan has made him revenge driven…not that I blame him though…but still if he keeps following this path it will only lead to more sorrow…for him and everyone around him…lets just hope that I can convince him, that there are betters ways…before its too late_" thought Kakashi as he knew he had a lot of work with Sasuke ahead…that is if they pasts the test.

"_Sasuke-kun is so ccccccooooooooolllllllll_" though Sakura as she started dreamily and the brooding Uchiha.

"Well now, now that we know each other a bit better I think its time I tell you about the test…" spoke Kakashi before Sakura suddenly spoke up in confusion.

"Test…What test? ...we already had our test Sensei".

At this Kakashi just eyed smiled, "…You didn't think that becoming a full Genin was just passing a written exam and some small test did you?" This of course caused Sakura to blush slightly as she actually did.

"Now as I was saying there will be a test tomorrow morning and I expect you all to be there at Third Training Ground and I want you all there at seven a.m. sharp and don't eat breakfast as you just throw it up during the test", spoke Kakashi, after which he saluted the three Genin and then disappeared again in a whirl of leaves again.

Once Kakashi left, Naruto left in the same manner again, saying he see them in the morning, once Naruto left Sakura turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun would you like to go out for some dinner?" she asked hopefully.

"No" replied simply and the left the roof to go home and train, with Sakura following after him asking him to wait up and trying to convince him to have dinner with her.

-Nine a.m. Training Ground Three next to the Memorial Stone -

Currently waiting at Training Ground three, were two Genins, these Genins were Sakura and Sasuke and had been waiting for their Sensei and their other team-mate Naruto to show. They had been at the training ground since seven in the morning and had been waiting for them for two hours. By which time both of them were reaching the end of their patience.

Just when the two of them were about to leave the Training Ground and look for their missing Sensei and team-mate, a swirl of leaves appeared in front of them, once the leaves were cleared they saw that it was Naruto.

"Naruto-baka your late!" cried Sakura as she was about ready to lay a beat down on Naruto for making them wait, regardless of who he was and related to as she needed something to take her frustration out on and Naruto was the best option.

Cringing at the loudness of Sakura voice, Naruto just looked at Sakura as if she was stupid, "Weren't you two listening to me yesterday in the classroom as we waited for Kakashi-sensei? ...Kakashi-sensei has a reputation of always being at least Two hours late, hence when he said Seven a.m. I knew he wouldn't show till at least nine a.m.".

At this Sasuke began to scowl and curse himself for not remembering that, Sakura was equally angry at herself.

"I'm also guessing that since you came here at the time he told us, you both skipped breakfast" stated Naruto as he had ate his.

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura answered Naruto's statement as both there stomachs growled from hungry, as they had both skipped breakfast and knew they have been duped by Kakashi, frustrated at being tricked by Kakashi, Sakura needed something to release her angry on and Naruto was go to be it.

Fortunately (For Sakura) Kakashi arrived before anything could happen where he greeted them with a goofy greeting.

"Good everyone here, we can get started now an-" said Kakashi but was stopped by Sakura screaming.

"SENSEI…..YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry I'm late, A Black cat cross my path and I had to take the long way round" he replied, which caused Sakura to sweat drop, Sasuke to wonder again if Kakashi really was a Jonin and Naruto to smile at Kakashi antics.

Once everything had settled down though, Kakashi went on to explain the bell test, telling them that they had until noon to capture one of two bells, where they would each have a thirty-three percent chance of capturing a bell. He also explained to them that if none of them were able to capture at least one bell then they would fail and be sent back to the Academy.

Kakashi then set the clock to go off at noon, after which he told them to begin the test and hide.

Quickly Naruto and the others jumped into the different hiding spots in the nearby forestry and began to plan what they each would have to do.

As they did this Kakashi waited in the clearing outside the forestry and waited for the Genin to attack, "_HHHHHmmmmmm….It seems that they hidden themselves pretty well, but lets see what they will do and if they figure out the true meaning of the test_", though Kakashi.

-With Naruto-

Sitting on a large tree branch behind the main trunk of the tree Naruto watched Kakashi, as he did he began to wonder what he was going to do. Naruto knew in a one on one fight a Genin stood no chance against a fully trained Jonin, even as skilled as he was Naruto knew a Shinobi of Kakashi's calibre was far above him. Even though Kakashi did not know what Naruto was fully capable of and would most likely underestimate him, his chances of beating Kakashi were still very small.

Naruto knew that the odds of him getting a bell, would only go up if Sasuke and Sakura worked with him, but even if they got the bells there were only two, meaning that one of them would fail. That was the thing that confused Naruto the most, as his mother and Shizune had told him that all Shinobi Genin teams were made up of three Genins and one Jonin Sensei. The only exception being when a high level Shinobi takes on a single Genin as an apprentice like his mother did with Shizune.

As Naruto thought about the test more, it suddenly hit him, where he smacked himself on the forehead for being such a baka. Naruto remembered when he was younger, his mother told him the story about how she, Jiraiya and Orochimaru became a team and how the Sandaime used a bell test just like what Kakashi was using now to test them. Naruto also remembered the story Jiraiya told him when he was eleven about how he had used the very same test on Naruto's father and his team-mates.

When Naruto realised this, it all made perfect sense, since Jiraiya had used the same test on Naruto's father and his team-mates and Naruto's father no doubt in turn used the same test on Kakashi and his team-mates and he was now using the same test on them. After realising this Naruto knew the secret behind the bell test it did not matter if they got the bells it only mattered if they worked together. Even if they believed that one of them would fail, just like on a Shinobi mission where there was nearly always a high chance that one of them would died. Kakashi had even hinted the meaning of the test, as he had said that they each had a thirty-three percent chance of passing the test. Naruto then realised that if they each had a thirty-three percent chance of getting the bell by themselves, then if they worked together they would then have a ninety-nine percent chance of getting the bells.

Naruto had to admit it was a clever test with hidden meaning, but even though he knew the meaning of the test, it did not mean that he would pass now as figuring out the meaning of the test was the easy part. Getting Sasuke and Sakura to work with him to get the bells was the hard part, but still if he wanted to pass this test he needed to work with them and convince them to work with him.

After realising all this Naruto suddenly heard a girl scream coming from his left, realising that it was Sakura, Naruto quickly ran over to Sakura's position. Quickly enough he arrived to see Kakashi standing over a now unconscious Sakura who by the look of it had fainted.

"Yesh!... I didn't think I went that hard on her as I only used **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)" spoke Kakashi as he looked down at the unconscious girl.

Upon hear this Naruto could not help but shake his head, as he knew that Genjutsu and it was a weak D rank level one, "_How the hell that girl ever become Top Kunoichi in the Academy, let alone a Kunoichi is beyond me_" thought Naruto as he shook his head.

Quickly deciding to save Sakura, Naruto quickly threw several Kunai at Kakashi, who quickly dodged the sneak attack. After which Naruto quickly used the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique) to create four Shadow Clones to engage Kakashi.

The four Clones quickly drew their Katana's and engaged Kakashi, who quickly defeated and dispelled them all by several quick hard strikes. Although once he had done that he realised that the Clones were just a distraction, as when he defeated the clones and looked over to Sakura, he saw that she was gone.

"_Well now this is an interesting turn of events…perhaps this team might actually pass_" thought Kakashi he saw that Naruto had used the Clones to distract him, so he could save Sakura.

-With Naruto and Sakura-

Once Naruto had gotten to a safe enough distance from Kakashi he laid Sakura on the ground and placed his front finger on Sakura forehead and pumped a small bit of Chakra into the Girl to wake her up.

After a few seconds Sakura quickly open her eyes, where after a moment or two cried out "Sasuke-kun"

"Hey, Hey easy Sakura your ok", said Naruto as he tried to calm the frantic girl down.

"Ok, OK!" cried Sakura, "How can be ok when Sasuke-kun his dead", said the Girl as she was on the verge of tears at the "Death" of her "lost love".

"SSSSSSSHHHHHHH", hissed Naruto, as he tried to get the girl to be quiet, "Sasuke isn't dead he alive, it was all just a Genjutsu that Kakashi-sensei used to trick you".

"You mean Sasuke-kun isn't dead?" asked the Sakura.

"Yes", replied Naruto earnestly.

Upon hearing this Sakura was about to cry out in joy that her "Sasuke-kun" was alive but thankfully Naruto covered her mouth to stop her from shouting and giving their position always to Kakashi. After which he then told her that she had to be quiet, where she finally nodded in understanding, where Naruto removed his hand from her mouth.

"Ok Haruno, now listen up I think I have figured out the test and I going to need your help…" spoke Naruto before he was interrupted by Sakura.

"Why the hell should I help you Senju?" asked Sakura.

"Because it's the only way that we're going to pass, as the both of us and Sasuke have to work together to beat Kakashi and get the bells from him and pass this test", replied Naruto.

"No way, my Sasuke-kun is the best he will get both bells from Kakashi-sensei and will give me the other one where we will then both pass and be together as it should be, while you go back to the Academy", said the pinked haired girl.

"Haruno you don't understand what I telling you, your letting your stupid crush over the Uchiha to blind you, the bells don't matter the real meaning of the test is ab-" spoke Naruto before he was interrupted by Sakura again.

"I understand perfectly Senju, you plan to use Sasuke-kun and me to get the bells for you and then take them off us and keep them to yourself when we've done all the hard work. So that you will pass and we will fail and go back to the Academy, because you know that Sasuke-kun is cooler and better than you in everything and want to get rid of both him and me. But I won't let you, Sasuke-kun and I are going to get the bells together and will be a team and he will finally fall in love with me", said the deluded fan-girl, after which she then left to find her "Sasuke-kun".

"ARAGH! Stupid Fan-girl…I'm beginning to see why Kaa-chan hates them so much", said Naruto to himself, after which he then decided to see if he could find the Uchiha.

After a few minutes he found Sasuke attacking Kakashi

-With Sasuke-

Sasuke quickly attacked Kakashi with several Kunai's and Shuriken's from behind from a nearby tree. Kakashi of course dodged the attack by using **Kawarimi no Jutsu** after which Sasuke then engaged Kakashi in a Taijutsu battle, where Sasuke showed impressive Taijutsu skill in fighting against Kakashi by pushing him back and having him on the defensive. Although when one looked closely, they could easily tell that Kakashi was only playing with Sasuke and wasn't taking him serious.

Realising this Sasuke jumped away and threw several more Kunai at Kakashi, who skilfully dodged them. Although as he did he fell for a trap that Sasuke had laid out for him where several more Kunai's and Shurikens were fired at him from a nearby tree when Sasuke cut the rope line with one of the Kunai's that he had thrown at Kakashi a moment ago and activated the trap.

As Kakashi dodged the Kunai's and Shuriken's, Sasuke quickly raced over to Kakashi and once again engaged him in a Taijutsu battle, but as Kakashi blocked all of Sasuke's hits. He quickly realised that Sasuke wasn't just attacking he was trying to get close to him so that he could grab one of the bells. Where upon realising this Kakashi saw that Sasuke was about to grab one of the bells on his sides, seeing this Kakashi quickly jumped away in time, where Sasuke was only able to touch the one of the bells.

At the near capture Kakashi sighed slightly with relief, "_Well now that was close…This kid is fierce and I have to admit he does have a lot of talent as well_", he thought.

After nearly getting the bell Sasuke decided to take things up a notch, where he quickly did a few hand seals and then cried out **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique), where he expelled from his mouth a massive orb of roaring flame. Both Kakashi and Naruto were greatly surprised by Sasuke knowing a C Rank Fire Ninjutsu level technique like that and being able to use that effectively, as most Genins should not have enough Chakra to do a Fire technique of that level as it took to much Chakra.

When the massive Fire hit Kakashi, Sasuke quickly ran over to him as the flames died so get the bells, unfortunately when Sasuke got to the spot he could not find Kakashi.

"_Where did he go, behind me, above?_" though Sasuke as he looked all around each direction for any sign of the Jonin Sensei

"Looking for me" said Kakashi as he grabbed Sasuke right leg from underground as he used **Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu** (Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique) and pulled him underground leaving just Sasuke head above ground. After which Kakashi came out from the ground and kneeled down at Sasuke, who was glaring at him in angry at being humiliated in this way as he could not move.

"Well I will admit you have talent Sasuke… but you're still not quite at my level yet and have a long way to go…" said Kakashi, where he would have continued had it not being for several smoke bombs exploded around them.

When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was holding onto Naruto and Sasuke was still stuck in the same spot he was in.

"Nice try Naruto, but not good enough, as the same trick won't work on me twice" spoke Kakashi with some humour in his voice, although that was quickly replaced with surprise as Naruto and Sasuke both smirked and the puffed out of existence.

Upon realising he had been duped again by Naruto, Kakashi could not help but smile to himself, although the only sign of him smile was the u shape eye smile that could be seen thanks to his mask and Headband covering the rest of his face.

"_Sneaking Devil, he used the smoke screen not only to cover his rescue of Sasuke but his escape as well, where he used a __**Kawarimi no Jutsu **__to replace Sasuke with a Shadow Clone and had it __**Henge**__ into Sasuke. So I would think he hadn't freed him and then when I caught him he used the __**Kawarimi no Jutsu **__to replace himself with another Shadow Clone. I have to admit he mastered the basic Ninjutsu's well and knows how to use them effectively, not to mention he has master the __**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**__ to a impressive level and can use it just as effectively as the other Jutsu's. The kid's definitely a Senju, that's for sure and considering that he rescued both Sasuke and Sakura he may have figured out the secret to the test as well. The only things left are, can he get the others to work with him and if so what will they do to try get the bells from me?_" thought Kakashi as he walked around the clearing.

-With Naruto and Sasuke-

"Let go of me Dope!" said Sasuke as he got out of Naruto grip after Naruto had pulled him away out of the smoke screen after he got out of the ground.

"Yesh! A little gratitude would be nice teme as I just saved your sorry ass and who are you calling dope", said Naruto with annoyed frown.

"You, since that what you are", stated Sasuke.

At this Naruto could scoffed, "Well if I'm such a dope then why was it you that was stuck in the ground and I was the one that saved your arrogant ass, which I'm already beginning to regret as of now", said Naruto.

Sasuke of course glared at Naruto's remark as he didn't like being remained that he had been beaten so easily and how Naruto had saved him. "I never asked you for your help and I don't need it"

"Hah!" said Naruto in mock laughter, "saved the tough talk for your fan-girls teme you and I know that you can't beat Kakashi-sensei by yourself. I don't think I can either as he has more skill and experience than the both of use combined, but we might stand a chance if we can work together to get the bells".

At this Sasuke scoffed, "You!…me!… working together, don't make me laugh Senju, I don't need your help or anyone else, I can get those bells by myself you guys would just slow me down as relaying on others is for the weak". After which Sasuke left Naruto to go and make another attempt at getting the bells from Kakashi.

"_Stubborn, stupid, baka, teme_" though Naruto when Sasuke left as he knew that if Sakura and Sasuke did not work with him to try and get the bells then they would all fail. But the two of them were too overconfident and full of themselves or obsessed in Sakura's case to work with him or even try.

"_Damn those baka's, why of all the teams I could have been put on I had to be stuck with these two, if it had been anyone else I might have gotten them to work with me but these two just won't listen to reason. Now there is only one chance of us passing this exam… and I had hoped not to go all out, at lest until after I was fully installed into a team, but now I have no choice as it's my only chance to pass this test_" thought Naruto.

-With Kakashi-

After Naruto's rescue of Sasuke, Kakashi wandered around the clearing waiting for Naruto and possibly the others to make their next attempt, after waiting a few minutes Kakashi was starting to get board and was about to get his Icha Icha Paradise book from his pouch and read it while waiting.

But before he could even try he suddenly felt a chakra signature approach him, after a few seconds Naruto appeared in the clearing by himself.

"Well is it your turn now Naruto? I'm kind of surprise that that you're here by yourself, I thought Sakura and Sasuke would be with you after you rescued them?" spoke Kakash. As he kept an eye out for them in case Naruto was a distraction so that Sasuke and Sakura could sneak up on him.

"Unfortunately they aren't, as they didn't want to work with me", replied Naruto calmly.

"Well that's unfortunate", replied Kakashi, although he wasn't surprised as all the other teams he tested failed to realise the true meaning of the test. But still Kakashi was disappointed when he heard this and had actually hoped that this team would pass as Naruto obviously had figured out the true meaning of the test. Not to mention that both he and Sasuke showed a lot of potentially as Shinobi's, even Sakura where once she got out of her fan-girl stage, grew up and trained hard, would make a fine Kunoichi one day.

"_Oh well, maybe next time_" though Kakashi, before he turned his attention on Naruto again, "So now that they won't help you, Are you going to give up? Or are you going to try and get the bells from me?"

"I going for the bells", replied Naruto simply

"Oh! Even after you saw what I did to Sakura and Sasuke, do you honestly think you can do any better than them and beat me?" asked Kakashi.

"I know that the odds are against me and its unlikely that I beat you, but still that doesn't mean I shouldn't at lest try. Besides no matter what kind of obstacle I'm up against I never give up and I never go back on my word because that my nindo my Ninja way", stated Naruto with nothing but confidence.

Upon hearing this Kakashi could not help but smile behind his mask, as he liked Naruto's attitude as it reminded him a lot of his former team-mate Obito.

"Well then, if that the case then you better come at me with the intention to kill me as that the only chance you have of getting these bells", spoke Kakashi calmly, as he believed he could handle anything Naruto could throw at him.

"Fine then", said Naruto, as he quickly race through the gap between him and Kakashi engaged him in a fierce Taijutsu battle.

For the next few minutes Naruto attacked Kakashi with a series of hard and fast jabs and punches, which Kakashi was able to dodge and block effectively enough. Although was having some difficulty as he was unfamiliar with the Taijutsu style that Naruto was using as it was not your typical Taijutsu style.

As Kakashi was blocking and dodging Naruto's jabs and punch's, Naruto saw a slight opening and took it by trying to deliver a hard elbow strike to Kakashi's neck, but just before he could hit it Kakashi blocked the strike by catching Naruto's elbow in his left hand. Not to be deterred Naruto tried to deliver a knee strike to the left side of Kakashi head, but yet again Kakashi was able to block it with his left elbow.

In an impressive feat of flexibility and agility Naruto was able to push himself off Kakashi and do a mid-air spin kick and hit the right side of Kakashi's head. Unfortunately when Naruto hit "Kakashi" he turned into a wooden log, showing that Kakashi had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **avoid being hit by Naruto.

"Well, that was exciting", spoke Kakashi as he was leaning against a tree nearby, where upon seeing him Naruto quickly spun around fell into a Taijutsu stance.

"_The kid is certainly something else_" though Kakashi as he looked at Naruto with a calculating glaze which was hidden by an amused look. "_His attacks are hard and fast and are just as fierce as Sasuke's…yet I can tell that whatever style he's using he has yet to fully master it, as I can still see flaws in them_".

"Before we continue any further, perhaps you can tell me the name of the style you're using, as I'm unfamiliar with it and I have never see it before", asked Kakashi with generally curiosity. As he could tell that given time and enough training Naruto could be quite dangerous with the style once he mastered it.

"The style has no name yet, as I created it myself and have not thought of a good name for it yet", replied Naruto surprising Kakashi and shocking both Sasuke and Sakura, who had been watching the fight between Kakashi and Naruto from separate hidden positions in the forestry.

"You created that style yourself?" asked Kakashi, with unmasked surprise, where Naruto just nodded, after which Kakashi could only shake his head in amusement. At the fact, that a boy Naruto's age was creating his own fighting style and was already proving, that it could one day become an extremely powerful style one-day. "_I guess the Senju Clan blood runs true after all, as only a child from that Clan could do something like this_", he thought in amusement.

Deciding to try and make Naruto loose focus, Kakashi took out his Icha, Icha, Paradise book and pretended to read, as he hoped that he could get Naruto angry and lose focus.

When Naruto saw the book he began to narrow his eyes in slight anger, "What do you think you are doing?" asked an annoyed Naruto.

"What does it look like I'm readying" replied Kakashi as he turned a paged and continued to pretend to read, believing he was getting to Naruto.

Unfortunately for Kakashi, Naruto was not fooled by Kakashi trick as his mother had already trained Naruto not to lose his cool in a fight, and trained him not to fall for oblivious poly like the one Kakashi was using.

Deciding to focus his annoyance at Kakashi and the book he was reading, Naruto drew out his sword and quickly fell into a Kesa Giri sword stance that Kensai (2) taught him.

"Kakashi-sensei you should remember that if there is one thing I can't stand…IT'S PERVERTS!" said Naruto shouting out the last parts and charged at Kakashi.

When Kakashi saw Naruto draw out his Katana from his back, he raised his one visible eyebrow, which grew when Naruto charged at him with impressive speed that could easily rival Chunin speed.

Quickly Kakashi had been able to dodge several of Naruto's sword slash's, but just barely, quickly realising that he could not fend off Naruto like this, Kakashi quickly put away his book and took out a Kunai and used it to block Naruto sword strikes and slashes.

For the next few minutes Naruto and Kakashi traded blows with one another, where Kakashi had to admit that Naruto's Kenjutsu skills were just as impressive as his Taijutsu as he was very deadly with a Katana.

But as impressed as Kakashi was with Naruto, he was utterly flabbergasted with Naruto when he started to channel Chakra into his Katana, increasing the length and density along with the sharpness of the blade. He then cut through Kakashi's Kunai and nearly cut him in two, where thanks to some quick reaction he replaced himself with a log.

"_The __**Hien no Jutsu **__(Flying Swallow Technique) that mean he must have a Wind Nature Affinity!_" though Kakashi in complete shock of Naruto's skill level, when he reappeared a few away from Naruto. Kakashi was even more surprised that Naruto had a Nature affinity that rare, as very few had it outside of Suna and Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country) and even fewer have it in Konoha and Hi no Kuni (Fire Country). "_How on earth can he do an advance Chakra Flow technique like that? It takes years for any Shinobi to do something like that!"_

Taking advantage of Kakashi shock, Naruto attacked Kakashi with his now Chakra-enhance Katana.

Kakashi was able to narrowly dodge the Chakra-enhance sword slash's in time, but just barely as he got several cuts on his clothing and on his body. After a minute or so of this Naruto decided to show Kakashi what he really was capable of with his sword. He then began to flow Wind Chakra into his Katana and swung it in a horizontal slash and cried out "**Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash)!" where he created a crescent shaped blade of Wind.

The blade of Wind flew at Kakashi with such frightening speed, that Kakashi just managed to avoid the deadly technique, although it did manage to cut his mask slightly as a cut appeared on his mask and the left side of his cheek started to bleed slightly. But what was most shocking to Kakashi was that the Blade of Wind continued on past him and had cleanly cut right through two trees that were behind him.

"_Where on earth did he learn a technique like that?_"shouted Kakashi in his mind as he knew that Jiraiya nor Tsunade could not have taught Naruto that as neither of them had a affinity to Wind, as the Jutsu was clearly a Wind Jutsu.

Sasuke and Sakura who had been watching this were equally as stunned and shocked as Kakashi if not more.

"_How the hell did he do that?_" cried Sakura in her mind, "_**How the hell should I know? Cha!**_" answered back Inner Sakura who was just as shocked as other self.

"_What Kind of Jutsu was that?_" thought Sasuke with outrage, at the fact that Naruto could do such a powerful technique, one that he had never seen before and was clearly more powerful than any Jutsu he knew, considering how fast it was and how it easily cut through those two tree.

As if reading everyone's mind, Naruto decided to speak up, "You're probably wondering right now, what was that technique that I just used?" he asked, where he got a slight nodded from Kakashi. "Well as you have no doubt guessed the Jutsu I used was a Wind Jutsu…one that I created myself", shocking Kakashi and the observing Sasuke and Sakura.

"Y-You created that Jutsu yourself" spoke Kakashi with clear shock and amazement, as the Justu was clearly an A rank level Wind Jutsu and for a newly made Genin like Naruto to create that himself was nothing short of astonishing, not to mention he had the Chakra levels to do something of that level.

"Yes the Jutsu involves me channelling a concentrated amount of Wind Chakra into the tip of my blade and firing it with pinpoint timing in the shape of a crescent moon or in a shape of a wave as I swing my sword", explained Naruto by telling him very basic of the technique.

"_Incredible!_" thought Kakashi as he knew the amount of control something like that would take. Since for someone to do that it would take precise Chakra control, since if they did not have precise control over their Chakra then they would put too much Chakra into the sword and overload it, as it would blow up right into the user's face. _"…It seems that Naruto has inherited his mother natural precise Chakra control_", though Kakashi.

Quickly Naruto swung his Katana again and fired another "**Surasshu-fū**" at Kakashi, who quickly replaced himself with yet another wooden log; Naruto quickly spun around with his Katana and channelled more Wind Chakra into it. Where as he spun around he used the Wind Chakra he had channelled into his Katana to raise up the dirt from the ground to make a dust cloud to give himself cover from any attacks that Kakashi might make. Which came from a nearby bush as Kakashi fired several Kunai at the dust cloud; Naruto quickly jumped out of the dust cloud and fired yet another **Surasshu-fū** at where the Kunai came from. The attacked cut the bush in half, but all it revealed was that Kakashi was gone.

When Naruto landed, Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Naruto in a crouch position and his hands forming a tiger seal, "Second rule in being a Shinobi Naruto…Never let your enemy get behind you" said Kakashi. Where he then cried out "**Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ōgi: Sennen Goroshi** (Konohagakure's Most Secret and Sacred Technique: One Thousand Years of Death)" and inserted his one index and middle fingers into the Naruto's rectum.

But when Kakashi did this, "Naruto" exploded causing a massive explosion, fortunately though for Kakashi, he was able to evade the blast, although he was still a bit singed.

"Damn it…he knows **Bunshin Daibakuha **(Clone Great Explosion), what the hell has Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama been teaching this kid", said Kakashi to himself as he jumped out of the smoke from the explosion. Unfortunately when he did, the real Naruo had been waiting for him to do so, where he then came out of the tree-line and was about to cut Kakashi in two. Kakashi although saw this and quickly spun around and came up beside Naruto and grabbed his wrist and twisted it enough, to force Naruto to drop his Katana and then threw him away into the middle of the clearing.

Naruto quickly landed on his feet where he then did a few hand seals, after which his hands were covered his Chakra. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked on in confusion, while Kakashi began to curse himself for being so stupid, as he quickly recognised the Jutsu that Naruto was using.

"_Shit, I should have known that he would have some knowledge in Medical Ninjutsu, considering that Tsunade-sama is his mother_", though Kakashi. As he knew how dangerous the **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel) could be when used by a highly trained medic, he only hoped that Naruto wasn't able to use them as well as certain medic-nins could.

Unfortunately for Kakashi Naruto was indeed highly gifted when it came to using **Chakura no Mesu** in a fight, he was even more skilled than his mother was in them when she was his age, where during their spar Naruto was often able use them quite effectively against him mother.

Quickly engaging Kakashi in close combat Naruto was able to use his naturally speed and agility to great effect by moving around quickly and attacking Kakashi around different angles. Unfortunately though the Silver haired Jonin wasn't a highly skilled and seasoned Jonin for nothing where he was able to avoid or dodged most of Naruto's attacks with his **Chakura no Mesu**. But still Naruto was still able to get a few hits on Kakashi, where he was able to cut some of Kakashi's muscle tissues and tendons on his legs and arms, which slowed the Jonin down a bit as he struggled a bit to get his arms and legs to move in time to dodge more of Naruto's attacks.

After a few more minutes of fighting like this, Kakashi quickly dropped a few smoke bombs, where Naruto quickly jumped away so that Kakashi couldn't sneak up on him in the smoke. Soon enough the smoke dissipated and Kakashi was gone, Naruto quickly went on alert as he knew Kakashi could sneak up on him any second. Quickly looking around left, right, in front of him, behind and above, Naruto could still see no sign of Kakashi and could not sense him anywhere nearby.

With no luck at finding Kakashi, Naruto decided to use another technique he had created, called **Chakura no Parusu** (Chakra Pulse). The technique worked like Acoustic location or sonar where instead of using sound to determine the distance and direction of something Naruto would use Chakra. By placing his front two fingers on the ground Naruto would send a large but concentrated burst of Chakra out from his finger like a shock wave through the ground which would spread out to about five hundred metres from where he was. There the Chakra shock wave would create a sort of Chakra echo with anything that it hit and had Chakra, thereby allowing Naruto to determine the exact location of the person in question. The Technique also allowed Naruto to determine the amount of Chakra the person had, hence allowing him to know how strong his opponent was.

The Technique of course could only be used by someone with large amount of Chakra and had to have precise control over their Chakra and have pinpoint timing. Also as well the Technique could only work in finding a person when the person in question was either on the ground or was on something that was on the ground like a tree of a building. But if the person was in the air then the Technique would be unable to locate said person.

Naruto had come up with the Technique when he read about how bats used sonar to find their way around things, from a book about animals. After which he thought about how he could use the same kind of method with Chakra instead of sound.

After deactivating his **Chakura no Mesu** and then used his **Chakura no Parusu **to find Kakashi, within a second or two of using the Technique Naruto found Kakashi's location. He found that Kakashi was hiding about ten feet away from him underground. After locating Kakashi, Naruto decided that it was time to take off the kids gloves and go all out on Kakashi if he wanted to get the bells in time as he new that time was almost up.

-Begin Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -

He then quickly channelled an immense amount of Chakra inside his body, and a moment later gathered it into his fist, where Naruto then slammed his fist into the ground and cried out "**Chikakuhendō** (Earthshaker Impact)!" and released The Chakra into the ground. Where thanks to his Superhuman Strength, Naruto pulverized the ground around him into miniature pieces by the excess shock of his attack, which then raised the ground up all around him and scattered all the earth pieces around the clearing completely destroying the clearing and the training area.

This of course revealed a now a wide-eyed and stunned Kakashi out of the ground, where he had been hiding.

Upon seeing Kakashi, Naruto smirked, at the now wide-eyed and stunned silvered haired Jonin and then spoke, "Kakashi-sensei…I found you", said Naruto as he continued to smirk deviously. It was then that Kakashi realised where he had seen that devious smirk before, it was the same devious smirk his mother would have when she was about to lay a major beat down on someone (mainly Jiraiya).

"_H-He destroy the entire training ground…With a single punch to the ground…Wh-What insane strength_",thought a stunned and shock Kakashi in his mind before regained himself, "_He definitely his mother's son…and she has clearly been teaching him more than just Medical Ninjutsu_".

Kakashi wasn't the only person to be utterly blown away at what Naruto had just done, as both Sakura and Sasuke could still not believe what they just saw Naruto do.

"_How the hell did he do that? …He can't be human!_" though Sakura, "_**Cha, Who cares, just don't piss him off, as he could kill us both, Cha**_", spoke Inner Sakura, where for once Sakura was in full agreement with her other self.

"_Such Incredible strength and power… Is this the kind of power one gets from training under members of the Sannin?_" thought Sasuke with shock and anger, as it was oblivious from just this alone that Naruto was far above him in not only strength but in power.

For the next few minutes Naruto and Kakashi just stood in front of each other and stared at one another

"Crap I have to be even more careful around this kid because if I'm not he could actually kill me and bury me with one hit alone", muttered Kakashi to himself. He then quickly jumped out of the now ruined Training ground and into the tree-line so to have some cover.

-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -

Naruto quickly followed after Kakashi and started to attack him, where he tried to get close enough to land at hit on Kakashi, unfortunately though Kakashi was not about to let Naruto get that one hit as he continued to jump around and dodge all of Naruto's kicks, punch's, knee kicks and elbow strikes. For the next few minutes Naruto and Kakashi continue their game of Cat and Mouse, where Naruto chased after Kakashi and tried to hit him, but each time Kakashi would avoid each attack, where Naruto would either hit the ground or just a tree and destroy it.

As Kakashi was dodging another series of Naruto attacks he cursed his rotten luck that he had to get a male version of Tsunade on his Genin team. He also wondered if this was somehow Kami's payback for reading Icha Icha. At the same time he was even cursing himself for telling Naruto come at him with the intention to kill, which he was clearly doing so as Naruto might have actually killed him more than once in the past few minutes.

As he continue to dodge Kakashi suddenly found himself backed up against a tree, with Naruto charging at him with another super-powered punch, quickly Kakashi spun around the tree to avoid Naruto's punch. Where instead of hitting Kakashi, Naruto hit the tree where he blew apart a large piece of the trunk and caused the tree to fall down.

"_Whoa! That was close_" thought Kakashi when he saw the tree fall down, where he then quickly jumped away to avoid another one of Naruto's super charged kicks, where Naruto destroyed yet another tree when he hit it instead of Kakashi.

"Well Naruto I have to admit your strength is impressive, but it's still no good if you're not fast enough to land a hit on me", spoke Kakashi from high tree branch near Naruto.

"We see about that", said Naruto as he formed a hand seal and cried out "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**" and created four Shadow clones of himself and had them attack Kakashi.

"Shit!" cursed Kakashi as he saw the Shadows Clones come at him as he dodged their attacks, as they were able to use Naruto's Superhuman Strength as well. After dodging another attack from one of the Clones, Kakashi quickly jumped into the air and threw several Shuriken's at once and hit the Clones with pinpoint precision causing them to disappear.

Unfortunately the Clones were just another distraction for Kakashi, so to allow Naruto to come behind him, where Naruto then appeared in midair right above Kakashi and did a falling axe kick and cried out "**Resshūken** (Fissure Kick Fist)".

Luckily for Kakashi he saw Naruto appear right before attacked hit him and was able to do a midair spin to avoid being hit by Naruto's **Resshūken**.

When Kakashi avoided Naruto's **Resshūken**,Naruto fell right pass him, where his kick hit the ground and caused a large fissure in the ground. Making Kakashi glad that he had avoided being hit by that attack when he landed nearby, unfortunately Kakashi was not able to ponder for long on how lucky he was. As Naruto quickly got back on his feet and charged forward at him with a straight forward punch and hit Kakashi right in the gut, although when he did hit "Kakashi" he exploded into a puff of smoke.

"Damn it he got away again, he used a Replacement Jutsu and replaced himself with a Shadow Clone he had created" thought Naruto, where he then used his **Chakura no Parusu **to find Kakashi again.

-With Kakashi-

"Man, I never thought I have this hard a time with Naruto let alone any of the others in this test", muttered Kakashi to himself, as he hid behind a tree trunk on a thick tree branch so to give him to catch his breath.

But as Kakashi was catching his breath his Shinobi sense's were telling him that there was something amiss, stretching out his senses to find anything out of the usual he suddenly felt a change in his Chakra and quickly realised that he was under a Genjutsu.

Quickly he used a **Genjutsu Kai **(Genjutsu Release) to break out of the Genjutsu, when he did this the Genjutsu faded revealing it to be a **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **(Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique). As Kakashi found himself on the ground below the tree that he thought he was on instead of being on one of it's branch's.

"Not bad Naruto, but still not good enough to fool me" spoke Kakashi out load as he got ready for any attack that Naruto would make next. But what happened next he did not expect to happen, as a tree suddenly sprung out of the ground and coiled itself around Kakashi and rapping up his hands, arms and legs completely robbing him of his mobility.

"How this then sensei?" asked Naruto as he came out of the tree that was rapped around Kakashi and ready to strike Kakashi in the neck with the Kunai he had in hand.

"_Shit! He used a __**Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **__(Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique) to trick me, as the __**Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **__was just to distract me. So that I would not sense the __**Magen: Jubaku Satsu**__ (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death) when he used it on me until it was too late…Damn it I didn't think he be this skilled in Genjutsu, I got stop underestimating this kid_" thought Kakashi. As he cursed himself for being over underestimating Naruto again, quickly before Naruto could strike, Kakashi bit his lip to cause enough pain to get out of the Genjutsu.

Once Kakashi was out of the Genjutsu he quickly jumped into the air to dodge several Shuriken's thrown by Naruto, as he was in midair Kakashi quickly caught several of the Shurikens that Naruto had thrown at him. When he landed, he then threw them at Naruto and hit him in the chest. But as they did "Naruto" exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing that he was a Shadow Clone.

When Kakashi discovered this he suddenly found himself unable to move, as he looked around with his eyes he suddenly saw several seals craved on the trees around him. Kakashi quickly realised that the seals where for **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** (Four Corner Immobilization Seal), a Chunin level Fūinjutsu, that involved placing specific seals in specific spots around an opponent. Where once activated the opponent and anyone else in the middle of the area between the seals would be unable to move.

"_Shit! The Genjustu attack was just another diversion, so to keep me distracted long enough for him to place the seals on the trees and to make sure I wouldn't notice them until it was too late. I fell right into his trap, he's definitely got good tactical skills_", thought Kakashi. As he then began to try and think of away to get out of this mess, before Naruto took the bells off him.

"Well Kakashi-sensei, I believe that we're nearing the end of this fight as, I have you now and you can't escape and it's my move", said Naruto as he appeared in front of Kakashi.

"I wouldn't be too confidant if I were you Naruto", said Kakashi rather calmly.

"Perhaps, but I do think that this fight is mine…and I going to finish this now", stated Naruto as he then began to do a few hand seals.

Kakashi's eye quickly widen in surprise as he recognised that Jutsu as a Water Jutsu, "_He has an affinity to Water as well!_" thought Kakashi in disbelief, at the fact that mere Genin (even one like Naruto) having not one but two Natural Nature Affinities.

As Kakashi was thinking this, Naruto then cried out "**Suiton: Mizurappa** (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)", and shot out a gush of Water from his mouth and like a waterfall and washed "Kakashi" away, until "he" collide with a tree several feet away.

Although when the Water went down a bit Naruto saw a wooden log, where he thought Kakashi was, "_Damn it, I thought sure I had him, he must of replaced himself at the very moment that my attacked washed away the first two seals, that takes some serious skill as he only had a second or two, but I should have expected that since this guy didn't become a living legend for being sloppy_", thought Naruto.

Where the moment he had finish thinking this Kakashi appeared right beside him and hit him in the back of the neck knocking him out.

"Sorry Naruto, but I won this round", said Kakashi as he saw Naruto fall to the ground, but to his surprise as soon as "Naruto" hit the ground he puffed out of existence revealing him to be yet another Shadow Clone.

"_Damn it, another Shadow Clone, how many does he have? ...He must have replaced himself with the Shadow Clone as soon as I came up behind him… Crap! How much Chakra does this kid have, as most Genin would have collapsed and be unconscious from Chakra exhaustion long by now. Especially when you consider the number of different Justu's he used, their levels and how many times he has used them in this fight. Not to mention how long he has been fighting against me_", though Kakashi as he looked around for any sign of Naruto.

It was in that moment that Kakashi then saw Naruto appear thirty feet away from him and then a few hand seals before crying out **Doton: Retsudo Tenshō **(Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm), where the ground around Kakashi spiralled inwards on itself, and was about to bury him alive.

Fortunately for Kakashi he had been able to jump into the air in time to avoid being crushed or buried alive by the Earth. As he flew in the air "Kakashi was once again surprised by Naruto's abilities, "_He has three Nature Affinities!_" he though in surprise.

Once Kakashi landed on the ground he suddenly felt a something stab him in the leg, when Kakashi looked down he saw several Senbon needles stabbed into his leg and saw a pair of hands holding onto his legs. He then realised that Naruto must have sent a clone undergrounded and used the **Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu** (Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Technique) to travel underground.

Before Kakashi could even try and get out of the grip he suddenly started to feel weak and was finding it had to focus his Chakra, it was then that Kakashi realised that the Senbon needles were covered in poison. It was also then that two more Shadow Clones appeared out of the bushes on either side of Kakashi, where they then quickly grabbed onto Kakashi arms and held him in place and keep him from doing any hand seals.

"It's time to end this fight once and for all Kakashi-sensei as I need those bells…Now!" spoke Naruto where he then quickly made two Shadow Clones and then did several dozen hand seals with impressive speed. As Naruto was doing the seals Kakashi quickly recognised them as one's used for another Water Jutsu, one more powerful than the one Naruto used earlier. Kakashi tried to get out of the Clone's grip but they were too strong and he was too weak thanks to the poisoned Senbon needles.

Naruto quickly finished the hand seals and then cried out "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique), after which the moisture came out of the surrounding grass and leaves (leaving them shrivelled and dried up) as well as coming out from the air around him and formed into a giant, powerful Water Dragon. At the same time one of the Clones started to channel its Lightning Affinity into the Water Dragon, while the other channel its Wind affinity into it.

The Second Clones Wind affinity increased Water Dragon speed and power greatly, while the Lightning affinity from the other Clone covered the Water Dragon and increased its attacking power. With these two other affinities combined with the Water Dragon Naruto then cried out "**Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki **(Water, Wind, Lightning Combo: Supreme Electric Water Dragon)". Where the massive Lightning and Wind empowered Water Dragon charged forward at Kakashi with incredible speed.

Kakashi could only watched as the massive Lightning and Wind empowered Water Dragon charged at him with incredible speed as he was too weak from the poison and too shocked to try and move, due to the fact that Naruto showed skill far beyond the average Shinobi. As he had created this massive Water Dragon, out of just the surrounding moisture alone. As well as combined it with two other affinities to make it stronger, not to mention the most shocking part being that Naruto showed he had four Naturally Nature affinities.

Within seconds the massive attack collided with Kakashi and the Shadow Clones, where the Shadow Clones puffed out of existence. While Kakashi was sent streaming down through the ground and through several dozen trees with such tremendous power that the Water attack hollowed out the ground and tore the trees apart when it hit them. By the time the attacked ended, Kakashi was washed up with his back against a single large tree that that he had slammed against which had somehow withstood the reminates of the attack.

Once the attack ended Kakashi opened his eyes groggily as his body was wreaked with pain from the massive force and power of the Lightning and Wind empowered Water Dragon, although he couldn't feel the pain, as his body was numb from the Lightning that had ran through his body from the Electrified Water of the attacked.

Kakashi looked around to see where Naruto was, but saw him no-where in sight, deciding to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kakashi decided to try and escape before Naruto came to finish him off. But before he could even manage an attempt to try and flee he suddenly heard Naruto cry out from some unknown location "**Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)". After which dozens of wooden tentacles from the tree behind him came out of the ground and from the tree itself, where they started to rap around his body and restrained him.

"_Impossible he can use Mokuton as well! ...What the hell can't this kid do?"_ thought Kakashi in stun disbelief once again.

Once Kakashi was properly restrained, Naruto then came out from the tree he was hiding behind, panting a bit heavily and sweating. The fight altogether had taken a lot out of him and he doubted that he could have gone on much longer as he was pretty much tried and was nearly out of Chakra. He also knew that he was very lucky as he knew if Kakashi hadn't underestimate so much and if he had known what Naruto was capable of or at least had known some of his abilities he would have lost to Kakashi without question.

Naruto then used his Mokuton Bloodline to have a wooden tentacle, take the two bells from Kakashi side and bring them to him. After which Naruto then held out the bells in front on the now subdued Kakashi.

"Looks like I pass the test Kakashi-sensei as I got both the bells….." said Naruto, to the now defeated Kakashi. Where as soon as he said this, the bell of the alarm clock rang out, to tell them that time was up, "…and it seems just in the nick of time".

At this Kakashi could only sigh in defeat and hang his head in shame, "_He beat me fair and square…and once the other Jonins hear of this, they're never going to let me live it down_".

As Kakashi dwelled over his defeat at Naruto hands, Naruto turned to his far left and then cried out, "You two can come out now I know you both been watching us from the start".

Seeing as they were already found out, both Sakura and Sasuke came out from their hiding spots behind some tree.

"_I can't believe it! ...He actually beat Kakashi-sensei…Not even Sasuke-kun could do that and he has Mokuton, But how can that be? Even if he's the Shodaime Hokage descendant, Iruka-sensei said that no-one other than the Shodaime Hokage himself was ever able to do that, not only that, he was able to create that massive Water Dragon in the middle of the forest, without being near a lake or river. Just like what Iruke-sensei said the Nidaime Hokage could do_", though Sakura in disbelief, "_**Cha, He's strong**_", thought Inner Sakura inside Sakura's mind. Which Sakura could only nodded in agreement with her inner self, as she still found it hard to believe that Naruto was this strong and that he had defeated Kakashi in probably one of the most spectacular battles she had ever witness in her young life.

"_So this is your true power Senju_" thought Sasuke angrily with narrowed eyes as he starred at Naruto with some jealously, as he realised just how strong Naruto really was and also realised that if he fought Naruto now at his currently level of skill. Naruto would wipe the floor with him with no problem; this of course did not sit well with Sasuke as his pride as an Uchiha and his need for revenge against his brother, would not stand for it. Since it showed how inferior he was to Naruto and if there was one thing Sasuke could not stand, it was being inferior to someone else his own age as it showed that he was weak and he hated feeling weak.

Once Sasuke and Sakura had come out of their hiding spots, Naruto then had the wooden tentacles retract back into the tree and let go of Kakashi, once they did Naruto then took out a vile out of his pouch then took out a small pill and handed it to Kakashi.

"Here Sensei take this, it will get rid of the effects of the poison", said Naruto has he handed Kakashi the pill, Kakashi took it and lifted up his mask slightly so not to show his face and then swallowed the pill.

"Once Kakashi took the pill, Naruto then knelt down next to Kakashi and used **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystical Palm Technique) to heal Kakashi wounds and recovered from Naruto's attack.

As Naruto was healing him, Kakashi could not help but stare at him in wonder, as Naruto was clearly one of the most talented Shinobi's he had ever met in his life. He had already show skill levels far above people his own age not to mention he possessed an ability he had thought only existed with the Shodaime Hokage and in one other person …Mokuton. Not to mention as well he could use his mother's Superhuman Strength and had the Nidaime Hokage's high Water affinity. Although clearly Naruto had not mastered it to his ancestor's level yet, he still could do so in a few more years with enough training and practice and the same could be said for his Superhuman Strength in terms of his mother.

"_You're a true heir to the Senju Clan, Naruto…and probably the most surprising Ninja I have ever come across_", thought Kakashi with a slight smile behind his mask.

After a few minutes Kakashi was fully healed, Kakashi then stood up and began to stretch his arms around, getting the feeling fully back in them. Once that was done he then lead the Genin back to the Memorial Stone, after which he then turned to look at Naruto.

"Well Naruto as much I hate to admit it, but you beat me fair and square as you got bells off me, but since you have an extra one I let you give your extra bell to one of your team-mates if you want to…So which one will it be?" asked Kakashi as he waited to see if Naruto had truly figured out the test.

For a moment or two Naruto did nothing and just stared at Sasuke and Sakura, who wondered which of them he would choose to pass with him. "I will give them both my bells", said Naruto as he threw the two bells to the surprised Sasuke and Sakura who each caught one.

"Are you sure about this Naruto, because you know that, if you give them both your bells then they will pass and you will fail and be sent back to the Academy", said Kakashi in a neutral voice that showed no emotion.

"Yes I'm sure" said Naruto with confidence, where he then turned back to his team-mate, "Although I don't like either of you much, you are still Leaf Shinobi's and my comrades in arms and even if I don't like you. I won't leave you behind and I will always have you back, even if it cost me my life", spoke Naruto without any hesitation surprising both Sakura and Sasuke at his statement.

After a moment or two of silence, Sasuke suddenly spoke up "I don't want your pity dope, so you can ke-", said Sasuke, as he took Naruto's speech as a sign of pity, which was something he could not stand for either. But before he could finish what he was about to say and throw the bell at Naruto, Kakashi interrupted him.

"Well then Naruto I have only one thing to say to that…" as he held his hand out in neutral thumbs out, before he then turned it upwards to a thumbs up, "…you all pass!" after which he did a u shaped eye smile.

"But Kakashi-sensei you said that we would have to have a bell to pass the test and Naruto doesn't so why does he pass with us", asked a confused Sakura.

"Would you care to explain it to them Naruto, as you clearly figured it out?" asked Kakashi, as he turned to Naruto, to which Naruto nodded

"The test was never really about the getting the bells, the bells were just something to divide use and think only for ourselves and blind use to the true meaning of the test", said Naruto. Where, when he saw that neither Sasuke nor Sakura got what he was saying, he decided to go into more detail. "You see there was a secret behind the bell test, it did not matter if we got the bells it only mattered if we worked together. Even if we believed that one of us would fail, just like on a Shinobi mission where there is nearly always a chance that one of us would die on it. Kakashi-sensei had even hinted the meaning of the test, as he had said earlier that we each had a thirty-three percent chance of passing the test. Hence if we each had a thirty-three percent chance of getting the bell by ourselves, then if we worked together we would then have a ninety-nine percent chance of getting the bells. That was what I was trying to tell you both when I rescued each of you", stated Naruto matter of fact tone of voice, where both Sasuke and Sakura eyes widen in realisation, while Kakashi just nodded his head smiling behind his mask.

"Also the test was about finding out if we were willing to sacrifice ourselves for each other on a mission, since if we believed that that one of us would fail and we still worked together and got the bells. Then the test would also show if we would either fight over who got the bells once we got them or if one or all of us were willing to sacrifice ourselves and willing fail the test so that the others would pass. As it would in away demonstrate that one of us or each one of us would willing sacrifice our lives to save the lives of the rest of the team on a mission. Hence that's why I passed along with you since you both have a bell each to pass the test and I showed the willingness to work with you and the willingness to sacrifice myself to let you pass on. Had I given one of the bells to just one of you and kept the other for myself or keep them both to myself then we would have all failed", finished Naruto.

Further surprising Sasuke and Sakura at how he had managed to figure all this out by himself, Kakashi himself was also slightly surprised and impressed by Naruto figuring out the second meaning of the test as he had not when he did the same test with his former team-mates. Where his Sensei the Yondaime Hokage had to explain it all to them later on when they had passed the test.

After a minute or so, once everything had sunk in, Sakura began to cheer out happily that they had passed; Naruto just dropped his shoulders tiredly as he was tried from fighting Kakashi. While Sasuke brooded, although still was slightly pleased that he had passed and was now one step closer to killing his brother.

Sakura cheering of course quickly ended, when Kakashi suddenly spoke in a serious tone, "I don't know why cheering Sakura. Since technically, you and Sasuke did not really pass, since the only one that really passed this test was Naruto".

"But sensei, you just said…" spoke Sakura before being interrupted by Kakashi.

"Oh, you did all pass you needn't worry about that, but only because of Naruto giving you both the two bells and was willing to sacrifice himself to let you both pass. Had he failed to get the bells off me in time, I can assure you that he would have just gone back to the Academy, while you two would have been booted out of the Ninja programme altogether (shocking Sakura and causing Sasuke to scowl). As he was the only one that was willing to work as a team, but the both of you slapped away his offer of help and dismissed his advice without really listening to it and only looked out for yourselves. You both failed to look underneath the underneath, where neither of you realised the true meaning the test. Both of you turned your back on your team-mate, when you should have worked with him and if there is one thing that is unacceptable in my book it is those who turn their backs on their comrades. For you see in the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than scum, that's probably the most important lesson I can ever teach you as your sensei, which is why I want you to take it to heart".

Kakashi then turned and look at the Memorial Stone, "You see this stone next to us…this stone is the Memorial Stone, it lists all of the Shinobi's of this village that were killed in action and my team-mates are on this stone along with my Sensei the Yondaime Hokage, as they all died in combat. I come to this place everyday and every time I come here this place it makes me think about the mistakes I've made in the past...and I've made a lot. This is why I'm telling you to help and support one another and your other comrades as you will need them when the time comes and to avoid the mistakes that I have made in the past".

When Kakashi finished, both Sasuke and Sakura had thoughtful looks on their faces as thought about what Kakashi just said to them. Naruto just remained silent throughout the event as both Jiraiya and his mother told him the same kind of thing and took what they told him to heart just like Kakashi was trying to get Sakura and Sasuke to.

After a minute or to of total silence, Kakashi spoke again in cheerful like tone, "Ok then, now that, that's said, I can say that team seven is officially formed and we will start our team training and missions, in three days time at nine in the morning, so you have the rest of the day off".

Surprised, by Kakashi sudden change of attitude, it took a minute or so for the Genin to regain themselves.

Sasuke then went "hmph" and then started to walk away, muttering about how he needed to go home and train more.

Sakura being the every loyal fan-girl that she was, followed after Sasuke, asking him if he wanted to go out on date with her to celebrate them becoming a team, Sasuke of course responded with his usual response "No". Dejecting and depressing her, who although despite being rejected by her crush still continued to follow after him and "try" and persuade him to change his mind.

Naruto went over to where Kakashi had caused him to drop his Katana and went to get it, when he picked it up, he found Kakashi coming over to him.

"Is there something the matter Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"No, not really Naruto I just wanted to ask you something, I was just wondering, did you figure out the meaning of the test by yourself or did you already know about it from your mother or Jiraiya-sama? As the bell test was used by the Sandaime when he taught your mother and Jiraiya-sama, Jiraiya-sama also used it on my Sensei the Yondaime, when he trained him and his team-mates, where he then used it on my team-mates and me" asked Kakashi.

At this Naruto smiled "It was kind of both", answered Naruto, where Kakashi just raised an eyebrow to signal Naruto to continue with his explanation.

"Ero-sennin and Kaa-chan already told me about it a while back, but I had forgotten about it until you started the test, after which I remembered what the test was about, since they had told me about the first meaning of the test, although I figured out the second part myself".

"Hhhhhhhhmmmmm that makes sense…oh well guess I should have known that your mother would have told you all about this test and I should have tried something a little different", replied Kakashi with some amusement in his voice.

"There is also one other thing I like to ask you about Naruto", said Kakashi causing the young blond to raise his eyebrow this time.

"What was that technique you used to find me underground? Since just before you destroyed the training ground I sensed a shock wave of Chakra coming from you", asked Kakashi.

At this Naruto smiled and explained the **Chakura no Parusu **and how he came up with it, when he finished explanation, Kakashi had to applaud Narutos' ingenuity and creativity in creating such a technique at his age.

Once the explanations were all done, Kakashi decided to leave and go make his report to the Hokage about his now newly formed team and his recommendation on what to do about Naruto.

But before he could leave, Naruto suddenly called out, "Hey Kakashi-sensei aren't you forgetting something?"

At this the copycat-nin raised an eyebrow in curiosity at what Naruto was talking about, "I don't think I 'am" said Kakashi

"Oh ...so you won't miss this then", said Naruto as held up Kakashi's first edition copy of Icha Icha Paradise that he had gotten from Jiraiya.

"H-How d-di-did y-you" said Kakashi in surprise as he suddenly felt for his book that he had put his pouch when he fought Naruto, but couldn't find it.

At this Naruto to smiled, "Well back when I had my wooden tentacles take the bells off you I also had them secretly take the book off you and give it to me".

Kakashi chuckled nervously, "Good one Naruto, now…eh…can I have it back… please?".

At this the same devious smirk his mother was know for appeared on Naruto's face, "Sorry sensei, but like I said, if there one thing I hate its perverts", said Naruto. Where he then threw the book into the air and before Kakashi could even try and grab his precious porno book. Naruto quickly channelled his Wind affinity into his swords and in an impressive feat of swordsmanship Naruto cut the book into pieces, leaving it in nothing but shreds.

After which Naruto waved goodbye to Kakashi and **Shunshin'd** away leaving a horrified frozen Kakashi with hands stretched out when he tried to catch the book, where all he could do was now watch in frozen horror as the shredded pieces of his once precious porno book slowly fall pass his hands and onto the ground.

Five minutes later a large angry cry could be heard throughout Konoha "NNNNNAAAARRRUUUTTTTOOOOO!" followed by a cry of despair and sorrow as a certain one-eyed Copy-nin wept over the loss of his shredded porno book.

N/A

(1). Cyclops in Japanese

(2). The Samurai swordsman that the Fire Daimyo got to teach Naruto after saving his Granddaughter Rurichiyo

Well another Chapter done again, hope you all enjoyed it with the Hyuga Clan Elders scheming, Naruto having the Nidaime Water affinity along with the Kakashi vs Naruto fight.

Now before anyone accuses me of making Naruto too strong too quickly let me state that Naruto is not as stronger than Kakashi. Since Kakashi did not know what Naruto was fully capable of or any of his abilities, while Naruto knew a lot about him. Not to mention that Kakashi did not use his Sharingan and underestimated Naruto throughout most of the fight.

Naruto's current level is mid to high level Chunin also note that Naruto's Water affinity level is not at the same level as the Nidaime Hokage at least not yet as he can't cause floods and things like that just from the moisture of in the air, but his is still pretty high.

Also as I said before the pairing is not decided yet so no-one need say it's a Hinata, Naruto pairing or anything else.

The next Chapter will be about the Hokage's reaction to Naruto abilities and the Councils along with a few other things.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.


	12. Chapter 12

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twelve: Sensei.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-In The Hokage office-

Currently in his office the Hokage was debriefing his youngest son Asuma and recently made Jonin Yūhi Kurenai, about their teams who had passed their team tests given to them by Asuma and Kurenai.

Just as the Hokage had finished debriefing them and was about to dismiss them, Kakashi suddenly **Shunshin'd **(Body Flickered) into the office.

"Ah, Kakashi I did not expect you arrive for a while longer, I'm guessing that you have finished testing your latest Genin team" spoke the old Hokage, as he puffed his pipe.

"Yes lord Hokage I have" replied the copy-nin.

"So Kakashi did they pass or did they fail like all the others?" asked Asuma as he was curious if this team did what none of the other teams that Kakashi had tested had done, pass his bell test.

Asuma wasn't the only one that was curious, as Kurenai was equally curious as she knew that Naruto was on Kakashi team and from what she saw of him and what little Hinata told her about him, he seemed a nice enough young man. Hiruzen was also eager to find out if Naruto passed Kakashi test, he had originally planned to watch the test on his crystal ball. But unfortunately, a meeting with his advisors, Koharu, Homura and Danzo took longer than expected and then he had to deal with the greatest bane of his existence…paperwork. Where by the time he was done, he had to debrief all the Jonin sensei's to see who passed and who failed.

"Well to put if simply the team passed" replied Kakashi.

Upon hearing this the Hokage smiled, Kurenai nodded and Asuma raised his eyebrow, as he hadn't been exactly sure if this team would pass or fail, although considering that it had the Top Kunoichi, the Rookie of the year and last Uchiha heir in Konoha, along with the Senju heir, who was Tsunade's son and the descendant of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage's. The team had a better chance of passing than any of the other teams that had tried.

Although he was happy that the kids passed, he was still slightly disappointed as there had been a large betting pool with a large number of the Shinobi populace about if the kids would be the team that passed the test. Many had bet that they would pass, considering who was on the team, while many others bet that they wouldn't considering Kakashi's high standards and track record, Asuma himself had beat they would fail, hence he lost a tidy some of money.

"So the team passed your test, Kakashi, and figured out the hidden meaning of it", spoke Asuma and he puffed out a smoke from his cig.

"Well they didn't exactly", replied Kakashi.

"Huh?" said Asuma in slight confusion and was joined by his father and Kurenai as they were slightly confused as well.

"Well to be correct Naruto was the only one that really passed the test while the other two failed", answered Kakashi.

"But how did they all pass when two of them failed, your not making any sense Kakashi?" asked Kurenai.

"They all passed because Naruto figured out the meaning of the test, beat me and got the bells off me and gave them the bells" said Kakashi

When Kakashi said this, all three people could not believe what they heard, Asuma dropped his cigarette, Kurenai was wide-eyed and Hiruzen dropped his pipe.

After a minute or so of silence Kurenai spoke up, "Kakashi you can't be serious, you're telling us that Naruto, a newly made Genin defeated you, one of the strongest Jonin's in the village, in a fight".

"Yea Kakashi, You can't actually expect us to believe that?" asked Asuma in disbelief, as the very idea of it was ridicules, "Even if this Kid is a Senju and is Tsunade-sama son, it impossible".

"Well its true, I'm afraid, although I do admit I underestimated him several times in the fight and he already new a lot about me, from what his mother and Jiraiya-sama told him about me. He also had me at a disadvantage as I knew none of his abilities and skills; hence I didn't know what he was fully capable of, until it was too late, where he then beat me".

"Perhaps you should explain exactly what happened during the test Kakashi", spoke the Sandaime, as he was now very curious what exactly Naruto could do, as Jiraiya was suppose to show up yesterday and tell him about Naruto's abilities, but he did not show.

The Hokage was a patient man, but after hearing his twelve year old surrogate Grandson and newly made Genin, beating Konoha's top Jonin in a fight made him want to know exactly what Naruto was capable of and what his former students had been training him in.

Kakashi of course agreed and began to tell them how he had explained the rules of the bell test to Naruto and the others, after which he then went on to explain how he beat Sakura by using **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique).

When Kurenai heard this she frowned, since she had see Sakura's grads and Academy records, hence she should have easily got out of that weak level Genjutsu. This of course made her wonder what exactly the Academy had been teaching these kids today and wonder how far had the Academy levels fallen, if the Top Kunoichi could not get out of a simple weak level Genjutsu.

Kakashi the explained how Naruto knew the first meaning of the test thanks to his mother and Jiraiya, where he then rescued Sakura where he tried and failed to get her to work with him. Kakashi then went on to explain his battle with Sasuke, where the Hokage and the two other Jonin Sensei's, were both surprised and impressed with how well Sasuke faired against Kakashi by himself. Not to mention how he knew and had mastered the **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique) a C rank level Fire Jutsu.

Kakashi then told them how like before with Sakura, Naruto rescued Sasuke and tried to get him to work with him, but failed again like with Sakura. But even despite hearing how Naruto had failed to get Sasuke to work with him, the Hokage along with Asuma and Kurenai had been impressed with how Naruto managed to trick Kakashi and escape. As it had shown that he had fully mastered of the basics and could use them effectively in battle.

Once he finished that explanation, Kakashi preceded to explain his fight with Naruto, both Sarutobi's and Kurenai was greatly surprised when they heard that Naruto had created his own Taijutsu style, even if it wasn't fully developed yet, it still showed that Naruto had a great deal of talent to do that at his age.

They had been further impressed when they learned of Naruto's Kenjutsu's skill, but that quickly turned to shock when Kakashi told them that he had a Wind affinity and had created his own A level rank Wind Jutsu.

"Damn! …the kid actually created a Technique like that by himself" said Asuma as he puffed out some smoke from a new cigarette as he was clearly impressed with Naruto skill level when Kakashi told them. As to master his Wind affinity to the point of being able to use **Hien no Jutsu **(Flying Swallow Technique) by just teaching himself, at his age and still create an A rank Jutsu. As powerful as the one Kakashi described to them, told him that Naruto was far more talented than everyone thought. He also wondered at the same time if he could get Naruto to teach him that Technique as from what Kakashi told them of it, it could be very useful in a fight.

"Impossible Kakashi, no child could create a Technique like that by himself", replied Kurenai in disbelief as she could not believe that Naruto created an A rank level Wind Technique like that by himself.

"Well it true Kurenai, as he had no reason to lie and I could tell he wasn't not to mention their no way his Mother or Jiraiya-sama could have taught him it as neither of them have a Wind affinity or are skilled in Wind Jutsu's", replied back Kakashi.

The Hokage himself remained silent, as Kakashi and the other discussed Naruto abilities in Wind Jutsu, as he was just as equally as shocked as his son and Kurenai, while at the same time proud of Naruto as a Grandfather would be.

"_Your truly are you father son Naruto, as I would expect nothing less from a son of Minato_" thought the old Hokage with a smile.

Soon enough the discussing about Naruto's Wind justu's abilities ended and Kakashi went on to explain the rest of his fight with Naruto. Where he explained how Naruto was able to use **Bunshin Daibakuha **(Clone Great Explosion), which surprised the three people, as well as explain how Naruto was clearly skilled in medical Ninjutsu as he used **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel) effectively against Kakashi.

This of course was of no great surprise to the three since Naruto was the son of the greatest medic in the world, so it would be only natural that Tsunade would train her son in medical Ninjutsu, and how to use some Jutsu's in a fight. But even still they were impressed with his skill in using **Chakura no Mesu **so effectively in a fight as it would be tricky even for most skilled medics to do.

But as impressed as they were with Naruto's medical skills they were utterly stunned when they learned of Naruto's **Chakura no Parusu** (Chakra Pulse) technique.

"Naruto created a technique like that!" asked Sandaime in shock after Kakashi explained Naruto's **Chakura no Parusu**.

The Copy-nin just nodded, as he didn't blame the old Hokage for being shock nor could he blame Kurenai or Asuna who were equally shocked.

"Damn this kid gets more and more impressive by the minute", spoke Asuma, where Kurenai could only nod in agreement.

Once Hiruzen, Kurenai and Asuma had gotten over their shock of a Genin creating a technique as advance and as impressive as the **Chakura no Parusu**. Kakashi then asked if the Hokage could bring his crystal ball into the office from his viewing room. as what he was about to tell them next was best left to been shown.

Curious the Sandaime agreed and called his secretary and asked her to bring his crystal ball into his office which she did and then left.

Once the Sandaime's secretary had left Kakashi asked the Hokage to show them training ground three, when he did, he along with Kurenai and Asuma were astounded to see that the entire training ground was completely destroyed. Where the ground was ruined with massive holes and cranks in ground as well as both small and massive lumps of earth and rock all over the ground, it was like a small but powerful earthquake happened in the training ground.

"Kakashi are you telling us that Naruto did all that by himself?" side the wide-eyed Kurenai where Kakashi just nodded.

"Did he use some kind of earth Jutsu or something?" asked Asuma.

"No he did that all when he hit the ground with just his fist", replied Kakashi where the old Hoage and the others eyes widen more in shock.

"Kakashi you can't mean that Naruto has…" asked the Sandime but before he could finish Kakashi finished it for him.

"Yes Naruto has Tsunade-sama's Superhuman Strength, although not at the level of his mother yet, but enough to rival it and given time he could match it, and as you already must know, that if he can do this it also means that he has inherited his mother's Natural flawless Chakra control".

When the three other people in the office heard this they could believe it, the Sandaime was the first to get over his shock where he sighed. "_Sigh! It figures that Tsunade would teach Naruto how to do her Superhuman Strength, I only hope that Naruto hasn't inherited her habit of causing collateral damage_". He thought as he remembered the amount of damage Tsunade would do to the village when she lost her temper over some event or thing Jiraiya did when they were younger, after she created the technique. Not to mention the amount of paperwork it caused him, as the damage caused his paper work to triple.

Kakashi then continued on with his story where he then went on to explain Naruto's Genjutsu skill and how he used **Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **(Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique) and used a **Magen: Jubaku Satsu** (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death) to nearly defeat him.

Kurenai was of course greatly impressed with Naruto's Genjutsu skill as it took good knowledge and skill with Genjustu to do something like that. Kurenai and the others were further impressed when Kakashi told them how Naruto tricked Kakashi and caught him in a **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** (Four Corner Immobilization Seal). As not everyone could trick and trap Kakashi and it showed that Naruto had not only good tactical skills, but also good sealing skills which wasn't surprising as Jiraiya had helped train Naruto.

But they were utterly shocked again when Kakashi told them that Naruto had both Water and Earth affinities along with his Wind affinity revealing he had three Natural Nature affinities, something that was extremely rare to happen unless the person hand some elemental Bloodline.

They were shocked even further when Kakashi told them that Naruto had the same kind of High Affinity to Water that his Great Granduncle the Nidaime Hokage had, although Naruto could not do it at the same level as the Nidaime yet, but over time and training he could very well could.

"Kakashi are you certain of this?" spoke the elder Sarutobi, to which Kakashi just nodded.

"My Kami, I never thought that Naruto could actually inherit Sensei's High Water Affinity, to be able to create a full Water Dragon from just the moisture of the air and surrounding plants and trees. Is nothing short of incredible" said Sarutobi as he could also just image Koharu and Homura reaction when they heard this.

"There more Hokage-sama", spoke Kakashi which got everyone attention as many were going over what they had just learned, "….it seems that young Naruto has actually four elemental affinities not three", shocking the other three people in the room. But before they could interrupt him, Kakashi continued on, "… you see when Naruto used the **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique) on me. He also created two other clones and had them focus his different element affinities for him to combine them with his Water Dragon. He combined his Wind affinity to increase the Water Dragon's speed and power. While he had his other Clone, channel his Lightning affinity to increase the Water Dragon's attacking power making the Jutsu greatly more powerful than it originally was".

"Kakashi! …are you saying that not only has Naruto four Natural Nature affinities, something that is about one in a million or more, but also successfully did an advance level combination Jutsu with a B ranked level Water Jutsu", asked Asuma in surprise. As the more he heard about this fight the more Naruto sounded something like the second coming of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Yes" replied Kakashi simple.

Getting over his shock again Sandaime sigh, as he didn't think that he could be any more astonished than he was right now, as Naruto had show more skill than he ever thought possible. "_Minato my friend you and Tsunade truly created a monster_" he thought, as a small chuckle could not help but escape his lips, after which he turned back to Kakashi.

"Is there any other surprises you have left you let to tell us Kakashi because I don't think my old heart can take much more" spoke the old Hokage with a slight smile.

"Just one Hokage-sama…..It seems that Naruto has Mokuton", said Kakashi.

For a few moments the Hokage said nothing, after which he then spoke again calmly, "Could you say that again Kakashi, I don't think I quite heard you right as I thought you said that Naruto had Mokuton".

"I did…as Naruto does indeed have the Mokuton power of his Great Grandfather the Shodaime Hokage".

"WWWHHHHAAATTTT?" cried the Hokage as he spat out his pipe out again in complete and utter shock while both Asuma and Kurenai where stupefied.

Once the Hokage got over his shock he looked Kakashi straight in the eye, "Kakashi are you certain of this".

"Positive Hokage-sama" replied Kakashi with complete seriousness, where he then explained the rest of what happened.

Once Kakashi finished the Hokage just fell back into his chair and mutter a single word "Mokuton". "_Naruto has Mokuton, who could have believed that of all the members of the Senju Clan to have lived, the Mokuton powers would reemerge in Naruto the __jinchūriki of the __Kyūbi no Yōko_" though the Sandaime as he realised what this meet for Naruto, "_Truly Naruto you are the most surprising and unpredictable Shinobi, I have ever come across in my many years_".

"B-B-But h-how is that possible?" spoke a still stunned Kurenai, "I though Mokuton was not a Bloodline, as only the Shodaime Hokage had it and none of his descendants like Tsunade-sama had it".

"I do not know Kurenai, but I believe that former students Jiraiya and Tsunade know, as I can't believe that they would not know how Naruto has the Mokuton", answered the old Hokage, as he now realised why Naruto refused to tell him any of his abilities. No doubt Jiraiya wanted to tell and explain everything himself, for fear in case someone over heard Naruto telling him. But even still he wanted to know why he was not told sooner as it was clear that Naruto had this ability for a while considering how he was able to use Mokuton to capture Kakashi.

"_Naruto you are a true Senju in every way_" thought the elder Sarutobi as he began to image the council reaction to Naruto having Mokuton, since if Naruto had it then there was a new possibility that Mokuton may finally become an official Bloodline. Where there was a slight possibility that he could pass it to any children he may have in the future. Also once the Council heard this then the members who had hoped to somehow arrange a marriage with Naruto will double if not triple their efforts to make it happen.

As Mokuton was probably Konoha's most highly revered ability, even more so than the Sharingan, as it was with this power that the Shodaime Hokage was able to build Konoha and create the forest around it. Not to mention it abilities rivalled that of the Uchiha Clan Sharingan and it had the power to control and subdue the Bijū's. Sarutobi would not be surprise if certain members of the Council would demand that once Naruto was of marry age. He would marry someone who the Council believed would bear strong children in the hope of producing more Mokuton wielders. He also could almost image Koharu, Danzo and Homura shocked looks when he informed them and the Council since he would have to.

He also now understood how Jiraiya must have gotten Tsunade to agree to let Naruto become a Konoha Shinobi, as he would need to come here to be trained in Mokuton, where Jiraiya must have told Tsunade what Orochimaru had done.

After the shock wore off everyone, Kakashi finished with his story and told the others the remainder of what happen and how Naruto had figured out the second meaning of the test by himself, which made the old Hokage proud, but still he did not have the same effect on him as Naruto having the Mokuton.

"Hokages-sama what do you intend to do next" asked Kurenai.

"I will inform the Council of this, as I have to tell them in matters such as this, also I will have we speak to Jiraiya about the matter when he arrives and we will go from there" replied the Sandaime.

"Hokage-sama if I may, I would like to make a suggestion", spoke Kakashi, where the Hokage nodded telling him to go a head. "I would like to suggest that Naruto be taken off my team".

At this Asuma and Kurenai, snapped their heads to Kakashi and looked at him like he was crazy, they had done it so fast that both Kakashi and the Hokage wondered how their necks didn't snap off.

"Kakashi you can't be serious" said Kurenai in surprise.

"Yeah, Kakashi are you nuts" asked Asuma.

"I can assure you Asuma I'm quite sane".

"Then why the hell would you want to take the kid off your team, especially one as talented as him, you basically just told us that the kid is more talented than any other Genin, that Konoha as had in years, you could even say he's the Senju Clans version of Itachi without the whole killing his Clan thing. Not to mention you have Itachi little brother who you said is a Prodigy as well and you have the Top Kunoichi Haruno Sakura. Do you know how many Jonin Sensei's who would kill to be in your shoes? You probably have the best team that Konoha has had since the Sannin and you want to get rid of the most talented one among them. Half the freaking Jonin Sensei's here were practically begging to be the kid's Sensei only a few days ago and that was before we knew all this" spoke Asuma.

"The reason I doing it is because it is what is best for Naruto, as he needs a different Sensei, one who can help him better than I can. Don't get me wrong I would be more than happy to train Naruto, but I'm not the right Sensei for him as I can't teach him how to control his Mokuton abilities. I don't have much skill in Kenjutcu, an I don't have any Wind Jutsu's. Not to mention I don't know any medical Ninjutsu and my Genjutsu skills are limited, besides once Sasuke activates his Sharingan I will have to focus a lot of my time on him as I'm the only person that can train in using it. After which my remaining time would turned to Sakura and Naruto, which will not be enough for him as he needs help in things like Mokuton and I believe you will agree with me Hokage-sama. That there's someone far more qualified than me to help him in that", replied Kakashi, giving the Hokage a knowing look.

The Hokage of course nodded in understanding and was actually pleased that Kakashi suggested it, as he was about to suggest the very same thing that Kakashi just did, and he did not like the idea of having to order Kakashi to give up one of his students.

"Then who the hell can teach the kid better than you Kakashi?" asked Asuma as he was not getting what Kakashi was talking about.

"Then I believe that a introduction is in order", spoke the Sandaime, where he the spoke out "Fox, Tiger please reveal yourselves", after which two masked ANBU appeared, one was a women with long Red fiery hair that went down her rear, the other was a tall man with short brown hair.

"You may both remove your mask's" spoke The Sandaime, where both ANBU nodded and took off their masks" revealing a young man in his med twenties and young women in her mid thirties.

"Yo! Tenzō, Kushina-senpai" greeted Kakashi friendly like with his tradition eye-smile, where both smile and nodded.

"Asuma, Kurenai allow me to introduce you to Captain Uzumaki Kushina and Tenzō" spoke the Sandaime.

Kurenai eyes widen recognising Uzumaki Kushina one of Konoha's top female Shinobi's otherwise known as the Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury) and also known in Konoha as Akai Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero) (1).

"Tenzō, I believe you and Kushina heard everything so I need not explain what I would like you to do", spoke the old Hokage.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, and it would be my honour to teach Tsuande-sama son and train him in his Mokuton powers".

"Excuse me Lord Hokage, but how is Tenzō here, going to teach the kid Mokuton as the only user other than the kid was the Shodaime Hokage", asked Asuma in a neutral tone.

At this reply, the Sandaime could not help but feel slightly hurt as ever since the death of his eldest son neither he nor his younger son had seen eye to eye much. They even had an argument when he joined the Shugonin Jūnishi (Twelve Guardian Ninja) and ever since his return things have been strenuous at best especially when they were alone. But quickly pushing that aside the Hokage began to explain the events that lead to Tenzō have Mokuton. When Kurenai and Asuma heard the story both were horrified, Kurenai felt like she was going to be sick, while Asuma felt disgusted at what his father's former student did as it showed how far that man had fallen from grace.

The others in the room who already knew the story did not blame Asuma or Kurenai for how they felt, for the felt the same when they first heard it first or in Hiruzen case saw what Orochimaru had done.

"As you both now know I will have Naruto placed under Tenzō care as his apprentice so that he can teach Naruto Mokuton, hence from now on Tenzō will go by Yamato and be Naruto's new Sensei, where you will be given the rank of Jonin", spoke the Hokage.

"Hai! I understand and accept Hokage-sama", replied the now named Yamato.

"Good, also you should know Yamato you will have to share apprenticeship with Jiraiya as he has claimed Naruto as his apprentice although I'm sure you will be willing to share it considering you will be teaching Naruto to use his Mokuton power. Also as well you should know that Kushina will be assisting part time…" spoke the Hokage before Kushina interrupted him.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but why I'm going to be assisting Yamato as the boy has both Jiraiya and Tanzo training him he doesn't need another", replied Kushina.

"Kushina you are Konoha foremost Kenjutsu expert and one of our best Fūinjutsu users, which is why I believe that Naruto will benefit greatly from your help in Kenjutsu and Fūinjutsu. But that in itself is only a cover as I'm assigning you to act as Naruto's bodyguard at least for a while…." said the Sandaime before being interrupted again by Kushina.

"You mean I'm babysitting him!" said annoyed Kushina.

"Not exactly Kushina, as Naruto has already show he can handle himself in a fight, but yes I do what to help protect him, when on mission as well as around Konoha. As you can guess once news spreads of Naruto's existence, not to mention what he capable of. Many of our enemies and will come after Naruto, for he is the son of Tsunade and the first Natural born Mokuton user since the Shodaime Hokage. Who could very well rebuild a new Senju Clan filled with Mokuton users, something that many villages would love to have considering it's abilities. Not only that, but I want you to help protect Naruto from threats inside the village itself, as there are already many groups in Konoha like the Civilians and Danzo. Who will want to use Naruto for their own means and once they learn of what Naruto can do, they will want Naruto even more. So to manipulate and use him for their own use, and as you can already guess when Naruto is older he will have enormous influence in the village. That is why I had Naruto placed in an apartment near your own so that you can keep an eye on him better", said the Hokage.

Upon hearing this, Kushina nodded in understanding and accepted the Hokage's mission, where she was now a Jonin, but would keep her own name as she preferred not to use a code name.

"Also Kurenai, Asuma I would like you to help Naruto part time and even mix him with your teams a bit, but when it best suits you and will not interfere with your teams training", said the Sandaime.

"But Hokage-sama why us? …surely Jiraiya-sama, Kushina-san, Yamato-san along with Tsunade-sama when she returns will be more than enough to help train young Naruto" spoke Kurenai.

"The reason is because, due to the threat that Naruto will be under from our enemies, he will need to become as strong as he possible can and quickly as he can so to be able to defend himself. Also since he will have no team-mates I think it best that he mix with others his own age, as he spent most of his life travailing with his mother and has very few real friends his own age. So it will do him good to make new ones here where he can form bonds with them and in the village. Not to mention as well, you Kurenai are one of our top Genjutsu users, and Naruto needs a good Genjutsu teacher and you Asuma, are one of only two Wind users here. The other being Danzo and I would like you to train Naruto further in Wind Jutsu, as Danzo may use that excuse to get close to Naruto and to try and manipulate him" said the old Hokage.

Both Jonin's nodded in understanding and agreed that once they fully setup their teams; they would try work out a schedule to help train Naruto in their areas.

"Eh, excuse me Hokage-sama, but what about the missing spot on Kakashi team, who will fill in Naruto's place on the team?" asked Kurenai, as with Naruto gone team seven was a member short.

"I have already thought of that, there was another student that was going to put on team seven that had not been in the Academy, but I had him held back as Naruto was already sorted in Kakashi's team. But with Naruto gone to train under Yamato the other student can take his place on Kakashi's team," replied the Hokage, who got a nod of agreement from Kakashi.

Once that matter had been settled, the Hokage was about to adjourn this gathering, but before he could, a figure suddenly appeared in the office as it **Shunshin'd** in, the figure was none other than Jiraiya.

"Hey Sensei, long time no see, sorry I'm late as my meeting with my contact took longer than I thought, so how did Naruto do….no wait! Don't tell me! Let me guess he passed with flying colours, boy! I remember the time that I gave his dad and his team the bell test. Ah! That takes me back Minato was the clever sort where he…!" spoke Jiraiya excitedly, as he had been eager to find out what team Naruto was on and how well he passed the team test for whatever team he was on. He had been so excited that he failed the notice the others in the room until it was too late.

"JIRAIYA!" cried the Sandiame angrily as Jiraiya had just blurted out something he shouldn't have in front of the other.

"When Jiraiya turned around and saw them "Oops …I guess I came at a bad time"

At the moment that Jiraiya basically said that Minato was Naruto's father jaws hit the floor and eyes went to the size of saucer plates.

"S-S-Sensei h-h-had an S-SON! …." said wide-eyed and stupefied Kakashi.

"…W-W-With T-Tsunade-sama", finished an equally stupefied Kurenai.

"…Damn!…" was all Asuma could say

"Sarutobi I suggest that you give us some answers….now!" replied a very annoyed and slightly angry Kushina, as she wanted an explanation now.

At this Sarutobi could only sigh and glare a Jiraiya for being such baka and was tempted to strangle him, where all Jiraiya could do was rub the back of his head and look embarrassed with a stupid grin.

"Sigh! Very well then…But what I about to tell you is a S class secret where only, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Naruto, Tsunade's student Shizune and myself know about and if you tell anyone you will be charged with treason" spoke the elder Sarutobi seriously. At this everyone stiffed at the seriousness of the Hokage's tone as treasons was punishable with death.

The Sandaime then went on to explain the events that lead to Naruto existing, which was something many of the other found hard to believe.

"So you're telling us that Minato-kun and Tsunade both got drunk together one night….." spoke Kushina.

"…Where they then spent the night together….." said Kurenai.

"….After which, Tsunade-sama found out that she was pregnant with Naruto and that Sensei was the father…." said Kakashi.

"….Where she decided to keep young Naruto and give birth to him in the village" finished Yamato.

"That is correct" stated the Sandaime.

"Damn, no wonder the kid so talented and powerful for his age, he basically has Kage Blood flowing through his veins. With his mother being, Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade), member of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's) and the world's strongest Kunoichi and a greatest medic. His father being Yondaime Hokage, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash), his Great Grandfather being the Shodaime Hokage and his Great Granduncle being the Nidaime Hokage", spoke Asuma.

As the revelation stuck, Kakashi could not help but be depressed, "_Naruto is Sensei son! …How could have I been so blind…he looks almost like a younger version of him with a few small differences…I had a chance to finally pay back Sensei for everything he did for me by training his son, but I threw it away_" he thought sadly.

Seeing the depress look on Kakashi, Asuma decided to cheer him up, "Hey Kakashi…don't worry about it, like you said this Yamato guy would be a better teacher for him, besides you can still help train him better in his Lightning Affinity and other Ninjutsu".

This course cheered Kakashi up a bit and he nodded his head in thanks to Asuma.

Kakashi wasn't the only person to be slightly be depressed at the news, as Kushina was slightly depressed as well, "_Minato-kun had a child Tsunade of all people, I never though he went for older women….sigh! …I still can't believe he he got drunk and spelt with Tsunade all all peopl, and I can't be angry because we had broken up already and it had been my idea but still! …sigh! …I wonder what could have happened if we had stayed together and if we could have had a child together, would Naruto have been our son…huuuh! …I wonder what Naruto is like?_" though Kushina.

As Kushina and Kakashi were getting over the slight depressing over what they did in the past, Jiraiya suddenly spoke up remembering something that Asuma said "Wait! What do you mean by explaining how strong he was?" asked Jiraiya, where the Sandaime then gave Jiraiya a quick run through of what they had been talking about before he arrived.

"Damn", spoke Jiraiya, "I had hoped the brat would have waited a little longer before exposing what he could do, but I guess he had no choice when it came to passing or failing after those other two wouldn't work with him".

"Hokage-sama although I can understand why you feel the need to keep young Naruto-san full heritage secret for now, so to prevent the large number of enemies that would come after him due to his heritage alone. I still do not understand why it is declared an S class secret nor why it was kept from the ruling Council as when they eventually hear this their will be a great deal of trouble from them over not being told about it.

At this Sarutobi looked at Jiraiya who just said, "you might as well tell them Sensei since they be helping the kid".

"Sigh! The reason why this is all ranked an S level secret is because Naruto was born on the night of the Kyuubi attack. Where as you all know, Minato knew that we could not defeat the Kyuubi, so he used a special Jutsu that he created called the **Shiki Fūjin** (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi into a child to stop the demon…but what you don't know is that child was Naruto", said the Hokage shocking everyone (minus Jiraiya).

"The Yondaime actually sealed the demon into his own son?" asked Kurenai in shock as she doubted she could do such a think herself in the Yondaime's place, knowing how Jinchūriki's where usually treated.

"But why did the Yondaime not seal the demon into another child? Why did he choose his own son?" asked the Yamato.

"The Yondaime was far too noble a person to ask another family to make such a sacrifice when he could not himself" stated the Sandaime sadly, both Kakashi and Kushina nodded in agreement with the Sandaime as they knew what the Youndaime was like.

"So you can now see why Naruto was kept out of the village, his existence was kept secret along with the rest of his heritage. As for the reason why I never told the Council, if they learned that Naruto was the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) along with the rest of his heritage, they would have never have allowed Tsunade leave the village with Naruto. Where he would either be treated as an outcast for being a jinchūriki or spoilt rotten for his lineage by the village. Both of which were unacceptable to me, not to mention if the other villages found out about Naruto existence and being Tsunade's and Minato son they would stopped at nothing to kidnap or kill Naruto. Also as well we would have to worry about inside forces like Danzo, since as the son of Minato and the heir of the Senju Clan Naruto will have enormous political power. Not to mention he will have enormous control over Konoha's economy as the heir to the Namikaze family since fifty one percent of the businesses in Konoha belong to the Namikaze family. Where if you combined all that with Naruto having the power of the Kyuubi as well the abilities that we now known he has then with Naruto. Danzo would then have more than enough power to take complete control of Konoha and rule it his way which as you know would be disastrous for Konoha. Not to mention as well what the other villages would do if they found out the same thing about Naruto's abilities and the Kyuubi" said the old Hokage.

At this kind of reasoning the others could only nod about keeping things like that from the Council, especially the fact that Naruto had both Mokuton and the strongest Bijū alive inside him. Since if you combine the power of a Jinchūriki that contains the strongest of Bijū's inside him. With the power of Mokuton which can suppress Bijū's powers and control them, you get a force that could be virtually unstoppable, once Naruto has mastered and can control both.

Once that was explained the Sandaime then turned to Jiraiya, "Now Jiriaya, I would like to know when Naruto awakened his Mokuton bloodline and why neither you nor Tsuande informed of it?" asked the Sandaime.

"I'm sorry Sensei, Tsunade wanted to tell you, but I convinced her not to since I thought the fewer people know about this the better. As I feared there might be a chance that someone like Danzo could intercept the message or somehow learn about it if we told you. I knew that eventually Naruto would have to reveal his Mokuton Bloodline. Where when he did you would have the excuse of not knowing and you wouldn't have to deal with Danzo or his supporters on the Council, trying to usurp your position over how you didn't inform them about Naruto's abilities. As I figure they have already made several big issues about not being informed of Naruto's existence", said Jiraiya. Getting a nod of understand from the Sandaime, although he still did not like being kept out of the loop about his surrogate Grandson for so long.

"And what about his High Water affinity?" he asked.

"That he only showed last year, where when I was training him he instinctively did a **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu** (Water Clone Technique) in the middle of the forest by gathering the moisture from the grass and air. When I tested him on some other Water Jutsu's that required a larger amounts of Water he was still able to do them without any problem or ill-effect", replied Jiraiya.

The Sandaime just nodded again in understanding, "Is there anything else that we should know about Naruto, Jiraiya?"

"Well there is one other thing Sensei, although it isn't about Naruto it still does involve him", spoke Jiraiya, where the Sandaime, signalled him to continue on. "Currently there is a group called the Akatsuki, they're a small group that have been doing missions for cheap prices for both Shinobi villages and Countries and have been slowly gaining strength. The group is made up of nine S class missing-nins", spoke Jiraiya shocking everyone in the room.

"Are you certain of this Jiraiya?" asked the Sanadime, as he knew what kind of threat this Akatsuki would make to any major Shinobi village if they were made up of nine S class missin-nin.

"Yea I'm sure I even know two of its members, one being Orochimaru and the other being that Itachi kid, although a while ago Orochimaru left the organisation, to go on his on after he betrayed the organisation when he attacked another member, that member being Itachi".

At this everyone grew concerned as Konoha's two most infamous missing-nins were members of this organisation and although thankfully Orochimaru was no longer a member, the fact that Itachi was still on it was cause from great concern.

"What about the others? And what are their plans?" asked the Sandaime.

"I don't know who the other members are but as for their plan they want the Bijū's but for what don't know" stated Jiraiya causing many worried looks to appear on people. "But they don't know about Naruto having the Kyuubi thankfully, although I sure they will fine out about his Mokuton Bloodline sooner or later and once they do they will come after Naruto for it as his Bloodline could greatly help them or even cause their plan to fail".

For the next for minutes the Sandaime thought over what he had heard after which he then spoke, "Jiraiya, although I know I don't need to ask you, I want you to go out and try and find everything you can about the Akatsuki, but before you do, I want you, Kakashi, Yamato and Kushina to come with me. As I will need to inform the Council about Naruto abilities and how he faired in Kakashi test, as they wanted to know what happened as soon as the test was over, due to Naruto and Sasuke being on it".

Jiraiya nodded in understanding although he wasn't looking forward to going to see the Council as he hated Council meetings.

Once that was settled the Sandaime turned to Asuma and Kurenai, "Although I sure you already know this, but you are both forbidden to mention anything that we have discussed in the room to anyone without my permission is that clear" spoke the Sandaime in an authoritative tone that showed why he was the Hokage.

Both of them nodded, where the Hokage then dismissed them, although as they were leaving Asuma made a joke about how the Yondaime not only out did his Sensei Jiraiya, but also lived every young man dream back then….get laid with Tsunade. This of course resulted in him getting a hard smack at the back of his head from Kurenai and then be sent flying into the wall of the outside hallway by a punch from an angry Kushina, showing exactly why she was know as Akai Chishio no Habanero. Soon after though the Hokage left his office in accompany of Jiraiya, Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato headed to the Council room.

-One Hour Later in the Council Room-

"…and that what happened", said Kakashi as he finished retelling what happened in the bell test to the Council, once he finish telling them, he had expected much yelling or shouting about what they should do about Naruto. But surprisingly there was only silence, although the silence soon ended when a shocked Koharu spoke out.

"The boy possesses the Nidaime Hokage High Water affinity…."

"…...Along with the Mokuton powers of the Shodaime Hokage….." said an equally shocked Homura.

"…..As well as four Natural Nature affinities", finished the ANBU Commander stunned.

Soon enough excited muttering erupted in the Council room, where the different Council members began to talk over Naruto's skill level amongst themselves.

"Jiraiya-sama! Do you know why the Mokuton powers of the Shodaime Hokage as remerge in young Naruto, when it did not with his mother, her brother, their father or any other Senju member", asked Shibi, which got much muttering in agreement with other Council members.

"Yes I do, many years back when I was doing my studies Myōbokuzan I came across an ancient record written by a Sage long ago, back when the Great Shinobi Clans were only being founded. In the records it spoke about when the Bloodlines were first showing up, it stated that the Bloodlines were unstable in the first holders of them and many of the children of Bloodline holders did not receive their parent's Bloodline. It was not until a few generations more after the first Bloodline holders of each Bloodline did the Bloodlines finally stabilise so that the other generations of the Clans would have them although only a few members in certain Clans inherited their Bloodline. This can explain how not everyone in a Clan with a Bloodline can receive and use their Clans Bloodline, since it may have not stabilise in certain people in those later Generations. The Uchiha Clan and the Kaguya clan are prime examples of this since only a quarter of the Uchiha Clan members can use the Sharingan, while only a select few from the Kaguya Clan possessed the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse). Since it was only the ancestors of those members of those Clans who's Bloodline finally stabilise enough for it to be passed down to their children. Unlike the Hyuga Clan where all its members were able to retain its Bloodline", said Jiraiya and then continued on.

"My theory is that Shodaime Hokage was the first person to be born with the Mokuton Bloodline and like with the first Bloodline users. The Mokuton Bloodline was too unstable to be passed on to his descendants like Tsunade's father, Tsuande's brother Nawakiand Tsunade herself. But it seems that the Mokuton Bloodline finally stabilised with Naruto hence why he's the one to have it", finished Jiraiya.

When the Council heard this many had to agree it did it did make sense, after which Choza spoke up. "If that's true Jiraiya-sama then is there a chance that young Naruto will be able to pass on Mokuton to any children he may have in the future and it can become an official Bloodlline". This of course got eager looks from the Council members as they were all wondering this now as well.

"I believe that the chances are very high if not very likely considering what Tsunade and I have researched about Bloodlines", replied Jiraiya simply as he already knew what many Council members where thinking right now.

They were thinking about "encouraging" their daughters (those that had daughters) who would be near enough around Naruto's age, to become "friends" with Naruto so to help lift their family status.

For the next twenties minutes there was much arguing between the Hokage and many Council members, as those Council members were trying to convince the Hokage to sign off on arranging marriages between certain Council member's daughters with Naruto. While other members tried to get the Hokage to sign off on getting Naruto to impregnate strong selected Kunoichi's who were not from any Clans, when he turned sixteen. So that he could rebuild the Senju Clan and increase the chances of having strong children with his Mokuton Bloodline. Unfortunately for them he would not sign off on either, as he stated that any arranges marriages between any families or Clan's with Naruto, would have to be agreed upon by the head of the Senju Clan which was his mother Tsunade. While the other suggestion was put down immediately as Sarutobi would not have it and even threaten those that suggested it. That if they ever brought it up again then he would inform Tsunade himself, that they tried to turn her son into a breeding machine for his Bloodline, upon her eventually return to Konoha. This of course had the desire effect as said members gulped audibly, at the thought of what Tsunade would do to them once she heard that. Once they realised this they quickly retracted their suggestion and remained silent.

During this time two members of the council remained silent during the entire meeting, they were Hiashi and Danzo.

Hiashi had remained silent, due to thinking over what he had just heard and was wondering whether this would cause the Hyuga Clan Elders to accelerate their plans on Naruto to elevate the Hyuga Clan's position higher or would they have to change it due to his Mokuton Bloodline.

Danzo on the other hand had remained silent as he analysed this new discovery, "_The boy's potential is clearly enormous, as he basically has all the gifts of his ancestor's and much, much more. He has his mother flawless Chakra Control, along with her Monstrous Strength and Medical Talent. He also has the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton Bloodline, where he can most likely pass it on to future generations along with the Nidaime's Hokage's High Water Affinity. He has Four Natural Nature Affinities and could even quite possibly have __Senju Tōka talent for Genjutsu considering how advance he is already in it. Not to mention he most likely gifted in seals thanks to Jiraiya, as he was able to do a Chunin level __Fūinjutsu and is skilled in Kenjutsu and Taijutsu. Altogether with the right training the boy could become the greatest Hokage that has ever lived. Where he could finally push aside Sarutobi's foolish ideals like of peaceful coexistence and compromise …but not if his mother, Sarutobi and Jiraiya influence him into having the same beliefs, where he will be just as bad as them. I must find a way to get close to the boy and make him see the light, where he must be ruthless, cruel, cunning and never to compromise. So to ensure Konoha is strong and its existence and its own peace is maintained_", though Danzo as he began to plan to think up ways to get close to Naruto.

Once the discussions quieten down Danzo decided to speak up, "Hokage-san if I may, I would like to make a suggestion".

At this Sarutobi frowned as he had an educated guess as to what Danzo was about to suggest, but he still nodded his head and allowed Danzo to go ahead.

"Now as we can clearly guess with your ANBU agent Tenzo here, you know doubt plan to have him made a Jonin-sensei and Tsunade's son Naruto be made his apprentice so to master his Mokuton Bloodline and perhaps help him in Water and Earth Affinities". At this Sarutobi nodded as there was no need to hide it.

"He will also be no doubt trained by his mother in Medical Ninjutsu and to further improve his Superhuman Strength, while Jiraiya here would train the boy in Fūinjutsu and perhaps Ninjutsu" continued Danzo while getting another nod from Sarutobi.

"This of course leaves several areas that he won't be trained in, such as Kenjutsu, his Wind and Lightning Affinities, along with his Genjutsu skills. I believe I can help the boy in his first two, as I've an Affinity to Wind and am skilled in Kenjutsu and Koharu could help him with his Genjutsu". This of course gotten several murmurs of agreement as Danzo skill as a Shinobi were well know and he could help Naruto greatly in those area, Koharu also nodded that she would offer her assistance as he Genjutsu skills are equally well known.

Sarutobi of course expected something like this to happen as he knew Danzo planned to do something like this, so to try and get close to Naruto and manipulate him to what he wanted Naruto to do for him. He also beat that was also why he suggested Koharu to teach Naruto Genjutsu as she shared many common beliefs that Danzo did and could also use her to get to Naruto as well.

"That is a very generous offer Danzo, but I'm afraid that I already have people picked to help Naruto in those areas", said Sarutobi with a barely seen smirk.

At this Danzo, narrowed his eye very slightly so that it was hard for anyone to tell that he did, "And may I ask who have you picked in those area's?" he asked.

"I have chosen my son Asuma to train Naruto in improving his Wind affinity from time to time, along with Yūhi Kurenai from time to time in Genjutsu. Kakashi has also volunteered to help Naruto improve his Lightning affinity and I have chosen Kushina who will be assisting Tenzo. Who will now be know as Yamato, where she will be training Naruto in Kenjutsu, Fūinjutsu when Jiraiya is away on missions and helping Naruto in his Water Affinity", said Sarutobi as he smirked inside his mind.

"Although Kakashi is a fine choice in helping in the boy's Lightning affinity and Kushina-san is an equally fine choice in teaching him Kenjutsu and helping with his Water Affinity and Fūinjutsu. I believe that Koharu and I would be better choices in improving his Genjutsu skills and his Wind Affinity. Although both your son and Kurenai are highly skilled in their areas, both have their own Genin teams and it would interfere with their teaching with their own Genin teams, where they will suffer for it. While Koharu and I are more flexible and have more time to help the young boy and have more experience and Knowledge than they would and other than our official duties. We are on the reserve Shinobi list allowing for more training time in those areas", said Danzo. As he knew that he could not get close to Naruto through Kenjutsu now as Kushina was a far better Kenjutsu user than he was and he was no longer in his prime. Even if he was more skilled in Kenjutsu or in his prime, he knew he could not win to train Naruto, as she could use her Clan's strong ties with the Senju Clan to persuade everyone to allow her to help train the boy. As the Uzumaki Clan and the Senju Clan were distant blood relatives and shared a common ancestor, not to mention the boy's Great Grandmother was a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Knowing this he tried to get close to Naruto through training him in Wind affinity and maybe Genjutsu, through Koharu.

Many on the Council mainly the Civilians, muttered in agreement with Danzo as what he said was indeed true, but thankfully Sarutobi was prepared for something like this.

"Although that is true, both Asuma and Kurenai along with Kakashi have already agreed to help Naruto, where they will train Naruto at certain times, when they're training their own Genin. This will also allow Naruto to form bonds with their Genin students and become friends with them, as from travelling all around the Continent with his mother and having no-one but her and her Apprentice Shizune to be with. Naruto has very few friends his own age and he would be further isolated from others his own age as Yamato's apprentice. Hence mixing him in with the other teams will allow Naruto to make friends his own age and at the same time allow him to form a bond in the village".

At this most of the Council now seemed to mutter in agreement in the Hokage reasoning, as the most important thing right now was for Naruto to form a bond in the village. So that he will more likely stay in the village and remain loyal to it. At this Danzo knew he could not win and coincided defeat, as Koharu also seem now to agree with Sarutobi's decision.

As Sarutobi smiled at his victory over Danzo, he could see the near glare the Old War Hawk was giving him, "_You won this round Sarutobi…but this war is far from over…I will get the Senju boy_" thought Danzo as the Council meeting now ended.

But before they all left Sarutobi issued a new decree, which was that Naruto abilities were to remain hidden and only known to the people in this room for now on. So to prevent others from outside the village from finding out about Naruto's abilities or at lest for now and wait until the time was right to reveal them.

As if they revealed Naruto skills and abilities too so, it could cause both Naruto and the village a lot of trouble in the near future, especially before Naruto can began to get better use of his Mokuton Bloodline. As other villages may try to kidnap Naruto so they can use him, Sarutobi backed up this decree up, stating that if anyone spoke it to anyone else outside this room he or she would be charged with endangering village security. This of course was punishable with spending twenty years in a Maximum security Cell with the worst of the worst of Konoha criminals.

Sarutobi also told Kakashi that after them meeting was over, he was to go and tell both Sakura and Sasuke that they were forbidden to tell anyone of what they saw Naruto do. Where if they told anyone or it is discovered they told anyone they would have their Ninja licence's revoked, their Chakra sealed and suffer the same punishment as anyone on the Council that broke the Sandime's degree. He even told that to make the especially clear to Sasuke, in case he believes that his status of the last of his Clan protects him from such punishments. The Civilians Council members of course argued about that to the Hokage, but the Sandaime would not budge on the matter, stating that if Sasuke would not obey the Hokage's orders like any true Konoha Shinobi. Then he did not deserve to be a Shinobi of Konoha.

Kakashi of course nodded in understanding and promised to make sure that both Sasuke and Sakura understood the seriousness of the matter when he spoke to them after the meeting.

Once that matter was settled and everyone had agreed, the Hokage ended the meeting, where everyone slowly left the room, quietly talking amongst themselves what they had found out in the meeting.

-With Naruto in the village-

As Naruto was walking through the village he saw all the different stares he was getting from everyone as he walked by, many were even whispering to one another as they looked at him and made way from him as he walked through the street.

Naruto hated all this as he didn't like all the attention he was getting because it was all about being the heir of the Senju Clan, along with the descendant of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage's and Tsunade son. It was even worse when he went into grocery stores as people called him Senju-sama and even tried to give him free stuff, which he refused.

Having enough of this Naruto decided to jump onto the roofs and make his way to one of the training grounds so he could be alone and train as well as get away from all the peoples stares.

As he made his way along the rooftops he suddenly heard some commotion coming from an alleyway he just jumped over. When he looked down he saw a group of kids with sticks cornering a young pup that looked scared and hurt, where they seemed ready to attack it.

Angry at what he saw Naruto decided to stop it were he quickly did a few hand seals and the cried out "**Suiton: Teppōdama** (Water Style: Gunshot)" and fired several large balls of Water from his mouth at the kids heads soaking them completely. After which he jumped down between the scared and hurt pup and the kids, who were now soaking wet and laying on the group.

"I suggest you brats scram it and leave this pup alone or else you will deal with me…" said Naruto angrily. At the sight of Naruto and seeing his headband the kids got scared and ran off although as they did, Naruto shouted out "…and if I ever see you picking this pup or any other animal again I do more than wet you".

Once the kids were gone Naruto turned to the pup that was hunched down against the corner whimper, the pup was a medium brown colour, with a mixture of dark brown and light brown and he had bright blue eyes. (2) As he got a better look at the pup he saw that it looked more like a wolf, but he doubted that a wolf cub would wander into the village, he guessed that it was half wolf and half dog. Hence he guessed that the pup belonged to the Inuzuka as they had many different types of dogs, meaning that if the pup belonged to anyone it was them.

As he tried to pick the pup it growled and tried to bite him, seeing this Naruto figured that the pup was scared that he would hurt it.

Naruto then went and took out some Ham sandwich's he had made for himself to eat later, he then took out some ham out of one of the sandwich's and laid it out on the ground in front of the pup and stepped away from it and waited for the pup to take it.

At first the pup did nothing and just watched Naruto cautiously, but soon enough it started to sniff at the ham and slowly crawl over to the ham and started to nibble at the ham.

When Naruto saw this he smiled and once the pup had eaten the ham he gave it another piece, upon eating the second piece, Naruto picked the pup up. When he picked the pup up yelped and started to struggle.

"Hey easy little guy I not going to hurt you", said Naruto as he started to pat its head and rub it to get the dog to calm down.

Soon enough the pup started to calm down Naruto gave it another piece of ham, where the pup started to eat it.

As it was doing that, Naruto then did a few one handed hand seals and **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystical Palm Technique) and began to heal the wound he saw on the upper leg, not doubt getting the wound when he was running from those kids that were attacking it.

Naruto had learned one handed hand seals from Shizune, who knew a few and had taught them him, although he had to learn the rest from reading about them in scrolls.

After about a minute or two Naruto had finished healing the pup's leg wound after which he then put the pup down and then banged the pup's leg up.

When Naruto was done he smiled down at the pup, "now doesn't that feel better", to which the pup yelp again as if saying yes and started to lick his face, which caused Naruto to smile and laugh as the pup licked him.

Naruto then picked the pup up again and then said, "Ok little guy lets see if we can find your home", after which he started to walk to the Inuzuka Clan compound, where their kennels were.

-A little Later and the Inuzuka Kennels-

As Naruto made his way through the Inuzuka Compound, he soon reached the Kennels, when he got there he saw Kiba, who by the look of things was being told off by a young but older looking girl, who looked to be nearing her later teens if note early twenties. Also with them were Akamaru and three dogs that Naruto guessed belonged to the girl.

The girl herself had the traditional fang-like tattoos of the Inuzuka clan on both of her cheeks, in addition to a tattoo on her upper right arm that resembles a flower. She had long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail that went down between her shoulder blades with one hair bang on each side of her face. She also wore a standard flack jacket, with black shorts and green armbands.

When he got closer, he started to hear what the girl was saying, "…how you could be so stupid not to make sure that the gate was closed when you came to feed the pups is beyond me?"

"I had my hands full with their food and I had about a dozen more chores to do after that. It's not my fault he went off, you know he's never got on with the other pups", replied Kiba, who was annoyed with being told off.

But after he said this, he saw Naruto coming towards them, "Senju! What the he are you doing her, come to gloat at me cleaning up dog poop?"

"Get over yourself Kiba, despite what you think my world doesn't revolve around you, I just came here to return this pup, which I guessing belongs to you", replied Naruto as he held out the young pup, which yelp upon seeing Kiba and the girl.

"Kurimaru!" cried the girl as she quickly went over to the pup, she then took the pup from Naruto and held him up, as she did this the pup licked the girls face happy to see her, when he did this she smiled. As she examined the pup she noticed his bandaged leg, where she then looked at Naruto and asked him what happened to his leg?

"Did you hurt one of our pups Senju?" accused Kiba as he took a step forward and pointed accusingly at Naruto.

"Of course not, I was the one who healed him and saved him from those who attacked him" replied an annoyed Naruto.

"Yeah right!" scoffed Kiba, not believing Naruto.

Naruto was about to retort to Kiba's comment, but before he could, the girl spoke, "Stop making such an ass of yourself Kiba and shut up for once and lets here his side of the story. Besides Kurimaru wouldn't have been hurt in the first if you had done your job right and closed the gate when you brought the pups food" rounded the girl.

"But sis, he ….." spoke Kiba before his sister gave him a glare that told him to shut it, after which she then told Naruto to explain what happen to Kurimaru.

Naruto then spent the next few minutes explaining to them had at how he stopped the kids from attacking Kurimaru. Once he finished, Kiba's sister narrowed her eyes at hearing how a group of kids attack Kurimaru, where if she had been there she would have done more than just given them a soaking.

When Naruto had finished what had happen, Kiba just scoffed again, "And we're just suppose to take your word for that Senju?"

"It's the truth", replied Naruto as he narrowed his eyes as he was starting to lose his patience with Kiba.

"Yeh right I bet…" said Kiba but was interrupted by his sister again.

"I thought I told you to shut it Kiba" said his annoyed sister.

"But Hana you can't actually believe his story?" asked Kiba in disbelief.

"Why shouldn't I" asked Hana.

"He could be lying, for all we know" replied Kiba.

"If he is and he had attacked Kuirmaru, why would he heal him, why would he bring him back here and why is Kurimaru not growling at him or seems scared of him either? For once Kiba use what little in brains you have in that thick scull of yours and think about it before you say it" said Hana.

At this Kiba had no answer for and just stomped his foot on the ground angrily, while Naruto just smirked at seeing Kiba being put in his place by his sister Hana.

It was at this point that a new person joined the group, "What all the commotion going on over here", spoke a middle age and medium high women who had animalistic look similar to that of Kiba. She also had long spiky brown hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. As well as Inuzuka Clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of lipstick and wore a standard outfit of a Konoha Shinobi. Accompanying her was a large black dog with an eye-patch over its left eye.

When Naruto saw her he guessed that she was Kiba's and Hana's mother do to the similar features she shared with Kiba.

"Well mom, it seems that when Kiba over here was feeding the pups, the baka forgot to shut the gate shut right and Kurimaru got out, where he wandered into the village and was attacked by a group of kids. Luckily though Naruto here was nearby and was able to rescue him and even heal him after he got hurt", spoke Hana.

Hana had looked over Kurimaru's bandaging, when she checked him over and even though Naruto had no veterinary skills he had done a pretty good job of treating Kurimaru.

After giving Kiba a verbal berating about how he should be more careful and telling him that he would be on Kennel duty for another month (much to Kiba misery), Tsume turned to Naruto.

"So you're the young Senju pup I been hearing about so much these days…"said Tsume as she turned to look at Naruto, "…you have caused quiet a stir in both the village and the Council lately especially after what I've heard at the one I was just at a little while ago".

"Yea I beat" replied Naruto with a sigh, as he guessed what many of them were talking about.

"What are you talking about, mom?" asked Kiba.

"Sorry can't tell the Hokage forbidden anyone from the Council and those privilege with info from speaking about it to anyone without his say so first", answered Tsumae. Where Kiba just huffed, annoyed at the fact that the Council were talking about something about Naruto and he didn't know about it, while his mother and Naruto did.

"Also I want to thank you for agreeing to keep the incident with Kiba a secret", said Tsume as she was grateful as it would have disgraced their whole Clan had people know about it even if Kiba had been tricked.

At the mention of the incident Kiba frowned as he did not like reminded of it, where he sulked and looked away.

"No problem Inuzuka-sama, I didn't think you Clan needed to be embarrassed in front of the whole village, because of a stupid mistake that Kiba made", said Naruto

"Hey!" cried Kiba angrily, where he was about to start argue about what Naruto said, but before he could, his mother spoke up.

"Shut it Kiba, what he said is true, if you had used your head instead of letting your bruised ego rule you then you wouldn't have been so easily tricked in the first place" reprimanded Tsume angrily as she was still angry at Kiba for being such a baka.

After which she then turned back to Naruto, "Call me Tsume as I don't like those kind of titles….Oh, a world of warning pup, I suggest that you watch out for some of the other Council member especially those with daughters. As you can bet that they well have their daughter go after you in the hope they can find away to get you to marry one of them so to improve the social status along with other things, which I'm sure you know what I mean", spoke Tsume. Where Naruto just nodded as his mother had already told him to watch out for those types of people and girls once his existence and abilities were know to the Council and the village.

"Yea I know all about that as I expected it, so I know what to expect from certain people", said Naruto.

At this Tsume nodded, where she and Hana then spent the next few minutes talking to Naruto, where Hana even question him on his medical skills when it came to animals as he had show some decent skills in it when he helped Kurimaru.

"Tell me Tsume-san is Kurimaru a half breed of a wolf?" asked Naruto has he had guessed it when he first saw him but still wasn't sure.

"Yea he is…" replied Tsume as she was surprised that Naruto could tell, "…how did you know?"

"Well he oblivious has some of the features of one, but there are a few small difference that say he isn't a full blooded wolf" answered Naruto as he read up about dog breeding in a book about animals.

Tsume was of course impressed further after hearing this.

"I also couldn't help overhearing Kiba saying that Kurimaru doesn't get on too well with the other pups, why is that?" asked Naruto.

"Well one day Kurimaru's mother got lose and lost in the forest, a few days later we found her alone and a few months later she gave birth to Kurimaru and his three brother and three sisters. We guessed that she must have met a male wolf in the forest and mated with him and although Kurimaru brothers and sister look and act more dog like. Kurimaru looks and acts a little more wolf like, where he likes to roam around and doesn't like being cooped up in a pin and doesn't get on too well with his siblings and the other pups", replied Tsume.

"And what about his mother?" asked Naruto

"She was killed when on a mission along with her partner", said Tsume sadly.

Naruto lowered his head sadly at that as the Kurimaru and his sibling were basically orphan pups, although at least they were luckily enough to have the rest of the Inuzuka Clan to take care of them.

Soon enough though Naruto decided to leave as he had some training to do, as he was walking away Kurimaru jumped out of Hana arms and went over to Naruto and started to pull on his pants and try and stop him from leaving.

"Well it seems that Kurimaru has taken a liking to you pup and doesn't what you to leave", said Tsume with a smile.

"I guess" said Naruto with own smile as he panted and rubbed the pups head.

"I think that you're the only other person other than myself or my mother that Kurimaru seems to really like", commented Hana, with a smile.

"Yeah, I think your right, maybe you should come around a little more pup, as I sure Kurimaru would like to see you again, consider he taken a liking to you and your more than welcome to", said Tsume.

"Thanks Tsume-san I just might do that…how does that sound to you boy", spoke Naruto, where the pup barked, as if agreeing.

After a few more minutes Naruto said good-bye to Kurimaru, Tsume and Hana and then headed to one of the training grounds to begin to train.

-Two days Later at Night just outside Konoha-

Currently waiting behind the shadow of a large tree of the forest outside of Konoha was a young grey haired Genin with glasses by the name of Kabuto.

Kabuto was here to meet with his mastered Orochimaru, as he had valuable information that he knew his master would be very interested in.

Kabuto of course did not have to wait long as Orochimaru appeared out of the tree.

"SSSSSSoooooooo Kabuto-kun what iiiiiiissssss it that iiiisssss so important that you needed to ssssssseeeeeeeeee me?" asked Orochimaru with a sinister like smirk.

"Well Orochimaru-sama I have some news that you will find very interested to learn", replied Kabuto calmly.

"And what is this news?" asked the Snake Sannin.

"It seems that your former team-mate Tsunade-sama, has had child….a young boy to be precise, who has just recently become a Genin" said Kabuto.

At this news Orochimaru, eyes slightly widen he had never expected Tsunade of all people to ever have a child, due to the loss of her brother and her late lover Dan. Once he got over his shock, he started to smirk a little, "HHHooooowwww interesting…who would have that my old team-mate Tsunade would actually have a child, do you know who the boy's father is?"

"I'm afraid not Orochimaru-sama as your former team-mate has kept the identity of her spouse and the father of her child a secret as no-one seems to know, but we do know that he is dead now", replied Kabuto.

"And what of the boy skill level?" asked Orochimaru as he was interested in how his old team-mate has trained her young son.

"I'm afraid I' am currently unaware of what the boy is capable of as the Hokage is keeping the boy's skill level a secret as very few people know about the boy's skill level and those that do know are not talking. As from what I gathered the Hokage has classified the boy skill level and abilities", answered Kabuto with a slight frown as he was not use to knowing so little about a subject of interested and it did annoy him a little.

"How disappointing Kabuto-kun, I would have expected better from you, since if my old Sensei is going to all this trouble to hid the boy's abilities they must be something indeed", replied Orochimaru with clear disappointment.

"Forgive me Orochimaru-sama, I will make a better effort to learn more about him", replied Kabuto.

"See that you do Kabuto-kun, now can you tell me the boy's name and what team he is on", spoke Orochimaru.

"The boy's name is Senju Naruto, he is currently on Hatake Kakashi team and is teamed up Haruno Sakura and young Uchiha Sasuke, who you have asked me look up on", spoke Kabuto calmly as he knew his master would find that bit interesting.

"Well now, I must admit it seems that my old Sensei has not entirely lost his sense of humour by placing the last heir of the Uchiha Clan in Konoha along with the last heir of the Senju Clan on the same team together. Not to mention very convenient of him for me, as if young Naruto-kun and young Sasuke-kun prove to be both worthy, I may have two potential vessels on the same team together…it should be interesting to see how those two get on together", spoke Orochimaru.

"That may be a problem Orochimaru-sama" spoke Kabuto suddenly causing the traitorous Sannin to look at him.

"How so?" he asked

"Although I have not confirmed if it is true or not but I have heard a rumour that the boy may be switched to a different team, to whom and for what reason I'm not certain of as there are many theories, but he may not be on the same team with young Sasuke-kun for much longer" said Kabuto.

"How disappointing but regardless it does not really change anything, if he does change teams; I think I will arrange a little test for him before the Chunin exams, to glace a glimmer of his skill and potential. As I think it's only fitting that I test my old team-mate's son capability", said Orochimaru with a sinister smirk on his face.

At this Kabuto nodded agreement and told him he would make an effort to keep an eye on Naruto and learn everything he could about him. Before he left to return to the village, Kabuto handed Orochimaru a picture of Naruto so that he would know what he looks like.

When Kabuto left Orochimaru looked at the photo of Naruto, he could not help but lick his lips of the potential vessel that Naruto might make for him. "Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku ...I look forward to meeting you Naruto-kun, as I will be seeing you very soon", said Orochimaru to himself before he disappeared once again into the trees.

N/A

(1). Please note that the first name is what she is know as outside the village, as a Fanfiction writer I refuse to call her that outside the village, as it's the most ridicules nicknames I have ever heard. I have heard better nicknames from other Fanfiction stories than that one and even though its cannon I refuse to acknowledge regardless of any complaints that people have about not being true to the Manga in certain ways.

(2). Go to profile for image

Well another Chapter done again, hope you all enjoyed it with the reactions of everyone to Naruto abilities and his full heritage, Naruto being given two new sensei's, along with the other things that happened in it.

The next Chapter will be about Naruto meeting Yamato and Kushina, along with other things happening.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

Also my next story to be updated will be The Raikage, and I currently working on the next Chapter as you read this, so I will update as soon as possible.


	13. Chapter 13

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirteen: **___**Apprentice**_**.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-Konoha-

The sun rose as usual into clear skies over Konoha and the Yamanaka Flower Shop in the early morning. Yamanaka Ino had been given the early shift by her mother. "What a way to start my last free day before I begin my team training". She grumbled aloud. "And after tomorrow I have to spend most of my time with lazy-ass Shikamaru and Choji the gluten. I can't even go track down Forehead Girl and get her to tell what happened in her team exam, although I know they passed, as she with Sasuke and Naruto-kun, the two best Ninja's from our class!"

Ever since her little stumble with Naruto, Ino could not help but think about Naruto, and his dreamy clear Blue sapphire eyes, when she stared into them when she had landed on-top of him in class. At first Ino tried to brush the images off but every time she did, she would subconsciously think about them and Naruto's face and the feeling of being on top of him, which made her blush each time. What more when she went to bed she had several dreams of her and Naruto being together, one where Naruto was her prince charming and swept her off her feet, another was her and walking down the wedding ___aisle_ with Naruto waiting for her at then end. The third was her Naruto together with three blond little children (two girls and one boy) standing in front of them, while she held and blond baby girl in her hands.

After the dream, Ino had brushed it off again; thinking her mind was playing tricks on her, as she _loved_ Sasuke-kun. But the next day after Shikiamaru, Choji and she had passed their team test and had finished celebrating at the barbeque restaurant, (where Choji gorged himself on the pork). Ino decided to see how Sasuke was doing and if he wanted to celebrate with her on passing their team exams by going out on a date. But as she headed toward the Uchiha compound, she noticed several kids soaked to the skin from top to bottom, running as fast as they could out of an ally. Along with hearing Naruto voice shouting "…and if I ever see you picking this pup or any other animal again I do more than wet you".

When she looked in she saw Naruto helping a scared hurt pup, where he then healed it and fed it, upon healing the hurt pup. He came out of the alley saying something about bringing the pup home, after hiding and then following Naruto (while staying hidden) she saw him bring the pup to the Inuzuka Kennels, which Ino guessed was were he came from. After talking to Kiba (more like argue) along with an older girl and women, (who Ino had guessed were Kiba's mother and sister), for a few minutes Naruto left. But not before the pup started biting onto his Shinobi pants to get him to stay, where Naruto promised to comeback and visit.

After that Ino continued to follow Naruto while staying hidden, where she then saw him make solid clones of himself (much to her surprise) and the trained with himself by either Tajutsu or using his sword or practicing his throwing and aiming with his Kunai, Shurikens and Senbon needles. She also watched him eat some sandwiches and giving his leftovers to some hungry birds and animals that were staring at him nearby. After which he went back to training, as Ino watched him, she could not help but see that Naruto was a very kind person, she of course quickly tried to tell herself that Sasuke was just as nice. But of course she couldn't lie to herself, as in all the different times she had followed and watched Sasuke, she had never seen him once do anything remotely nice to anyone or anything like Naruto had done.

Later on when she got hungry and her stomach started to growl, as she eaten anything at the barbeque, as she was dieting. But when she had tired to hush her stomach's growls she had noticed two ham sandwiches on a small red cloth on the ground next to her. Naturally she had been surprised and wondered where they had come from, but she quickly figured out that somehow Naruto knew she was watching him, and had sent a clone to sneak up to her and lay the sandwiches next to her. At first Ino tried to ignore her hunger as she was dieting, but her resolve had ended soon and she ate the sandwiches, upon which she decided to go home, knowing she had been caught.

When she went home she met her father, who had just arrived home from a special Council meeting. When she asked what it was about he told her it was about Naruto, but other than that he refused to say, which Ino hated as being the daughter of a Shinobi interrogator made her natural curious. When she had went to bed she had several more dream about her and Naruto, after which she decided to follow Naruto the next day and find out why her subconscious found him so appealing. For most of the second day she followed Naruto around, where he went to do some shopping, Naruto greeted respectfully to anyone who greeted him first, unlike Sasuke who would normally ignore people's greetings. Later on she also watched Naruto being chatted up by several girls from her class, where upon seeing this Ino actually became _jealous_ and was actually tempted to go over and beat the crap out of the girls.

She also noticed that unlike Sasuke, Naruto did not simply ignore the girls and walk pass them, instead he spoke the them kindly and respectfully, where when each of the girls tired to ask him out on a date. He politely refused, saying that he was busy training or doing something at the time and saying things like "Perhaps another time, but thank you" and "I very sorry but I can't".

The more Ino watched Naruto the more she saw how better he seemed to be that Uchiha survivor, though she had been less than pleased at those thoughts. As despite common belief she is by no means, a shallow, frivolous girl. Yet no matter what she used to try and convince herself of Uchiha Sasuke's superiority, it failed time and again whenever she tried to compare the Uchiha pretty boy to Senju.

Naruto carried himself in a nobler, regal manner, yet with none of the overlaying dark shadow that seemed to be cast over the Uchiha survivor, and the fact that he acutely smiled and spoke more and was more polite than the young Uchiha.

As she had thought these things, she couldn't understand at first why she was letting Naruto get to her like this? As she knew the boy for barely a few days, and he had already invaded her every thought. Each time she tried to remember the face of her _beloved_ Uchiha, somehow, inexplicably, the sun kissed blonde's kind, gentle and happy visage would surface eventually, replacing the scowling image of the raven haired prodigy. But the worst thing about this whole ordeal was that, Naruto did absolutely nothing to her to cause this… at all.

It wasn't until much later on in the day that Ino finally realised she was somehow falling for the young Senju heir, after which she decided to find out more about Naruto, before she would make her move on him. Hence why she was itching to find Sakura, and hopefully find out as much as she could from her.

As luck would have it, the fates weren't completely against her that morning. No sooner than she'd wished she could go find Sakura, than the girl walked into the shop causing the little bell over the doorway to jingle merrily in greeting. "Good morning, Ino-Pig! Mom sent me to get her weekly flower order."

"Your mom's got a weekly order now, Forehead Girl?" Ino opened up the box containing little cards with the shop's orders written on them, and flipped through to the 'H' section for 'Haruno'.

"Yeah, she's into this Feng Shui thing now, and convinced that fresh flowers improve the 'energy' of the house."

"Cool. I'll go get them; Dad did the order this morning before he left to go training." Her dad was one of those weird 'morning people' freaks.

"I'd better come and help; there'll be a lot of them."

The two girls headed into the back room. Ino flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and then started gathering the things listed on the card, "I'm actually pretty glad you came in here this morning, Billboard. I wanted to officially let you know that I'm withdrawing from the Uchiha Sasuke fan club."

Sakura was so shocked that she dropped the lilies she was holding, "What?"

"Well, he's so yesterday, you know? Now that Naruto-kun is around there's no reason to drool over such a boring and cold boy like Sasuke".

"Blasphemy!" cried the Pinked haired girl.

"Come on Sakura you saw how well he did at the Academy exam, as he passed the tests without even attending a class even ONCE. On top of that, he's Tsunade-sama's son and the last descendant from Senju Clan, the founding clan of the village, AND both the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage!"

"Sasuke-kun is also the last descendant of the Uchiha Clan and they helped found the village, and Sasuke was named the Rookie of the Year, while Senju was made dead-last not to mention Sasuke-kun is dark, handsome, and mysterious".

"You know as well as I do, that was because Naruto only did the test and didn't do the four year class terms, besides the tall, dark, handsome thing is way out of style now. You're always so behind the times, Sakura! Also everyone knows that it was the Senju Clan's idea to found the village first, and it was the Shodaime whole built most of the village with his Mokuton powers along with the forest. As for mysterious, this Naruto-kun's got it in spades! His mom's raised him outside of Konoha for his own protection, and they say his father was such an awesomely powerful ninja with so many enemies that there's a law or something about saying his name!"

"That's stupid!" Sakura planted her hands on her hips and glared at her rival.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I heard! The Senju founded this village, you know, that makes him as close to a prince as we're ever going to get here! Besides, he's definitely handsome looking as well as cool looking as he wears a chain earring on his ear, meaning he a rebel as well, also he has bright blond hair and impossibly blue eyes!" she sighed dreamily.

"Well, okay…you can join his fan club if you want to", said Sakura as he had heard of a fan club for Naruto was being formed. "But we're definitely not letting you back into Sasuke-kun's if you change your mind! There's no room for the fickle minded in the race for Sasuke-kun's heart!" Sakura tossed her hair and nodded decisively.

"That's fine with me, as long as you promise not to change YOUR mind and go after Naruto-kun later!" replied Ino.

"Deal!" replied Sakura while thinking, "_Cha I've won, and I've bet Ino-pig!_" Inner Sakura response of this was of course, "_**Cha, Now with Ino-pig out of the way Sasuke-kun is all ours! Cha!**_"

"Ok now I want you to tell me what happened in your exam, as I want to know everything that happened in it, don't spare any of the details as my dad told me there was a council meeting about it", said Ino as she wanted out her how well her Naruto-kun did.

"I can't" said Sakura

"Why Not?" said an annoyed Ino, as she placed her hand on her hips.

"Kakashi-sensei came to my house later on after the exam and told me, I was forbidden to tell anyone what Senju could do until it official declared. If I or Sasuke-kun tells anyone we'll have our Ninja licence's revoked, our Chakra sealed and charged with endangering village security and spend twenty years in a Maximum security Cell", said Sakura as it kind of scared her at how serious Kakashi was when he said this.

"Your Kidding?" asked Ino in shock, where Sakura on response was shaking her head indicating she wasn't.

At this Ino knew that Naruto was even more mysterious and special than she thought, if the Hokage would go to all this trouble to keep his abilities hidden from everyone, making him all the more desirable to her.

"Can you a least tell me how strong he is?" asked the blond hair girl.

"Not exactly, other than he is amazingly strong, stronger than Sasuke-kun", said Sakura grudgingly as there was no point in denying it.

At this a triumphant smirk appeared on the young Yamanaka heiress face, "Hah! In your face Forehead, That proves that my Naruto-kun is better than the broody Uchiha".

"In your dreams Ino-pig, Senju may be strong now but Sasuke-kun will surpass him in no time flat", countered Sakura.

"Oh Yea!" replied Ino.

"Yea!" said Sakura.

"Oh Yea!"

"Yea!"

"Oh Yea!"

"Yea!"

This of course continued for several minutes, until eventually the two girls stopped and smiled at one another, where Sakura then asked a question.

"…so does this mean we can be friends again?"

"Sure, why not? Oh! You should come over to my house tonight! We can do each other's hair and discuss the relative merits of broody dark ninja boys and kind, mysterious blond ones!"

"Awesome! I'll bring low-fat ice-cream!"

-The Next Day with Naruto-

Currently running through the streets for his life was everyone's favourite blonde haired Senju, the reason as to why he was running was rather simple, for not far behind him, was up to fifty girls from the newly formed Naruto fan club, who were shouting things like.

"Marry me Naruto-kun!"

"I what to be yours, Naruto-kun!"

"I want to have your babies!"

Originally Naruto was on his way to meet up with his team, at their training ground, but as he was heading there he was confronted by a large group of girls from his fan club who then, started to chase after him.

Upon hearing the things that the girls were shouting, Naruto became further freaked out, "_Kaa-chan was right! Fan girls are crazy as hell!_" As he didn't even know half of these girls, as many weren't even from his class or from the Academy.

"Damn it, this is all Kaa-chan's fault, she had to drill things like being polite to people and not to be rude….why the hell do I have to be a nice guy. Why couldn't I be a jerk like the Uchiha-teme, all he has to do is look the other way and they faint" thought Naruto as he slightly blamed his mother for his good nature. Ever since going to the Daimyo Country estate, his mother had pounded proper manners into him, and to be polite as possible to people. Hence when his "fan girls" came up to him he polity spoke to them and denied their request for a date politely so not to hurt their feelings. Unfortunately this made Naruto even more desirable to the girls, as they saw Naruto as a perfect gentleman, hence why they were going berserk over him.

As Naruto turned into an alley he found himself in a dead end, and before he could turn around the entrance way was blocked his "fan club" and he knew he was trapped.

Fortunately though before they could pounce on the helpless Senju heir, a red blur suddenly appeared, upon which Naruto disappeared, right before the girl's eyes.

"Where did he go?" asked one girl.

"I don't know?" said another girl

"Did he **Shunshin** away?"

"I don't think so"

"Come on he can't have gone far"

After which the Naruto fan club preceded to search for their missing "_love_".

But unknown to the group of girls on the rooftop of a building not far from them, Naruto stood watching them, and sighed with relief before he turned to his rescuer, "Thanks I own you one".

The person in question was none other than Uzumaki Kushina, who was on her way to met with team seven when she saw Naruto being chased by his "fan club", and then being cornered by them. Seeing this, Kushina decided to help Naruto out a bit and save him before the girls ripping him to shreds, as it was her job to protect him and keep a eye on him.

"Sure Kid no problem" replied Kushina as she got a better look at Naruto from the last time she saw him, and could not help but be amazed at how much he looked like Minato.

Seeing Kushina looking at him with a strange look, Naruto decided to speak, "Is there something wrong miss?"

Realising what she was doing, Kushina quickly regained herself, "Eh, no sorry… I was just thinking of something that's all and call me Kushina".

At this Naruto nodded and held out his hand, which Kushina took, "Nice to meet you Kushina-san".

When Kushina shook his hand, Naruto could not help but have a strange feeling that he had met Kushina before.

"Excuse me, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but have we met before? As I have a strange feeling that we have" asked Naruto, which caused Kushina to smile.

"Actually we have, we met when you took care of that snake Mizuki", replied Kushina.

As Naruto thought back to that night, it suddenly hit him, "You were that ANBU woman wearing the Fox mask, as he remembered that the woman had long red hair like Kushina and he recognised the sound of her voice".

Kushina just nodded her head in affirmation, telling Naruto that he was correct. "Although I'm no longer a ANBU as I'm a Jonin now" she replied

"Oh! then I guess congratulations"

"Thanks, so are you heading to meet with the rest of your team?"

"Yes I' am but how did you know?" asked a curious Naruto at how she knew that.

At this Kushina smile and said, "Well if you follow me there you find out", before she then jump over to the next building and started to head towards the third training ground. Not wanting to be left behind Naruto quickly followed after her.

-At Third Training Ground-

At the third training ground Sakura and Sasuke, waited for their other team-mates, although Sasuke had only arrived a few minutes ago, while Sakura had been there since nine and waited for the rest of her team for the past two hours. It was only upon arriving that she remembered about Kakashi's habit of being tardy, where she decided just to wait.

When Sasuke arrived she had tried talking to him, hoping to win Sasuke over, now that her biggest rival Ino had finally "realised" that Sasuke was "hers" and was now after Senju.

But when she tried to talk to Sasuke he just ignored her attempts, where he just closed his eyes and waited for Naruto and Kakashi to show up so that they could start training and doing missions, where he can finally start getting stronger.

Upon Sakura's fifth attempted at trying to talk to Sasuke, Naruto and Kushina appeared together.

"Senju your late!" cried an angry Sakura at Naruto for arriving right when she was about to make her move on Sasuke (again). But upon shouting this she quickly noticed Kushina, "Uh! Sorry, but who are you?"

Before Kushina could answer Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato and another young boy appeared.

"Ah! Good everyone is here so we c-" spoke Kakashi but was interrupted by Sakura shouting "Sensei your late!"

"Ah sorry about that I got lost on the road of life" replied Kakashi, with one of his lousy excuses, which made Kushina and Naruto smirk, Yamato to roll his eyes, Sasuke to scoff, Sakura to fume and the boy with Kakashi to simply look at him curiously.

"Now then as I was about to say, now that everyone is here I can tell you that there going to be a some changes in our team",

"Changes? What Changes Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakuru, while Sasuke raised eye eyebrow in curiosity as well.

"Well to put it simply Naruto will no longer be on our team, although he will work with us from time to time in joint assignments and missions", spoke Kakashi.

At here this Sakura was cheering inside hear head along with her inner self at finally having Sasuke all to themselves and being rid of Naruto. But then Sakura decided to ask something, "Sensei, why exactly is Naruto leaving our team and who are these people?"

"Well you see these people here are Yamato and Kushina, they use to work with me when I was in ANBU", replied Kakashi, which surprised Sasuke and Sakura at hearing that their Sensei use to be part Konoha's elite Shinobi division. "Naruto will become Yamato's apprentice, while Kushina will be assisting him in Naruto's training".

Upon hearing this Sasuke stood up angrily, "Why is Senju getting an apprenticeship with two sensei's, who are both former ANBU ninja's, while I'm stuck on a team, I just as special as him and My Clan is just as noble as his!"

Sakura, who would normally have backed up Sasuke on such matters, but had remained silent as she could not help but be hurt at the fact that Sasuke didn't like the fact that he was on a team with her.

Naruto also remained silent as he knew it was best that he say nothing as it would only make things worse, not to mention he was still a bit surprised had hearing this.

"The reason being Sasuke, is because Naruto is a special case and there are certain things I cannot teach him, such as his Mokuton, which I cannot help him with, although Yamato and Kushina can", replied Kakashi.

"Not to mention the fact that the kid kicked your sorry ass in your bell test" spoke Kushina with a smirk, where Kakashi groaned and slapped his head to his forehead in shame and embarrassment, while Naruto justy smirked. As upon hearing of his defeat, none of Kakashi's former ANBU colleagues or his fellow Jonin-sensei's had let him forget about it, where they teased him relentlessly. It only got worse as when they asked how Naruto beat him, where Kakashi couldn't answer, due to the Hokage forbidden in mentioning Naruto's abilities to anyone, until they were official revealed.

Natural when he refused to answers the other believed it was because he was too ashamed and embarrassed by how Naruto defeated him to mention it to anyone, hence they just teased him more. It got even worse for Kakashi when Gai heard of his defeated to Naruto, where the eccentric Shinobi, started to shout out about how the "Flames of Youth" burned brightly in Naruto for defeating his "Eternal Rival". After which Gai took it upon himself to help Kakashi regain his lost "Flames of Youth" from his defeated to the "Youthful" Naruto, where Gai then dragged Kakashi on several of his exercise regimes and doubled his challenges to Kakashi. The last three days had been utter hell for the one-eyed Ninja, whether it was from endless a mount of teasing from Kushina and his other fellow Shinobi's or Gai relentless attempts to "help" him.

Upon hearing Kakashi's answer Sasuke just glared angrily at Kakashi, as he was not happy to hear this and saw this as just an excuse to give Naruto special treatment and allow him to gain even more power, while leaving him (Sasuke) behind. Not to mention he didn't like being reminded of how powerful Naruto was and how weak he was incomprehension to Naruto.

"Then who is he?" asked Sakura, as she pointed to the boy next to Kakashi, the boy in question had short ink-black hair, ink black eyes, and extremely pale skin. He carried a small backpack and wore a short black jacket. He also carried a tipless tantō on his back, while his outfit consisted of a high collared midriff shirt, black pants, Shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed. Sakura, also noticed there was a slight physically resembles between him and Sasuke despite the boy's short hair and pale skin.

"Ah allow me to introduce you to your new team-mate Sai", spoke Kakashi introducing his students to Sai, who stepped forward.

"Hmph! Looks like another loser to me" muttered Sasuke, as he looked away from Sai.

"Oh? That's funny coming from a useless, dickless pantywaist", said Sai, while having a smiled on his.

"What was that?" spoke Sasuke as he glared a Sai angrily, who just had his smile on his face.

"Hey don't call Sasuke-kun that!" cried Sakura angrily, as she was angry at the Sai had called "her" Sasuke-kun useless and dickless, "That's no way to talk to someone, we're on the same team now, and if you call everyone that everyone will hate you".

"Oh really?" said Sai with the same smile one his face "And I really like ugly bitch's like you".

"WWWHHHAATTTT?" cried Sakura angrily, were she was about to attack, Sai and beat him to a pulp, only to be held back from behind by Kakashi. Who could only wonder if this was the correct decision after all, at seeing how Sai got on even worse with Sasuke and Sakura than Naruto did with them.

As this was happening Naruto was laughing his head off at what Sai had said, "Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha …Brilliant!" said Naruto, "_I think I might actually like this guy_" he thought.

"Good one man… names Naruto nice to you" said Naruto as he held out his hand and offered to shake Sai hand, which he took.

"Nice to meet you too…dickless", replied Sai, where as soon as he said this, Naruto's grip on his hand suddenly tightened, but still had a friendly smile on his face, where he then asked, "What did you just say?"

"I said you're dickless, are you deaf as well" answered Sai still smiling, where as soon as he did an evil smirk suddenly appeared on Naruto face along with a dangerous look in his eyes that Kakashi seen only a few days ago knew well.

Before anyone could react, Naruto sent Sai flying away, through three nearby tree's with a punch to the face, after which he started to crack his knuckles in an all too familiar way to what his mother would do.

Both Sakura and Sasuke, as they were both surprised by Naruto sudden punch, but quickly regained himself, where Sasuke smirked and gave a nod of approval to Naruto at what he had done. Sakura also smirked as well, pleased at what Naruto did to Sai, only wishing she had done it herself, "_**Cha! Serves the bastard right, how dare he, call our Sasuke-kun dickless and useless, Cha!**_" thought inner Sakura.

Naruto would have course gone after Sai to beat him up some more, had Kushina not appeared next to him and said, "Easy there kid, I think he's got the message, no need to go overboard" said Kushina, calming Naruto down. While thinking, "_The kid may look like Minato-kun, but he acts more like his mother_". While at the same time Yamato was beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

Once Naruto had calmed down, Kushina turned to Kakashi, suggesting that they take off now with Naruto, and leave him with his team. Kakashi nodded in agreement, believing it might be best, where he could then see if Sai was alright and then "_try_" and get his reformed team to work together.

As this was happening Sai was currently slumped against a tree, with a broken bleeding nose, and a slight concussion. "_Perhaps pissing him off was not the wisest course of action, especially with him having monstrous strength like that…I beginning to see why Danzo-sama is so interest in him_" he thought.

Originally Sai was to be the third person on team seven, as his orders were to monitor Sasuke and see if at any point he would wish the village harm or turn traitor. While at the same time watch his progress as see if he might be a worthy candidate for ROOT at some point in the near further.

Where if he was, Danzo would then use Sasuke drive for revenge against his brother and offer him training to become stronger. Thereby mold Sasuke into a perfect loyal Shinobi for Konoha and him, where he then would use Sasuke to rebuild the Uchiha Clan into a perfect loyal Clan to Konoha and him (Danzo). As well as perhaps use Sasuke to kill Itachi thereby eliminating the threat that Itachi posed to him as well to help him further his goal to become Hokage and reform Konoha into his image.

But if Sasuke, showed the chance that he would betray the village and join and enemy of Konoha, or simply go rogue then Sai was to kill Sasuke on the spot.

But upon Naruto arriving in the village, Sai orders had changed, where Danzo had ordered Sai to monitor not only Sasuke, but to monitor Naruto as well and to study him carefully and report anything of interest or noteworthy to Danzo. As Danzo knew that although Naruto would an apprentice to Yamato, he would still work with team seven on joint missions and training along with other teams. Thereby allowing Sai the chance, to watch Naruto, so that he could learn as much about Naruto as possible, as well as monitor his growing skill level, so that at some point Danzo could use what he learned to get close to Naruto and manipulate him or better yet have him join him.

-With Naruto, Yamato and Kushina-

After the little event at the third training ground, Naruto, Yamato and Kushina **Shunshin'd **into an isolated clearing in the forest, so that they could have a little privacy. Kushina made double sure of it by placing several seals on some of the trees around the clearing, and created a four corner privacy zone, where no-one would be able to enter it nor would they be able to hear what they were saying.

"Now then, now with that little episode is behind us perhaps we should try and get to know one another better", spoke Yamato taking a page from Kakashi's book, hoping to forget what had happened.

"Fine then, how would you like to start it then Yamato?" asked Kushina.

"Perhaps, by telling each other, our likes, our dislikes, hobbies and dreams" said Yamato taking another page from Kakashi's book.

"How both you guys go first, as I know nothing about either of you other than your names and that you be my new Sensei's, while your guys probably know a lot about me from the jiji", spoke Naruto.

At hearing Naruto calling the Hokage gramps, Kushina smiled, as when off duty she just called the Hokage old man, which eared many frowns from people. Yamato on the other hand raised one of his eyebrows, but decided to let it go, as it was common knowledge how close the Sandaime had been with his students. Hence it would be only natural that Tsunade son would see the Sandaime as a grandfather, many of the children in the village today looked to the Sandaime as a grandfatherly like figure as well.

Soon though, both Kushina and Yamato nodded their heads in agreement in talking about themselves first, as it was only fair, as they did know a good bit about Naruto already.

"Very well then, my name is Yamato, my likes are Walnuts and growing things, my dislikes are any food that is oily and those who put their comrades in danger because of their reckless behaviour. My hobbies are reading books about architecture and as for dreams I don't particular have any dreams to be honest", said Yamato.

After Yamato finished Kushina then spoke, "My name is Uzumaki Kushina, my likes are Ramen particularly salt ramen and playing pranks on people, my dislikes are perverts, people who make fun of my hair, coffee and anything bitter. My hobbies are pulling pranks and chatting to my friends, as for my dreams, my dreams are to have my own family …and to be the first female Hokage!" said Kushina as she cried out the last part and punch her fist into the air.

At this Yamato had a large sweat drop on the back on his head and shook his head in embarrassment at Kushina's antics, while Naruto just grinned, as he was already starting to like Kushina. As she liked Raman, pulling pranks, hated perverts and wanted to be Hokage just like him.

"Hah! Well you better get line lady because I telling you I going to be the next Hokage and that's a fact" stated Naruto as he stood up to Kushina.

"Hah! Like a brat like you will become Hokage, you may think your hot stuff because of your mom, dad and the rest of your family, but it takes a lot more to be Hokage than just being born from a family of Hokage's. So don't think for one minute that you be handed the title because you're the descendant of the Shodaime and the Nidaime" stated Kushina.

"If they did, then I would refuse it, as being Hokage is meaningless to me if I haven't earned it and if it's given to me because of my ancestor's" retorted Naruto.

At hearing this Kushina smirked, as she was starting to like Naruto, as he definitely got the drive and the determination to being Hokage.

It was at this point then that Naruto remembered what Kushina said a minute ago, "Wait you said not to think I'm hot stuff because of my mom and my dad. Do you guys know about my dad?" asked Naruto, this of course caused Yamato to smack his forehead and cover his eyes and shake his head. As Kushina the blabbermouth had done it again, as they were told not to tell Naruto that they knew his full heritage unless it necessary. Kushina of course could only scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and blushed slightly and have a cheesy grin on her countenance.

Deciding to answer Naruto question Yamato spoke up "Yes we are aware of your full heritage, Naruto-san".

"Did Jiji tell you?" asked Naruto, thinking that old Hokage told them, since they were going to be his Sensei's.

"No Jiraiya-sama informed us" replied Yamato.

"Ero-sennin told you!" stated Naruto in slight surprise.

"Ero-sennin?" asked Kushina with slight confusion.

"That what I call Jiraiya, as he the biggest pervert you can find around and he is a sage after all", answered Naruto.

Upon hearing this Kushina burst out laughing, saying that was a perfect nickname for Jiraiya as it suited his perfectly and wondering why she never thought of that herself.

After a few minutes Kushina calmed herself down, where Naruto then asked why they were told. As his mother and Jiraiya made it perfectly clear that the fewer people knew about his dad the better.

Kushina then went on to explain how they found, after which Naruto then smacked his palm to his face and the shook his head.

"Damn Ero-sennin, trust him to open his big mouth…Kaa-cahn is going to kill him when she finds out". But as he was thinking what his mother was going to do to his big mouth godfather for saying something he shouldn't in front of people, Naruto then remembered something else that Kushina said.

"Wait Kushina-sensei you said that your family name is Uzumaki, as in the Uzumaki Clan from, Uzushiogakure no Sato (Village Hidden among the Whirling Tides)?" asked Naruto, where Kushian just nodded.

"Then that means we're related in away, as our clans were distant relatives and my Great Grandmother Uzumaki Mito was from your clan", stated Naruto. As he knew all about his Clan relation to the Uzumaki Clan and how both the Uzumaki Clan and his Clan shared a common ancestor and were distantly related to one another and had close ties. She had even told them that those ties continued on when his Clan formed Konoha and the Uzumaki formed Uzushiogakure, where both villages's had equally strong ties, which were only strengthen when his Great Grandfather married his Great Grandmother Uzumaki Mito. When the village was destroyed at the end of the Second Great Shinobi World War, as a sign of respect and as a sign of the strong friendship between the two villages, Countries and Clans, all Konoha Shinobi vests bear the crest of Uzushiogakure.

"I guess you could say that" said Kushina, as in away Naruto was right.

"That's pretty cool, as in away we're kind of like distant cousins something" said Naruto with a smile.

"Yea I guess we are" replied Kushin with her own smile.

Yamato who was watching this could not help but smile, and silently remark at how much alike the two were and was glad that they were getting on so well, as it made things a lot easier when he and Kushina started teaching Naruto. As despite his great skill and talent, Naruto still had a lot to learn.

"Hey! Now that I think about it, I also remember hearing your name from Ero-sennin and something about you", spoke Naruto.

At this Kushina became slightly worried, as she was hopping it wasn't about her past relationship with his father, as if he did know that then it could make things very awkward from them, especially when she was training him.

"Now I remember! You use to be in my dad's class when he was in the academy, there was also some nickname that they use to call you…" said Naruto as he was trying to remember. "Eh…what was it now…er…mmmm….apple…tomboy…promato…ah, yea now I remember it was tomato, because of your round face and red hair that was shaped like a tomato" said Naruto.

But in the moment after Naruto said Tomato, he began to wish he hadn't has when he said it he suddenly came face to face with something, that even made his father the legendaryKonoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash) cower in fear, …as he came face to face with a furious Kushina. For the moment that Naruto said the word Tamato, a dark terrifying aura surrounded Kushina along with glowing eerily red eyes, while her bright red hair began to rise and move around like roaring flames.

Yamato who saw this, slowly yet silently moved away a bit and behind a nearby tree as he didn't want to be near what he knew what was going to happen next. As Kushina temper was legendary in ANBU, where if they valued their lives no-one not even the Hokage would dare piss the women off. He also hope Kushina wouldn't kill Naruto, as if she did chances were the Hokage may pin the blame on him, when Tsunade returned and found our her son was killed, so that he wouldn't have the face Tsunade wrath himself.

In that moment when he saw Kushina in her terrify form, that Naruto also remembered another name that Kushina was know as…the Akai Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero), where according to his Godfather. Back when she was a kid a group of kids tease her openly over her hair-style and at being new, having enough of their teasing she had attacked all of them and beating them into a bloody pummel and did so to anyone else who ever teased her. This of course earned her the nickname Akai Chishio no Habanero, it was when Naruto came face to face to the furious looking Kushina, that he finally learned what it was like to be his perverted Godfather when he was facing his mother's fury. For according to Jiraiya, Kushina's fury was said to rival even his mother's fury, where it could make the likes of his father, Jiraiya and the Sandaime, cower like frighten rabbits in the face of it.

"_Crap!_" thought Naruto when he saw Kushina, where he could of swore he saw devil like horns sporting out of her head. After which he then did the only thing a man could done in his position he ran like the wind, with Kushina the Akai Chishio no Habanero hot on his heels.

For the next hour or so people from around Konoha could hear loud explosions, angry and frighten cries coming from the forest, as well as seeing several large mushroom shapes clouds from large explosions.

After about an hour or so Yamato was finally able to calm his captain down, although it had not been easy, luckily though Naruto was quite good a evading all of Kushina's attacks thanks the many years of his mother's bombardment training. Hence other than a few scratches that were quickly healed thanks to the Kyubi, Naruto was relatively unharmed.

Once Kushina had calmed down, Naruto made a mental note never to piss off Kushina or get on her bad side again, although another part of him (The prankster part of him) made a mental note to get his godfather in trouble wither her and see what she would do them him.

"So if you guys know about my dad then I guess your also know about you know what?" asked Naruto referring to the Kyubi.

"Yes we are also aware of that, which was another reason why Kushina-senpai and I were selected by the Sandaime Hokage to train you. So that in the event that you might accidentally unleash the Kyuubi's powers in battle and you lose control of yourself, Kunshina-senpai or I can stop you and contain you until you revert to your normal state", replied Yamato.

"But I have never used the Kyubi power before, nor do I know how to beside, according Ero-sennin my Mokuton powers help suppress it powers and most of its effect on me", retorted Naruto.

"That is most likely true, but eventually at some point you will be called upon to use it or accidently access its power during battle, and regardless of you Mokuton powers. The Kyubi Chakra and influence can overcome you, as like all jinchūriki's, your emotions are linked to your biju. So if you feel a tremendous rage or anger it highly likely that you will inadvertently access the Kyubi's power and go out of control", spoke Yamato.

"Ok I get that, but what can you guys do to stop me, if I do go out of control when I'm using the Kyubi power?" asked Naruto.

"Well like you Naruto-san I possess the power of Mokuton, while Kushina-senpai has particularly strong Chakra that is well suited for restraining jinchūriki's or more precise biju if they go out of control. Also Kushina-senpei is extremely skilled and Knowledgeable in fūinjutsu, where she shared some of her Knowledge with the Yondaime Hokage", spoke Yamato.

At this revelation Naruto was of course surprise, "You taught my dad fūinjutsu? But Ero sennin always said he taught my dad everything he knew in fūinjutsu" said Naruto in surprise.

"Jiraiya likes to think he did, but I thought your dad few tricks here or there as my Clan were famed throughout the world as fūinjutsu masters", replied Kushina.

"So could you teach me some things?" asked Naruto eagerly.

"That what I'm here for", replied Kushin a with a smile, where Naruto then started to jump up and down saying how he couldn't wait to get started, before he then stopped, as there was something else he wanted to know.

"Wait! How are you able to do Mokuton, the only other person alive other than me that can use Mokuton is a guy name Tenzo, as he had my Great Granddad's DNA placed in him by that snake-teme Orochimaru when he was a baby", spoke Naruto.

Naruto knew all this thanks to Jiraiya who told him, upon telling him, how Naruto was going to be trained in using his Mokuton bloodline. When Naruto learned what Orochimaru did, it made him sick, where he swore if he ever saw the Snake bastard he punch him so hard that he splatter all over the continent.

"That is I, as Yamato is my code name, which is what I would like you to refer to me if you please, although my real name in Tenzo (1)" spoke Yamato/Tenzo.

"Ok then Ten- I mean Yamato-sensei", spoke Naruto until he realise something, "Hey I just realised, if you got my Grandfather's DNA in you then that means, you and I are related too".

At this Yamato raised an eyebrow in surprise, and thought about if or a moment and realised that Technically Narutop was correct as he did indeed have the Shodaime Hokage's DNA meaning that technically he was in away related to Naruto.

"I believe one could see it that way, but if you would Naruto-san I would like you to keep that revelation hidden for now at least, as it would cause unneeded confusion and questions among the populace of Konoha. So I would think it best that we keep this to ourselves", spoke Yamato, where Naruto just nodded in understanding.

"Ok kid, I think its time for your introduction as we have both done ours while you have yet to do yours", spoke Kushina.

"Ok then", spoke Naruto, "My name is Senju Naruto my likes include Raman, my Ka-chan, Shizune onee-chan, our pet pig TonTon, Ero-sennin, playing pranks, my friends, training and reading. I dislike, bullies, traitors, the three minutes that take to cook my Ramen and Perverts, my hobbies are Training, reading and Gardening and making perverts suffer, my dreams for the future are to be a Great Medic-nin like my Ka-chan. To restore my Clan and to bethe greatest Hokage! That way, people will stop always comparing me to the rest of my family and acknowledge me as myself and not someone related to great ninja's. So you better but your dream of being Hokage on hold for a while Sensei, because I going to be Hokage!" said Naruto with confidence.

At this Kushina just smirked and said, "We'll we see about that soon enough kid".

"Ok then now that introductions are all done Naruto-san I would like to know exactly how many Jutsu's you know and how skilled you are in your Mokuton Bloodline, so that I will know where to start", said Yamato.

"Also I want to know how skilled you're in using your Katana and what kind of seals that _Ero-sennin_ has taught you" said Kushina, using Naruto nickname form Jiraiya, as she just loved the sound of it as if fitted so well with Jiraiya. Not to mention she couldn't wait to see him again and see his reaction when she starts calling him that.

"Well in Water Ninjutsu I know **Suiton: Mizurappa** (Water Style: Violent Water Wave), **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu** (Water Clone Technique), **Suiton: Teppōdama** (Water Style: Gunshot), **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique) and **Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki** (Water, Wind, Lightning Combo: Supreme Electric Water Dragon). In Earth Ninjutsu I know **Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu** (Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique), **Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu** (Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique), **Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu** (Earth Style: Underground Projection Fish Technique), **Doton: Doroku Gaeshi** (Earth Style: Earth Shore Return), **Doton: Retsudo Tenshō** (Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm) and **Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu** (Earth Clone Technique). I don't really know any Lightning Techniques other than how to channel it into my Katana to increase my Katana's cutting and stabbing power. With the exception of **Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash) I don't really know any Wind Techniques, other than how to channel it into my Katana to increase its range and cutting power. As for Mokuton I know **Moku Bunshin no Jutsu** (Wood Clone Technique), **Mokuton: Henge** (Wood Release: Transformation) and two technique I created myself **Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles) and **Mokuton: Ne no Sashi** (Wood Release: Impaling Roots). In Genjutsu I know **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique), **Kori Shinchū no Jutsu** (Sly Mind Affect Technique), **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique), **Magen: Jubaku Satsu** (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death), **Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique). As for sealing well I know how to do a Chakra suppressing seal, although it not that strong, I know **Shikoku Fūin** (Finger Engraving Seal), **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** (Four Corner Immobilization Seal), **Fūinjutsu****: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru** (Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal), **Infūin: Kai** (Yin Seal: Release) and Generic Sealing. I also know regular **Henge **(Transformation),** Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique), **Kage Bushin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique), **Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique), **Shunshin no Jutsu** (Body Flicker Technique), **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Body Replacement Technique) and using **Shōsen Jutsu **(Mystical Palm Technique), **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel). My Taijutsu is ok especially when I use my superhuman strength, although I can't really rate it as I created my own style myself. I'm pretty good when it comes to healing injuries, illnesses and poisons and using poisons, although I'm nowhere near Kaa-chan's and Shizune-onee-chan's levels. My Kenjutsu is also ok as I had some decent teachers and I'm also pretty good, when it comes to using and throwing Kunai's, Senbons needles and Shurikens", said Naruto.

Upon hearing all this both Kushina and Yamato were naturally wide eyed with surprised, as they never expected Naruto to know so many different jutsu's, as it was exceedingly rare for anyone Naruto's age to know so many different technique let alone a Genin.

"Wow that an impressive arsenal you got there kid", commented Kushina.

"Indeed" replied Yamato, as he was also impressed that Naruto was able to use any Mokuton Techniques with no real help, not to mention create his own Mokuton Jutsu. As when he first started to use is Mokuton powers, Yamato had to relay heavily on the Mokuton scrolls he was given by the Sanadime Hokage from the Senju Clan's secret Library. Also he noticed that with the exception of **Shōsen Jutsu**, **Chakura no Mesu**, **Magen: Jubaku Satsu**, **Infūin: Kai**, **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**, **Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki**, **Surasshu-fū**, **Kage Bushin no Jutsu **and the** Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**, most of Naruto other Jutsu's were C, D and E rank Jutsu's

"But I'm not familiar with the **Infūin: Kai** Jutsu that you mentioned" stated Kushina.

"Ah, that's because it's an **Fūinjutsu** that Kaa-chan created herself and she placed on me and taught me how to use,", replied Naruto as he then took off his Konoha head-band and lift his fringe to show a blue diamond on his forehead much like his mother was know to have.

"What does it do?" asked Kushina, generally curious.

"The seal involves me focusing and building up a large amount of Chakra and storing it into the diamond shaped seal on my forehead over a period of time. When I release the seal the Chakra that I have stored in the seal is to pump back into my body. This then allows me to perform another Technique that Kaa-chan created and taught to me called the **Sōzō Saisei** (Creation Rebirth), which uses the Chakra I dispersed to stimulate the proteins of my body, so to increase the speed of cell division and reconstruction of cells for as long as I have Chakra. This allows me to recreate any organs and tissues that I may lose or is damaged, thus it is the absolute pinnacle of medical ninjutsu. Although the technique itself does not regenerate the old cells, rather it hastens the creation of new ones through division, so in away for the duration of the Technique the user gains a form of immortality as they cannot be killed easily", stated Naruto.

Upon hearing this Yamato and Kushina were left gapping at hearing of Tsunade creating such a Technique, as well as Naruto being able to use such a Technique. Although it proved without the shadow of a doubt, that Tsunade was indeed the greatest Medic in the entire world, as to be able to create such amazing Technique.

"Although like all great Ninjutsu this one has a serious side effect", continued Naruto, causing Kushina and Yamato to refocus their attention on him again. "For you see a body's cells can only split a certain number of times in a lifetime, and by speeding up this process, the user lifespan will shorten, depending on the level of injuries they suffer. For example if the user suffers not very serious injuries then the user will lose very little of their life span, although if they're on the verge of dying or suffer a mortal would they will lose a large part of their life span. This is why Kaa-chan has made both **Sōzō Saisei** and **Infūin: Kai** S rank Techniques and declared the **Sōzō Saisei **Kinjutsu", said Naruto.

After hearing all this both Yamato and Kushina, were once again stunned to hear of the side-effect of the Technique, for as amazing as the Technique was it had a serious double edge to it.

"Why would Tsunade teach you such a Technique if it so dangerous?" asked Kushina as she found it hard to believe that Tsunade would teach her own son such a dangerous technique.

"Kaa-chan would rather have me shorten my life span by a bit, rather than lose my life entirely" answered Naruto simply.

Hearing Naruto's answer, Kushina could only reluctantly agree with what Tsuande did, as if she was in Tsunade position she rather have her child live with a slightly sorter lifespan than not at all.

"Very then Naruto-san now that we know where you stand in Jutsu, we will test you on your Taijutsu and Kenjustu skill" spoke Yamato.

For the next hour or so Yamato spared with Naruto in Taijutsu (without Naruto using his superhuman strength), where he was then able to gauge Naruto Taijutsu skill level. When finished, Yamato had to admit that Naruto Taijutsu skill was quite impressive and was equally impressed that he created it himself. Although there was several faults with his Taijutsu, such as his stances could be too rigid at times, where he could not react was well as he should, and often enough he left himself unbalance at times, where an opponent could easily make him fall. But despite these defects along with several others, Naruto fighting style could one day prove to be a powerful fighting style one day, once he had perfected it, which he could with enough practice and the right training.

After Yamato had finished sparing with Naruto, Kushina then began her spar with him in Kenjutsu, where the spared for another hour. When finished Kushina was greatly impressed with Naruto's skill, as unlike with his Taijutsu, Kushina could tell that he had some training from a skilled swordsman. Since Naruto's skill with a Katana, was too high for it not to be, as he had prove he could hold his own for while in a serious sword fight, before being defeated. When she had finished sparing with him, she asked who had trained him, where Naruto had told her about the incident at the Fire Daimyo's Country estate and how as a reward for saving his Granddaughter. The Fire Daimyo had summoned Kensai, the strongest Samurai and Swordsman in Hi no Kuni, to train Naruto in using Kenjutsu. Although Naruto did not mention Killer Bee has also trained him in Kenjutsu, as he feared Kushina and Yamato would tell the Hokage and causing many unwanted questions for him to answer, especially ones from his mother when she found out.

Upon hearing Naruto saving the Fire Daimyo Granddaughter, Kushina could not help but smile, as she could tell that Naruto had inherited his father's habit of going off to rescue people in danger and putting himself in harms way.

"Well brat, you sure know some powerful people, as having saved the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter probably earned you a lot of brownie points with him, as having someone like the Fire Daimyo as a friend and owe you one, can certainly come in handy. Who knows he might even later on try and arrange for you and his Granddaughter to be hitched" teased Kushina, knowing it probably annoy Naruto, which it did.

"It's not like that, Rurichiyo-chan and I are friends and that's it!" stated an annoyed Naruto.

"OOOOhhhhh! Rurichiyo-chan is it, you sure move fast kid, are you trying to become the next Fire Daimyo already", teased Kushina further as she was really enjoying teasing Naruto.

Hearing this caused Naruto the turn bright red, with anger and embarrassment at Kushina's, teasing, "_She's as bad as Onee-chan!_" thought anger Naruto.

Seeing how anger Naruto was getting a Kushina's teasing and not wanting to have to chase after Naruto when he loses his temper and goes after Kushina. Yamato decided to nip it in the bud, suggesting that they all go out to dinner to celebrate their team's formation. This of course got the desired result, where the subject was changed from Naruto's relationship with the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter. As both Kushina and Naruto agreed, when asked where they would eat both Kushina and Naruto shouted out "Ichiraku Ramen Bar!" which caused Yamato to sweat drop, at the two Ramen fanatics.

Soon enough Naruto and his two new sensei's, walked out of the forest and headed for Ichiraku as the walked through the crowed streets, where many people, would stop to stare at Naruto and his sensei's, or they would simply greet him, which Naruto would do in return.

As they walked on through the streets both Kushina and Yamato, felt as if they were being watched by someone, but when they looked around they saw and felt nothing. After failing to see or feel anything, both former ANBU members believed it was just them acting paranoid, as often enough when in the crowed streets of Konoha. The Shinobi's would sometimes feel as they're being watched when they weren't, due to always being on guard on missions.

* * *

As Yamato, Kushina and Naruto walked on a figure hiding behind the Water tower on the roof of a building came out and continued to watch Naruto and his Sensei's, although did not try to follow anymore.

"_My, My that was close, I can't forget I dealing with the __Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury) and clearly the other person with her is a high level ANBU like her, since he was just able to sense me. I can't afford to follow them like this, as chances are I might not be so lucky if I continue to try and follow them_", thought the person following them, where when he stepped out from behind the Water tower and he revealed himself to be Kabuto.

Kabuto had been secretly following Naruto, since they left the forest, but as he tired to get closer Kushina and Tenzo sensed him for a moment, forcing him to hide. He had tried to follow Naruto earlier, but had been forced to stop when Kushina appeared, he also could not afford to follow them to the Third training ground, as he doubted he could avoid detection with two former ANBU captains there.

Kabuto of course knew a great deal about Kushina, as she was a person of noteworthy interest, being a highly skilled and powerful Shinobi as well as ANBU much like Kakashi. As if he went by her reputation alone, Kabuto knew she would a person that he would like to avoid fighting.

Unfortunately Kabuto did not know anything about Yamato other than he was a former ANBU like Kushina. Deciding to leave his surveillance of Naruto for now, Kabuto then decided to send a report to his master Orochimaru that Naruto had left his former team and was under the apprenticeship of Uzumaki Kushina and another former ANBU named Yamato.

He knew that his master wouldn't be too pleased of him gathering so little about Naruto skill level, abilities and anything more about him, but there was little he could do without jeopardising his cover, as he needed to stay in Konoha for just a little longer. But he planned on continuing his surveillance of Naruto another time, when things settled down a bit and hopeful Naruto and his teacher would have let their guard down a bit. He also made a mental note to try and find what out he could on Naruto's other teacher Yamato, as Kabuto was a Perfectionist and didn't like to miss anything, as when it came to world of Espionage. Nothing could be left to chance or unknown, as even the small detail could decide the out come of a mission's success or failure.

Soon enough Kabuto left his spot at the Water tower and returned home and prepare his report toe Orochimaru.

-With Naruto, Kushina and Yamato-

Soon after Kushina, Naruto and Yamato arrived at Ichiraku, where Kushina and Naruto preceded to have a "Who could eat the most Ramen contest", where the loser would have to pay, at this Yamato could only watch, as the counter became full of large towers of empty Ramen bowls.

Teuchi of course was overjoyed at the sight as this would be a boom to his business, as naturally when he and his daughter first heard the Sandaime's announcement about Naruto being Tsunade's son and the Senju Clan's heir they had both been shocked. When they asked Naruto why he didn't tell them, he explained that he didn't want to be treated any differently than anyone else, where all he wanted was to be treated like a regular person. Upon hearing this they began to see where Naruto was coming from, as they could tell that he didn't like all the fame an attention he got, simply because he was the heir of the Shodaime, the Nidaime and Tsunade of the Sannin. After which both Tenchi and Ayame treated Naruto like he wanted, as a regular person and did not call him, Senju-sama or Naruto-sama.

As both Kushina and Naruto continued their Ramen eating contest, Kushina notice Naruto blushing a bit when Ayame handed him another large bowl of Ramen, seeing that Naruto had a little schoolboy crush on the Ramen chief's daughter Kushina decided to tease Naruto a bit. Where she whispered "Naurto and Ayame, sitting in a tree…" as well as saying what would Princess Rurichiyo and Shion think if they saw this. As Naruto had told them about what had happened in Oni no kuni (Demon Country) with Shion, when they were walking to Ichiraku's.

At this Naruto turned bright red and glared angrily at the red headed women next to him.

Once Yamato had finished his bowl of Raman and seeing that Naruto and Kushina had not finished their little eating contest, he decided to go to the bathroom behind the Ramen bar. Soon after Yamato had left to go to the bathroom, Naruto and Kushina contest ended in a draw, as Tenchi and Ayame had run out of Ramen to give to the two.

It was upon hearing this that Naruto decided on another little contest they could have, "Hey Kushina-sensei, since our contest ended in a draw. How about we have another contest, but this time instead of Ramen we see who can prank the most people", said Naruto, knowing that his Sensei like to play pranks as much as he did.

At this Kushina grew an evil little smile that would make a certain Snake sannin proud, as she already liked Naruto's idea, "You're on Naruto".

"Ok then, lets start off by pranking Yamato-sensei", said Naruto, where he then whispered his idea into Kushina's ear, which caused the red headed women to grin evilly.

Soon after Yamato came out of the bathroom, to find the stools that Naruto and Kushina had been sitting on empty.

"Where did those two go?" asked Yamato out loud, where Teuchi answered.

"Ah they left together just a few minutes ago…also here, this is for your" said Teuchi, as head handed Yamato a small slip of paper.

"What is it?" asked Yamato

"The total bill, as they said you would be paying", replied the Ramen chief as he rubbed his hands together eagerly, knowing the amount due.

Upon hearing this Yamto looked to the grand total of the bill, where his eyes suddenly widened to the size of saucers at the amount due, upon which an anger roar to be heard around Konoha.

"NNNNAAARRRUUUTTTOOOO! KKKUUUSSSSSHHHIINNAA!" Which was followed by a loud wailing sound, as the former ANBU member cried over his now empty wallet.

This of course was not an isolated incident, as for the remainder of the day was followed many similar cries of anger, surprise and explosions along with much cackling and laughter coming from a red headed Uzumaki and blonde haired Senju. As they unleashed total chaos on the unsuspecting village, where they competed against one another to find out, who the better prankster was.

-The Next day in the Hokage's office-

Currently sitting at his desk and fighting the never ending battle against the arch-nemesis of all Kages and ruling leaders of nations…paper work.

As he had just about finished half of his paperwork, the Sandaime, was certain that he could get the rest done in a few hours time, where he could then spend the remainder of the day catching up on his reading ofIcha Icha Violence. But upon thinking this the Hokage's secretary came in with his four ANBU guards, where all five of them were carrying massive towers of paper and laid them all on the Hokage's desk.

"W-W-W-Wh-What is all this?" asked the surprised Elder Sarutobi.

"These are reports that need your signature overview and stamp of approval on", replied the secretary.

"WHAT?" cried the old Hokage as he stood up and slammed his hands on his desk in surprise, which caused the large towers of paperwork, along with the paperwork he originally had on his desk to fall and collapsed on top of his and bury him under it.

Soon after the four ANBU guards dug their Hokage out of the mountain of paperwork, where the old Hokage started to weep as he now not only had to do even, more paperwork. But he would also have to short out the paperwork he had already done, from the paperwork he hadn't done.

Soon after he noticed that notice that all his new paperwork, were incident reports, damage reports and complaints about a large number of pranks that were played yesterday.

Upon seeing this, the Sandaime Hokage, knew exactly who were responsible for this new mountain of paperwork, where he then let out a large angry cry that could be heard all around Konoha, "NNNNAAARRRUUUTTTOOOO! KKKUUUSSSSSHHHIINNAA!" After which loud sorrowful cries could be heard coming from the Hokage's office, as he wept at the fact he now had even more paperwork and work be working well into the late of night. Not to mention, more importantly, he wouldn't get to read Icha Icha Violence (again).

N/A.

(1). Yes I know that Tenzo is not his real name, but we don't know his actually name and it unlikely we ever will, so I'm just saying it is for this story.

Well another Chapter done hoped you all like how Naruto and Kushina got along, The Next Chapter will involve Naruto interacting with the other teams as well as a bit on how he trains in his Mokuton Bloodlineas well as training in swordsmanship under Kushina.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.


	14. Chapter 14

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Fourteen: ****Teams****.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

"_**Radio talking"**_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-Training Ground Seven-

Upon leaving his previous team and becoming the apprentice of both Yamato and Kushina, the past two weeks had become fairly interesting for Naruto.

For the first few days both Kushina and Naruto had been stuck doing E rank missions, as punishment for their pranking contest, (which Naruto won by redesigning the entire ANBU division masks with ridiculous faces, where several of the member had to wear them as they chased after Naruto). Not to mention for all the damage they did during the contest (and for ruining the Hokage's private reading time with his Icha Icha book).

Yamato of course refused to help either of them, as he was still a bit peeved at how they left him holding the bill at the Ramen stand.

Eventually though things calm down and Naruto got onto some hard training with his two Sensei's, Kushina of course decided that she would help train Naruto to further improve his Kenjutsu, by teaching him her Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) sword style, which she created. The style itself involved using not only a sword but also water as a weapon as well, which was why the style was best used around a large nearby water source. But since Naruto could draw a large amount of water from the plants and air around him, he did not have this handicap.

Yamato on the other hand started training Naruto to better use his Mokuton bloodline, during the course of the past few weeks Naruto's skill in his bloodline improved, where instead of needing seeds to grow trees, he was able to create a fully grown one out of the ground by himself. Yamato also taught Naruto how to create wood binds, where Naruto could create wooden binds that would come from his body and rap themselves around an opponent's body and subdue the person.

But what amazed Yamato, when he was training Naruto, was that Naruto could not only grow trees and wooden objects, but also grow plants and manipulate them to a certain degree, something that he (Yamato) himself couldn't do. Hence when Yamato informed the Sandaime, the old Hokage could not help but wonder if this was another mutation of Mokuton bloodline, or the next evolution to the bloodline, much like how the Sharingan can evolve to the Mangekyō Sharingan. But regardless of this, Yamato continued to help Naruto with his Mokuton abilities and in his plant abilities as well.

"Nicely done there Naruto!" spoke Kushina as she avoided another one of Naruto's slashes, "But try this!" she cried as she then stabbed forwards with her Katana.

Seeing this, Naruto did a backwards flip and landed on the small pond that was near them, where he channelled Chakra to his feet so that he could walk on the surface.

After Naruto avoided her attack, Kushina quickly jumped forward and on to the pond and attempted to slash at him again.

Seeing Kushina coming towards him, Naruto quickly dipped his Katana into the water underneath him and cried out "**Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water)! (A)"swinging his Kanata upward, creating several waves of water around him and acting like a wall of water, blocking Kushina's attack and making her jump backwards, away from the wall of water.

As soon as Kushina jumped away from the wall of water, it quickly collapsed and Naruto then charged forward towards Kushina swinging his Katana in a horizontal slash.

When Kushina saw this, she quickly raised her sword to block Naruto's slash with her Katana, but when she did, she quickly realised that Naruto's slash was a feint, as Naruto had dropped his Katana into his other hand in mid-swing, making Kushina think that Naruto's first slash was real. When the actual attack was the second slash, which Kushina could not avoid or block in time, where when Naruto swung his Katana, he cried out "**Mizu no Atsuen** (Rolling Water)! (B)" and slashed at Kushina's stomach.

Thinking he had got Kushina Naruto smiled, but it quickly faded when he saw Kushina revert into water, revealing that she had replaced herself with a **Mizu Bunshin** (Water Clone).

"Pretty good Naruto, you learned to use **Mizu no Atsuen** better than I expected you to, but still, you're lagging a bit when you're switching your Katana from one hand to the other" spoke Kushina a bit away from behind Naruto, who quickly spun around to face his sensei.

As soon as Naruto spun around to face her, Kushina quickly threw several Kunai's, with exploding notes tied to them at Naruto.

Seeing them, Naruto then quickly spun his Katana and held it backwards and quickly started to spin around at high speed and drawing the water around him to create a swirling vortex of water around himself. As Naruto spun around, he quickly cried out the name of the technique "**Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water)! (C)" where when the Kunai's hit the swirling water barrier, they exploded. But thankfully, the swirling water shield did its job and protected Naruto from the blast.

"Nicely done Naruto, now let's see how much you have improved these past two weeks" said Kushina before she then drew some water from the pond underneath her and coated her Katana with it. After which she then charged forward with her Katana thrusted forward at Naruto at high speed, where she cried out "**Tachioyogi** (Treading Water)! (D)".

When Naruto saw Kushina coming at him with her water covered Katana thrusted forward, he quickly prepared to counter, where just when Kushina was only a few feet away from him, Naruto quickly swung his Katana down onto the water and created a large wave of water that acted like a wall that separated himself and Kushina.

The wall of Water of course did little to stop Kushina's attack, but when Kushina struck through the wall of water and stabbed Naruto, the wall of water collapsed and "Naruto" collapsed with it, revealing that the "Naruto" behind the wall was just a reflection created by the wall of water.

"_**Mizu no Kagayaku **_(Glittering Water)_!_ (E)_…when did he fully master that? I only showed him that move a few days ago!_" thought Kushina in surprise, as she had only shown Naruto that move once.

But as Kushina was recovering from her surprise at Naruto mastering **Mizu no Kagayaku** so quickly and at how she had be tricked by Naruto. The real Naruto appeared from behind her, with his Katana covered in water, charging at Kushina at his top speed with his Katana thrust forward, showing that he was using **Tachioyogi**.

Sensing danger from behind, thanks to her many years in the ANBU division, Kushina quickly flipped backwards, just as Naruto was about to stab her, where as she flipped over Naruto she kicked him in the back on the head slightly. This caused Naruto to fall forward and into the water, due to losing his balance as he was charging forward at high speed.

Naruto of course quickly regained himself, after falling into the water and immediately swam to the surface, unfortunately though once he got back onto his feet and onto the surface of the pond. Naruto quickly saw Kushina charging at him with astonishing speed, with her Katana ready to slash at him, knowing that he didn't have time to try and block his sensei's attack, Naruto tried to jump away and avoid the attack.

Sadly though it was too late for him to try, as the next second Kushina disappeared right before his eyes and reappeared behind him with her back to him and holding her Katana downward, where she simply said in a calm but serious voice "It's over".

The next thing Naruto knew, dozens of small cuts appeared all over his body and he collapsed onto the water unable to move.

-Fifteen Minutes Later-

"Ow! Sensei that hurts!" cried Naruto in pain as Kushina spread some healing cream over his cuts that her attack made.

"Oh come brat, don't be such a baby" teased Kushina as she continued to spread the cream over Naruto's cuts.

"I'm not, you just suck at being a medic, I still don't know why you won't let me treat myself an…ow!" said Naruto before he cried out in pain from the stinging of the healing cream being rubbed too hard onto his cuts.

"You did that on purpose" cried Naruto as he glared slightly at his red haired sensei, who just smirked.

After Kushina had covered all of Naruto's cuts with the healing cream, Naruto turned to his female sensei, "Kushina-sensei, what was that last move, you used on me?"

"The move was called **Jinsoku Mizu **(Swift Water) (F), it's one of my stronger moves, where I use my water affinity to gather tiny small blades water from the moisture in the air and around my Blade, allowing me to cut my opponents multiple times when I swing it, in a way I use the very air itself as my weapon".

"Wow" stated an impressed Naruto, "Can you teach me that?"

"Maybe later, since that move is a little bit too advance for you yet" replied Kushina, where Naruto got a disappointed look on his face upon hearing this.

"Do not look so disappointed Naruto-san, you've already shown impressive skills by mastering most of the basic moves in Kushina's Arasuijin no Mai style", spoke Yamato, as he had been watching the sparing match between Kushina and Naruto.

"He's right Naruto, you've already progressed faster than I expected you to, you should be proud of what you have accomplished so far, but you should take your time to fully master the rest of the basic moves and then improve on them, before wanting to learn my more advance moves. Since if you advance too quickly, you won't gain the experience needed to use the techniques to their full potential or the knowledge to later improve on them", spoke Kushina.

Naruto of course nodded in understanding, as back when he was younger, Jiraiya had told him something similar, back when he was training him, stating that a man who has mastered using a wooden stick in a fight, will always defeat a novice who is using a steel sword.

"Although your spar battle was very impressive, I've to say it seemed to have gone a bit too far for my taste", spoke Yamato, where he stared a Kushina.

"Hmph! don't look at me, I told the kid that if he wanted to learn my fighting style, it would be harsh and I wouldn't go easy on him. Beside I held back, when I used my** Jinsoku Mizu**, where all he got was a few cuts, for if I hadn't he would be in pieces right now", replied Kushina.

Naruto of course reluctantly agreed with Kushina's comment, as he knew that Kushina could have beaten him easily at any time during their fight, since she was a former ANBU captain and had far more experience and skill than he had right now.

Yamato also nodded, since he knew how strong Kushina was from several missions he had done with her over the years and knew she had held back a great deal during her spar with Naruto. But still, he had found that she might have went a little bit overboard during the fight, as regardless of how talented Naruto was, he was still only and a young boy and a newly made Genin, where he could of easily gotten seriously hurt.

"Very well then, but we'll finish training today, as it's time for your joint training with the other teams, as Asuma-san, Kakashi-san and Kurenai-san have sent their time schedules to me indicting when it would be best for them for you to train or work with their teams", spoke Yamato.

"So who will I be joining today Yamato-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Today you'll be working with Kurenai-san and her team, then tomorrow you'll be working with Asuma-san and team ten and the next day you be with your former team, team seven", answered Yamato.

Naruto of course was happy he would be working with Hinata and her team first, as he hadn't seen her since the team sorting's, although he wasn't too thrilled with being Kiba and could only hope he matured a bit, (although it was unlikely). He didn't mind working with team ten much, as he didn't really know them all that well other than that girl Ino, who he crashed into a while back and who had been following him not too long ago. Although what got Naruto slightly worried about her was that, he had the sneaking suspicion that she was becoming or had already become another one of his fan girls, given how she was following him a while back. This of course was the last thing Naruto wanted or needed given how he had enough trouble with the ones he already had and didn't need anymore.

But as annoyed as Naruto was about having the possibility of another fan girl and having to work with her, the thing that bothered him most was that he would be working with Sasuke, Sakura and Sai. Sure he was happy he would get to train a bit with the famed Copy-Cat Ninja Hatake Kakashi, but even he still, he wasn't too thrilled with having to work with Sasuke, Sai and Sakura.

Sasuke of course annoyed him the least of the three as he was strong and a serious Shinobi at least, but he refused to work with others, believing that they just hold him back. Not to mention the fact that he was too busy brooding in his own personal little world to even talk to someone like an equally, always believing that they were just a waste of time and space.

Next there was Sai, who although Naruto had only met once, still disliked, since Naruto found him to be a jerk, despite his friendly like appearance. There was also the fact that there was something that was off about him, which made Naruto not thrust him, despite the obvious clues. Since to Naruto he seemed like some kind of human doll doing the bidding of another.

Then finally there was Sakura, who Naruto found the most annoying, as it was obvious that she was infatuated with Sasuke, and wouldn't agree with anything with anyone unless Sasuke said it. What annoyed Naruto even more was that she wasn't even a serious Shinobi, as she obviously only became a Ninja in the hopes of getting close to Sasuke. This was of course unacceptable to Naruto as people like Sakura get herself and her team killed on a serious mission, given how her physical and other skills were minimum at best and the only thing she had going for her were her book smarts, which would only get her so far in the real world. The only thing Naruto could do was hope that at some point she would get a serious wakeup call before it was too late.

After Naruto had rested a bit and ate a bit of lunch with his two Sensei's, he headed off to meet Kurenai and the other members of team eight.

-With Kurenai-

Currently waiting at Training ground two was the Jonin Sensei of team eight Yuhi Kurenai, who was currently waiting for her three students and her new part-time student Senju Naruto.

As she quietly waited for her student's arrival she soon saw Naruto walking towards her, as he came closer, Kurenai noticed that Naruto had several cuts on his clothes and on his arms (which were nearly healed).

"Greetings Naruto-san" spoke Kurenai friendly, as she remembered that Naruto did not like being referred to as sama, plus since he was her student now she would treat him like any of her other students.

"Ohayou Kurenai-sensei" greeted Naruto with a friendly smile.

"I hope nothing serious happened?" asked Kurenai, as she indicated at the cuts on Naruto clothes and the slight healed cuts on his arms.

"No not really, just training with Kushina-sensei" answered Naruto, where Kurenai just nodded as she heard how during spars or training Kushina could be a bit rough.

"Well Naruto, since we've a few minutes before the others arrive, I believe I should tell you how exactly I be training you, now as you know the Hokage has asked me to help in you training in Genjutsu. But I can only train you part time, as I have my own team to train, but during the time that you're with my team you'll also work on missions with us".

"Sure that fine by me Kurenai-sensei"

"Good, now I would like to know what kind of Genjutsu's you know, so that I will know where to start with your training".

"Well I know only a couple of Genjutsu's like **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique), **Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique), **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique), **Kori Shinchū no Jutsu** (Sly Mind Affect Technique), **Magen: Jubaku Satsu** (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death) and I also know how to detect and release myself Genjutsu's".

At hearing this Kurenai raised her eyebrow, as she was impressed with Naruto's skill level in Genjutsu and only wish he had been as skilled when she was his age.

Naruto and Kurenai continued to talk for the next few minutes, until Kureani's team arrived.

"Senju what the hell are you doing here?" asked annoyed Kiba, when he came up to Naruto and Kurenai.

"Kiba be respectful, as Naruto here will be working with our team from time to time, where he will be training with us and doing missions with us as well", spoke Kurenai.

"WHAT?" cried Kiba in surprise.

At the same time upon hearing this Shino raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Naruto, while Hinata smiled at having the chance of working with her friend and training with him.

"Why the hell is he working with our team? He has his own team!" spoke an angry Kiba.

"Due to special circumstances that involved Naruto, he was taken from his team and made an apprentice to two other Jonin-sensei's and will work part time with us and his original team, team seven and with team ten" replied Kurenai.

"And what are these circumstances?" asked Kiba.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you Kiba as it's on a need to know" answered Kurenai.

At hearing this Kiba just frowned since as far as he was concerned, Naruto was just getting more special treatment for being the heir of the Senju Clan, which proved to him that he was a sliver spoon Shinobi.

"So what are we doing first Kurenai-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Well we'll be doing a mission first at the Inuzuka dog pound" answered Kurenai, making Kiba groan as he had being doing that kind of work ever since he had been tricked by Mizuki, hence he was hoping he get to do something else.

Naruto of course couldn't help but smile in amusement, since he knew why Kiba was groaning and was sort of sympatric to his plight. He was also sort of looking forward to going to the dog pound, since he hadn't seen Kurimaru since he brought him back to the Inuzuka dog pound when he saved him; hence this mission was a good opportunity to visit him.

As Naruto and team eight headed towards the Inuzuka Clan compound, Naruto walked next to Hinata and started to talk to her, where the two of them caught up with one another about what had happen to both of them from when they last met.

-Inuzuka Dog Pound-

Currently standing at the main entrance of the Inuzuka Dog Pound was the Inuzuka Clan head Tsume along with her parent Kuromaru who were both waiting for their ordered help with the dogs today.

Fortunately Tsume and Kuromaru did not have to wait for very long as she soon saw Naruto Kurenai and her team coming towards them.

"Ah, good you all right on time, although it seems you came with an extra person", spoke Tsume as she looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Yes, Naruto here is on a joint mission with us, I hope that won't be a probable Tsume-san?" asked Kurenai.

"Nonsense the more the merrier, as many hands make light work" spoke the Inuzuka Clan head before she turned to Naruto again, "It's good to see you again pup".

"Same here, Tsume-san is Kurimaru here?"

"Yep he's here and I'm sure he'll be happy you see you" answered Tsume, before she then turned to Kurenai and the rest of the team.

"Now then, I'm sure you all want to get started so I won't hold you off any longer", spoke Tsume where she then looked at her son. "Kiba since you still have your punishment chores you can do them now".

When Kiba heard this he of course groaned, as he was sick of cleaning up the kennels, as whenever he was finish he always ended up smelling like dog poop.

Ignoring her son's groans Tsume turned to her son's Sensei "Kurenai-san you'll be helping my daughter Hana with the medical check-up on the dogs", upon hearing this the female Jonin-sensei nodded her head, understanding what she was to do.

"You Aburame-san will be doing an inventory of our supplies in the storage room and add in the supplies that we received yesterdays", spoke Tsume when she turned to Shino, who just nodded when Tsume told him what to do.

"A-a-and what would y-you like m-m-me t-to do Tsume-sama" asked the still shy Hinata, who was a bit nervous around Tsume.

At this Tsume just smiled, "Well you'll be working with the young Senju pup here, where the two of you'll be washing the pups, as they already had their check-up with Hana earlier this morning".

"Sounds like fun, doesn't it Hinata-chan?" said Naruto with smile as he turned to the Hyuga heiress.

"H-Hai" stuttered Hinata.

Once they were all given their orders Tsume then led everyone (with the exception of Kiba, since he knew where to go) to where they be doing their appointed jobs.

When Naruto and Hinata entered the room where they be washing the pups, they saw several large litters of puppies of many different kinds running around the room and barking loudly, playing with one another.

Within seconds of entering the room, Naruto suddenly saw a brown blur appear in front of him, where he was knocked down by the blur and soon felt a wet tongue licking his face and tickling him.

When the brown blur knocked Naruto down onto the ground, Hinata quickly became concern about Naruto's safety, but her concerns almost just as quickly left when she heard Naruto laughing and saw a brown wolf like pup on top of Naruto licking his face.

"Hahahaha…stop it Kurimaru …hahahaha…it tickles…hahaha…I'm happy to see you too boy…hahahaha" laughed Naruto, as the small half wolf pup was on top of him licking his face.

After a few minutes the young pup finally settled down and stopped licking Naruto's face and got off him, and barked a few time, as if greeting him, where Naruto then patted the young pup on the head lightly.

"Eh, Excuse me Naruto-san, but do you know this puppy?" asked Hinata shyly.

"Ah yea this is Kurimaru, a few weeks back he got lost from the dog pound and was attacked by a group of kids, where I saved him and brought him back here. The two of us then became quite friendly each other…Isn't that right Kurimaru?" spoke Naruto, as he panted Kurimaru on the head again, and the little pup barked in agreement with Naruto.

At hearing this Hinata smiled, as it proved without a shadow of a doubt that Naruto was indeed a very kind person.

"Kurimaru, I like to introduce you to my friend Hinata", spoke Naruto as he introduced Hinata to the young pup.

Kurimaru was of course unsure about Hinata, as the young pup was natural hesitate of getting close to people, either due to his wolf like nature or because of what happened with the children that chased after him. But Naruto continued to encourage Kurimaru to go over to Hinata stating that she was a friend, eventually though the pup went over to Hinata, where when he was close enough Hinata then knelt down to him. After which she then panted the puppy gentle on the head and the scratched him behind the ear (much like she would do with Akamaru).

"Hello Kurimaru" said Hinata as she scratched behind Kurimaru's ear, making the little puppy wag its tail indicating that he liked what Hinata was doing.

After introducing Hinata and Kurimaru, Naruto and Hinata then started to work and started to wash Kurimaru and the other puppies, which was difficult enough for Hinata and Naruto, as the puppies would often struggle a bit when they were in the water while Hinata and Naruto were washing them. The puppies would also even try and jump out of the large tub they were in, where some would succeed and run around the room a bit before Hinata or Naruto caught them.

Throughout the entire event, both Hinata and Naruto were fairly wet, but they eventually got the puppies to calm down, where they could then finish washing them. But despite the fact that both Hinata and Naruto were fairly drenched from the event, both Hinata and Naruto enjoyed it and had fun washing the puppies.

After a while, when they'd finish washing and drying over half the puppies, Kurenai entered the room, where she asked Naruto if he could go help Shino in the storage room with the inventory and the loading of the new supplies. While she (Kurenai), helped Hinata with washing and drying the rest of the puppies.

Naruto of course agreed, where he then headed to the storage room to help Shino.

When Naruto entered the storage room he saw that Shino was having difficulty with carrying a large box filled with dog food. Upon seeing this, Naruto quickly went over to Shino and grabbed the other end of the box, "Here let me help you".

Seeing Naruto, Shino nodded his head "Thank you Senju-san, your help is appreciated".

"No prob", replied Naruto as he and Shino carried the large box to one of the lower selves of the storage room.

Once they'd put the box in its place, Shino then turned to Naruto "If it's not too much trouble Senju-san, would you be able to handle sorting the rest of the box's and crates, while I finish the inventory".

"Not a problem, and please call me Naruto".

"Very well then Naruto-san", replied Shino with a nodded and then walked to the other end of the storage room to finish the inventory.

For the next few minutes Naruto and Shino worked in silence with one another as they worked together, but after a while Naruto couldn't stand the continued silence between him and Shino.

After which Naruto tried to start a conversation between him and young Aburame heir, unfortunately making a conversation between him and Shino, proved more difficult than he thought. Not that Shino ignored his attempts to make conversation and did reply to Naruto when he spoke to him.

The problem was that after answering a question or a comment from Naruto, Shino wouldn't try to continue on with the conversation, he simply continue to work in silence.

Eventually though, Naruto was able to start a real conversation with Shino, by using his knowledge on nature, where although Naruto's knowledge of nature was more into plants and animals, and Shino's was into insects. It was still enough to start a healthy conversation, where Shino found Naruto to be an interesting person.

It didn't take long for Naruto and Shino to finish sorting out the boxes and crates into their proper location, but just as Shino was placing a small box of medicine for the dogs on the top shelf, while Naruto was holding the bottom of the ladder for him, a wet Kurimaru suddenly came running in with Hinata right behind him crying out to him to stop.

As Kurimaru ran into the storage room, he slipped on the floor due to his fur still being wet, where he then crashed into the shelf that Naruto and Shino were working on, causing it to shake. Thereby causing one of the large crates that was on the top shelf right above Kurimaru, to fall down towards not only him, but also Hinata, who had just caught Kurimaru.

When Naruto saw the crate falling down towards both Kurimaru and Hinata, he yell out to both of them to move, but knew that they would not be able to in time.

Reacting immediately, Naruto quickly channelled his chakra to his feet to increase his speed, where he then sped off towards Hinata and Kurimaru with speed that shocked Shino (who saw what was happening from the top of the ladder).

Within seconds Naruto crossed the distance between him, Hinata and Kurimaru, where right before the crate crashed on top of them, Naruto pushed both Kurimaru and Hinata out of the way and narrowly avoided being hit himself.

After the crate crashed onto the floor, Naruto found himself on top of Hinata hugging her tightly, with Kurimaru squeezed between them. Due to Hinata holding onto Kurimaru when the crate fell and Naruto grabbing hold of her when he pushed her and Kurimaru away from the falling crate.

When Naruto looked at Hinata he found that the young Hyūga heiress was blushing bright red, due to the fact that she had never been in such close contact with a boy the same age as herself. This was made even worse for her, since not only was Naruto pressed tightly against her chest, but Kurimaru was also caught between the "developing" parts of her chest. Upon which he began wiggling in between them, hoping to squeeze out between Naruto and Hinata, making the situation all the more worse and embarrassing for the young Hyuga girl.

And if Hinata thought things couldn't get even more embarrassing, they did when Kurenai, Kiba, Akamaru, Tsume, Kuromaru, Hana and the Three Haimaru Brothers came running in after hearing the loud crash of the crate.

When they entered the room they were of course surprised, to see Naruto on top Hinata hugging her tightly.

"Well, Well, Well I've to say…you certainly move fast don't cha pup? Since I've heard rumours that you were becoming quite popular with the young girls in the village." commented Tsume with amused smirk, but as amused as Tsume was before, the sight of Kurimaru popping his head out between Hinata and Naruto at that moment and wriggling even more, trying to get out between the two Genin, caused the female Clan head to burst out laughing at the sight.

Even Hana and Kurenai chuckled slightly at the sight, at how funny it was, the only one who wasn't laughing was Kiba, as from the look of things (Kiba's point of view that is) it looked like Naruto was trying to force himself on his team-mate.

"Senju! What the hell are you doing to Hinata?" cried Kiba angrily.

When Naruto heard Tsume comment he natural became embarrassed and turned red much like Hinata (although no-where as near as red as she was), but after Kiba angry accusation Naruto quickly let go of Hinata and jumped onto his feet, waving his hands in denial.

"Wait! It's not what it looks like I swear!" said Naruto worried at what Kurenai and the others were thinking.

"Well then why don't you tell use exactly what happened?" asked Kurenai with an amused smirk, as she was certain there was a reasonable explanation, as she highly doubt Naruto would do anything inappropriate.

Once Naruto had helped Hinata back onto her feet (who were still very red) and he had finished explaining what happened. Kiba was as always, sceptical of Naruto's explanation, but thankfully Shino backed Naruto up as he had seen what had happened, hence Kiba had no choice but to believe Naruto.

Once Naruto finished his explanation as to what happened, he turned to Hinata and asked if she was ok, Hinata of course stuttered out how she was fine and thanked Naruto saving her. Kurimaru also thanked Naruto for saving him by jumping onto Naruto again and licking him.

Once Naruto got Kurimaru to settle down again, Naruto then apologies to Tsume as to what happened to the crate and for the stuff that was broken in it, but Tsume told him that it was alright and that she rather have what just happened now, than have somebody getting hurt.

Once the matter was then settled, Shino and Naruto cleaned up the mess, after which Naruto and the rest of the team finished off the rest of their duties, where Tsume thanked them and that they could leave.

"Well good work all of you, since the mission is now done you all have the rest of the day off" spoke Kurenai.

Upon hearing this, the four Genin all nodded their heads in understanding and went their own separate ways, but before Naruto could walk very far away, he suddenly heard his name being called out by someone, when he turned up he saw a blushing Hinata slowly walk up to him.

"What's up Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto, where he heard her mumble something, while at the same time pressing her index fingers in and out (Author's Note: You know that thing Hinata does). But since she was mumbling Naruto couldn't quite hear what she was saying.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but I can't hear you what did you say?" asked Naruto.

"I w-w-want t-to thank y-you a-again, as y-you c-c-could've been h-hurt when y-y-you saved m-m-me" stuttered the still blushing, shy young girl.

At this Naruto smiled "No problem Hinata-chan, since that what friends are for and I'm sure you would've done the same for me".

At hearing this Hinata couldn't help but blush a deeper shade of red, as few people ever really complimented her in any way, where she thanked Naruto again, after which Naruto told her it was not a problem and then **Shunshin'd **(Body Flickered) away.

Currently standing not far away from where Naruto and Hinata were just talking, was the team sensei Kurenai who could not help but overhear Hinata thanking Naruto again. As she listen to the two Genin talk. Kurenai also noticed how Hinata was blushing an even darker shade of red when Naruto complimented her and was mumbling a lot more, not to mention that every time Hinata looked at Naruto she blushed a little more.

When she saw this Kurenai couldn't help but smile, as it didn't take a genius to figure out that the young girl was developing a crush on Naruto, especially considering how Naruto put himself in harms why when he saved her and the young puppy.

"_You certainly live up to your reputation Naruto-san_" thought Kurenai, as she remembered hearing from Kushina several days ago that Naruto had develop a little habit of saving Princesses and gaining their attraction. Since she had heard from Kushina that Naruto helped protect and save the Daughter of the former High Priestess of Oni no Kuni (Demon Country), from a group of enemy Shinobi's. She also heard from Kushina that Naruto even saved the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter from a wild bear.

Hence Naruto lived up to his reputation by saving Hinata, as she was the heiress of the Hyūga Clan and was basically a Princess of the Clan, due to being the Daughter of the Clan head Hyūga Hiashi.

When Naruto left, Kurenai then walked up to Hinata and smiled to her, pretending to know nothing Kurenai asked Hinata if she would like her to walk her (Hinata) home, which Hinata to agreed.

As they walked to the Hyūga Compound, Kurenai started a conversation with Hinata, "Naruto is quite an interesting young man?"

"H-Hai Naruto-kun is a very kind person" replied Hinata with a slight blush, which was the final confirmation Kurenai needed, when she heard Hinata's suffix and saw the blush at the mention of him, which of course made Kurenai smile again. After which the two silently walked together to the Hyūga Compound.

-Next Day at Training Ground Five-

Currently standing in the middle of training ground five, smoking a cigarette was the leader of team ten, Sarurobi Asuma, son of the Sandaime Hokage.

Asuma was currently waiting for the arrival of his team, along with a new addition Senju Naruto, who was doing joint training with them today.

As Asuma waited for the four Genin to arrive, he soon sensed a presence coming up from behind him from the treeline, Asuma could tell that the person had some skill, as the person hid their presence well and made sure not to make any sound and keep hidden. But even still Asuma wasn't a Jonin of Konohagakure for nothing and could sense the person coming, thanks to many years of being a Shinobi.

"You might as well stop hiding, I know your there" spoke Asuma as he waited for the person to show himself.

At hearing this the person knew the jig was up and jumped out of the tree he was hiding in and appeared in front of Asuma, revealing the person to be none other than Naruto.

"I guess I should have figured you would've sensed me coming" stated Naruto, as he had wanted to see how good his stealth skills were and who better to test them against than a Jonin, who also happened to be a former member of the Shugonin Jūnishi (Twelve Guardian Ninja's).

"I admit your pretty good, but you're still a long way off before you're able to sneak up on a Jonin level Shinobi without them sensing you" replied Asuma, where Naruto just nodded.

"So where are the others?" asked Naruto.

"They should be here soon, but before they arrive I thought I should tell you what I have planned to do today" said Asuma. "Today I'm basically going to have a mock battle, where you will face against my team by yourself".

"Why? Would you want that Asuma-sensei? Wouldn't it be better that I face off against them one at a time or have us split up in pairs?" asked Naruto.

"Normally that would be true, but you see I've been having a little trouble with getting my team to work together, as Shikamaru lacks any real motivation to do much, despite the fact that he has the ability to be an excellent Shinobi. Choji also doesn't have any real motivation either and easily loses confidence in himself, where he would much prefer gorging himself than train or fight", said Asuma, where Naruto nodded in understanding, after which Asuma continued on.

"Ino is also another problem, as she has yet to come to realise what the life of a Shinobi really is, as she focus more on how she looks than she does when it comes to training. She avoids eating much and is constantly on some kind of diet, and frets over her clothes and hair, worrying that they get dirty, which of course is linked to Ino's biggest problem…" stated Asuma.

"She a Fan girl" stated Naruto bluntly before Asuma could finish, who just nodded.

"Yea, hence why I'm hoping that if I've you fight against them you can get them to work together or at least see the value of working together as a team", spoke Asuma. "Plus I'm hoping that if Ino is force to fight you, she might become a little more serious in her training instead of fretting over her looks, after fighting her new crush" continued Asuma with a smirk. Since when he mentioned this, the young blonde groaned loudly and slapped his forehead with annoyance, as Asuma had confirmed what he had already suspected…Ino had become his newest fan girl.

After a minute or two Naruto soon got over the annoyance of having another fan girl and then spoke to Asuma "Well I've no problem in that, but I'll have to hold back on them a lot, as I can't use most of my abilities".

Asuma of course nodded at this, as he knew that his father had ordered Naruto keep his abilities hidden for as long as possible, or at least until the Chunin exam. This was because the Hokage feared that if people knew what Naruto could to. Then word might leak out to the other Shinobi villages, who would then most likely send assassins after Naruto, to prevent him becoming a threat to them in the future.

"That's not a problem, as I wouldn't want you to go all out on them to begin with…all I want you to do is basically get them to work together" answered Asuma, where Naruto just nodded.

"Now before they arrive, there something else I would like to ask you?"

"Sure what is it Asuma-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Well I heard from Kakashi about a Wind technique that you created and I was wondering if you could show it to me?" asked Asuma, as he was interested in seeing the technique with his own eyes.

"Sure!" said Naruto, as he liked to show off a little every now and again, since for most of his life he had to keep hidden due to fear of his parents enemies coming after him. Plus he sort of liked getting attention for something he did and not because of whose son or descendant he was.

Naruto then drew out his Katana from his back and then started to channel his Wind Chakra to the tip of his blade and swung it in a horizontal slash while crying out "**Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash)!" where a crescent shaped blade of Wind erupted from the Katana blade tip.

The blade of Wind flew at a nearby tree with frightening speed, where the Blade of Wind sliced through the tree and continued onto another tree behind the first, cutting right through it as well. After which the crescent Blade of Wind dissipated and the top halves of the two trees fell to the ground at roughly the same time together.

When Asuma saw the technique he could not help but gap at it, sure he knew all about it, as Kakashi and told him about it. But seeing it with his own eyes, instead of hearing about it second hand was another story.

After getting over his surprise Asuma then turned to Naruto "Pretty impressive kid, how did you come up with it?"

"Ah well, I created it by accident, when I was training in using **Hien no Jutsu **(Flying Swallow Technique). Back when I was practicing in using it, after Ero-sennin taught me how to do it, I accidently added too much Chakra and lost focus of the Wind Chakra around my Katana when I was swinging it. I then lost control of it, where I created a rough Wind like blade and did some damage to a nearby boulder. When I saw what I did, I came up with the idea of **Surasshu-fū**, whereby channelling a concentrated amount of Wind Chakra into the tip of my blade, and firing it with exact timing in the shape of a crescent moon as I swing my sword", spoke Naruto.

After hearing this, Asuma couldn't help but shake his head in amusement and puff out a puff of smoke from his mouth, as he took his cigarette out. Even after hearing about this and seeing the technique with his own eyes he still found it little hard to believe that Naruto could create something so simple, yet so brilliant and deadly. But then reminded himself that Naruto was the son of Tsunade the Slug Princess of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's) and The Yondaime Hokage better known as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Yellow Flash of the Leaf). The two strongest Shinobi's of their time, hence the kid had the potential to be great with his pedigree alone.

"I'm also guessing it's a lot harder to do than it sounds?" asked Asuma, where Naruto nodded.

"Yea it is, as it took me a while to master the technique before I finally got the hang of it and even then I had to master the **Hien no Jutsu **first" stated Naruto, where Asuma nodded in understanding.

"Do you think it be possible for you to teach me it?" asked Asuma, as he could see a lot possibilities for that technique, as would a highly useful one to know.

"Sure I be happy to!" said Naruto with a smile and with some pride as it wasn't every day that a famed and highly skilled and veteran Jonin Shinobi would ask a Genin to teach him something.

At hearing this Asuma nodded and thank Naruto, but before they could continue their conversation they notice that Shikamaru and the other members of team ten were heading towards them.

When Shikamaru and the others reached Asuma, they quickly noticed Naruto, which of course surprised the three Genin.

"Hey Asuma-sensei, why is Senju Naruto here?" asked Shikamaru in a board like tone, not caring all that much.

"Well due to special circumstances, Naruto here was removed from team seven and made an apprentice of two other Shinobi's. The Hokage also decided that since Naruto is not on any Genin team now, he will work together with other teams like ours and do missions and training with us from time to time, so that he can learn to work with a team", answered Asuma.

At hearing this, the members of team ten had different reactions to this new development.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but then just shrugged his shoulders and sighed "_What a drag, Knowing Asuma-sensei he probably work us twice as hard as normal now. Hopefully though, Senju here would be a troublesome person_" thought Shikamaru.

Choji of course didn't mind much and just kept eating the crisps that he was munching on.

Ino on the other hand was ecstatic at hearing that Naruto was going to be on her team "_Yes! Naruto-kun is going to be on my team now! Take that Sakura; you're not the only one that has her man on her team now_", thought Ino.

"I guess that's ok", said Shikamaru, "but what happened over there?" indicating at the two falling trees.

"Ah well I was just doing a bit training, while I was waiting for all of you, and I got a bit carried away", lied Asuma, not wanting to put Naruto in the spot light.

Shikamaru of course narrowed his eyes is with suspicion at this, as he found it difficult accept his Sensei excuse, but before he could ask further on the matter Asuma spoke again.

"Now then, since that matter is settled I think we should have a little introduction with each other".

"What exactly would you like us to say to one another sensei?" asked Ino.

"How about we tell each other our names, what we like, what we dislike, our dreams for the future and our hobbies" spoke Naruto taking a page out of Kakashi's book.

At this Asuma nodded, seeing as the best way for Naruto to get to know the rest of the team.

"That's fine, I start things off, my name is Sarutobi Asuma, my likes are soda, sausages, tororo and smoking my cigarettes, my dislikes are people who make a fuss over my smoking, people who are always in a hurry and those who betray their oaths. My hobbies are playing shōgi and my dream for the future is that I can one day have a family of my own".

Once Asuma finished Naruto decided to go next and help break the ice "My name is Senju Naruto my likes include Raman, my Kaa-chan, Shizune onee-chan, our pet pig TonTon, Ero-sennin, playing pranks, my friends, training and reading. I dislike bullies, traitors, the three minutes that take to cook my Ramen and Perverts. My hobbies are training, reading and gardening and making perverts suffer, and my dreams for the future are to be a Great Medic-nin like my Kaa-chan, to restore my Clan and to be the greatest Hokage! That way, people will stop always comparing me to the rest of my family and acknowledge me as myself and not someone related to great ninja's", said Naruto.

At hearing this Asuma nodded, Shikamaru just shrugged, Choji just kept munching on his crisps, while Ino had a dreamy look on her face.

"_He's Perfect!_" cried Ino happily inside her mind "_He's not some pervert like some guys, he's strong, polite, considerate, kind, likes gardening and he makes perverts suffer_". As Ino was thinking this, she was also dreaming of what it would be like to be the wife of the next future Hokage.

Once Naruto had finished his introduction, Asuma then motioned Shikamaru go next, who muttered "Troublesome" before he spoke.

"My name is Nara Shikamaru, my likes are watching the clouds drift by, mackerel and kelp, my dislikes are boiled eggs, troublesome people, especially loud troublesome women…ow!" stated Shikamaru, before he cried out in pain as annoyed Ino smacked him on the back of the head for his comment.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru as he rumbed his head, before he continued, "My hobbies are playing Shoji and taking long naps and my dream…it too troublesome to talk about".

Upon hearing Shikamaru's response, Naruto didn't know what to think, as from the way Shikamaru looked and acted, it seemed that he didn't really belong in the Shinobi world. But he quickly put those thoughts aside, as his mother had told him that in the Shinobi world, appearance counts for very little. Also he had heard of Shikamaru's Clan form his mother, where she had told him that despite their lazy like appearance or laid back attitude, they were skilled Shinobi's and expert and skilled tacticians, making them dangers people to have as enemies.

After Shikamaru had finished his introduction, Asuma then had Choji go next.

"My name is Akimichi Chōji, my like are my friends, eating at Korean barbecue and eating junk food, the things I dislike are stuff I can't eat and people who hurt my friends and who call me fat or any stuff like that. As for my hobbies, well I like buying and eating food and hanging out with Shikamaru, as for dreams, well I like to one day run and own, my own all you can eat restaurant".

With Choji introduction done Asuma turned to Ino, who was the only one left to do their introduction.

"My name is Yamanaka Ino, my likes are stylish clothes, cherry tomatoes and pudding and … (looks at Naruto and giggles, making Naruto silently groan in annoyance). My dislikes are sashimi and disgusting stuff that smells. My hobbies are shopping and my dream… (Looks at Naruto again and giggles, making Naruto silently groan again in annoyance, as he had a guess what Ino dream was)".

Once all the introductions were done, Asuma then spoke up "Now that everyone gotten to know each other better we are going to have a little sparing match".

"Ah man, but I just ate", said Choji, after he finished eating his crisps.

"You always just ate, you moron" said annoyed Ino, before she turned to her Sensei.

"What kind of sparing match are we going to have Sensei?" asked Ino, where she silently fantasied, her and Naruto fighting side by side, and him protecting her from harm, like in the romance novels she read sometimes.

"The match will be between you three against Naruto" replied Asuma.

"But Asuma-sensei that's unfair to Naruto-kun!" stated Ino, "Wouldn't it be better if one of us was paired with him?" where Ino was ready to volunteer herself to join Naruto.

"No, you three against Naruto will do fine, as Naruto can more than handle himself in a fight" replied Asuma, where the three other Genin looked unsure, but did what their Sensei told them.

Still unsure about the way the match was laid out, team ten quickly went to into their designated position at the other end of the training field, as they walked over to their position Shikamaru suddenly spoke up.

"Hey guys listen; I think I known why Asuma-sensei is having us all go against Naruto"

"Why's that Shika?" asked Choji.

"Asuma-sensei wants us to work together against Naruto, in the hope of improving our teamwork skills", spoke Shikamaru.

"Are you sure about that Shika? Because I don't think it would be much of a match with three of us against him" said Choji.

"No way! Naruto-kun is way stronger than you think Choji" said Ino.

"As troublesome as it is, I agree with Ino on this one, since other than what he did in the Genin exams, what do we really know of Naruto's skill?"

At this Choji had no real answer to Shikamaru's question, as to be perfectly honest, with the expection of his introduction and what he did in the graduation exam, they didn't really know all that much about Naruto, as he was a total mystery to them.

"Ino, you and Sakura are back to being friends again, right?" asked Shikamaru, where Ino just nodded stating that they were.

"Then did Sakura tell you anything about what he could do? Since they were both on the same team together during their team test, before Naruto was transferred from the team" asked Shikamaru.

"No she didn't, as she was forbidden from telling anyone what Naruto-kun could do until it official declared, by order of the Hokage. If she or Sasuke told anyone they would've their Ninja licence's revoked, their Chakra sealed and charged with endangering village security and spend twenty years in a Maximum security cell. I know that was true since my Dad told me there was a Council meeting about Naruto-kun, but he wouldn't tell me what it was about" stated Ino, where Shikamaru and Choji nodded as they had heard similar things from their own fathers.

"The only thing she could tell me was that Naruto-kun was amazingly strong, stronger than Sasuke", finished Ino, where caused Shikamaru to frown further and cause Choji to worry. As they both knew that out of all the members in their old class, Sasuke was the strongest, and if Naruto was stronger than Sasuke, then that meant that they were in serious trouble.

"The only chance we now have in beating Naruto is if we work together…ok!" stated the young Nara heir, where both Ino and Choji nodded.

Once the four Genins were in opposite ends of one another and Asuma was standing in between them, he raised his arm up into the air and shouted out "Begin!"

As soon as Asuma did this Choji quickly did his **Nikudan Sensha** (Human Bullet Tank) and charged straight at Naruto at full speed.

Normally when faced with a situation like this Naruto would have used his superhuman strength or use one of his Doton Jutsu's or his **Surasshu-fū** to stop his opponent. But since this was basically a mock battle he couldn't go all out, especially since he was ordered by his Grandfather the Hokage (1) to not reveal his true abilities, unless he absolutely needed to. Hence Naruto knew he had to make due by using limited abilities.

Reacting quickly Naruto quickly jumped out of the way of the oncoming Choji, but when he jumped out of Choji's path he came under assault by a small hail of Kunai and Shurikens from Ino.

Seeing them, Naruto immediately took out his Katana and skilfully deflected the Kunai's and Shurikens, but as he did, he suddenly realised that the Kunai's and Shurikens from Ino were just a distraction. For out of the corner of his eyes Naruto saw a long stretching shadow moving towards from his left.

Upon seeing the stretching shadow, Naruto knew it was Shikamaru's, where he quickly jumped backwards, high into the air. When Shikamaru saw this, he quickly stretched his shadow forward, hoping to get Naruto when he landed. But when Naruto landed back onto the ground, he realised that Naruto was too far away to his shadow to reach him, upon which he called his shadow back.

When Naruto saw this, he began to wonder why Shikamaru did not have his shadow go after him, but after thinking it over for a minute, he quickly realised that there was a limit to how far Shikamaru could stretch his Shadow. This was of course something Naruto knew he could use in this fight, but he would have to figure out how far exactly Shikamaru could stretch his Shadow.

Knowing that Shikamaru was the most dangerous of the three, Naruto knew he would have to take him out quickly, where with Shikamaru down, Ino and Choji would then quickly follow.

Taking out several Shurikens, Naruto then threw them at Shikamaru, who quickly moved out of the way to dodge them. But what he didn't know was that Naruto used **Kage Shuriken no Jutsu** (Shadow Shuriken Technique) and threw twice as many Shurikens than he appeared to, where they hid within the shadow of the first wave of Shurikens.

So when Shikamaru moved out of the way of the first wave of Shurikens, he was hit by the hidden wave.

Fortunately though despite being caught unguarded with Naruto's little trick, Shikamaru was still able to guard himself, where the most he got was a few scratches on his arms.

With Shikamaru temporarily distracted, Naruto quickly charged straight at Shikamaru with his Katana, but as he headed for Shikamaru he had to deflect several Shurikens thrown by Ino with his Katana, who tried to stop him, but failed in doing so.

Seeing that her attack failed to stop, Ino quickly jumped in front of Shikamaru with a Kunai out forward to try and block Naruto's attack.

When Naruto saw Ino jump in front of Shikamaru, he could tell that she wouldn't be able to stop him, as he could clearly see the nervousness and hesitation in her, by the way she took her defensive stance.

Not wanting to really hurt the young Yamanaka heiress, nor wanting to have to deal with her and give Shikamaru a chance to capture him in his **Kagemane no Jutsu** (Shadow Imitation Techinque). Naruto quickly disappeared in a blur right before Shikamaru's and Ino's eyes and reappeared right behind Shikamaru with his sword raised, where all Ino and Shikamaru could think was "_Fast!_"

When Naruto reappeared behind Shikamaru, he quickly spun his Katana around so that the back of the blade was forward, where when he hit the young Nara, he would be just knocked out.

But before Naruto could swing his Katana fully and knock Shikamaru out, he suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound, where when he turned around he saw Choji in his human meat tank form rolling towards him and shouting out "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Seeing this, Naruto quickly jumped away from Shikamaru and into the air to avoid Choji's attack. After which he then quickly threw several Kunai's at the ground around Choji, imbedding them deeply into the ground.

Thinking Naruto was trying to hit him with Kunai, Choji tried to move out of the way, but when he tried, he found he couldn't move.

"What's wrong with Choji, why doesn't he move?" asked Ino.

"He can't look more closely" stated Shikamru, as he saw with his keen eyes, what had happened to his best friend.

When Ino narrowed her eyes to look more closely she notice the thin steel wire wrapped around Choji, keeping him from moving.

"Shinobi Wire!" stated Ino with surprise, where Shikamaru just nodded.

"Yea, Naruto purposely missed Choji with his Kunai's so that he could trap Choji in the Shinobi wire, which was wrapped around the Kunai's. Where when Choji saw the Kunai's thrown at him, he would try and move away, thereby fully tangling himself in the Shinobi wire. Also the more Choji moves the tighter the wire will get, keeping him from moving altogether", stated Shikamaru, where he had to silently complemented Naruto, as it was good move.

When Naruto landed back on the ground, he was quickly put on the defensive by Shikamaru, who had used his **Kagemane no Jutsu** to stretch his shadow towards Naruto. Seeing this, Naruto began to jump backwards to keep ahead of Shikamaru's shadow, while at the same time. He was also trying to see how far Shikamaru could stretch his shadow, so that he could have an estimate of his safe and danger zone with Shikamaru.

After jumping back a couple of metres away from Shikamaru, Naruto then found the limit to the stretching of Shikamaru's shadow. But after finding out the limits of Shikamaru's technique, Naruto then saw Choji free himself from the Shinobi wire by deactivating his **Nikudan Sensha** and returning to his original form.

After seeing this, Naruto then decided it would be best to make a tactical retreat, so that he could plan out his next move against Shikamaru and the others, where he quickly jumped into the treeline to hid.

After Naruto went into the treeline, Shikamaru and the others decided not to go after Naruto, for fear of being ambushed by him. They then quickly took up a defensive stance formation, where they had their backs to one another and could see any kind of attack that Naruto would make from any given angle. As they waited, Shikamaru began to plan out what to do and figure out want Naruto would do next.

After a few minutes of waiting, they soon came under attack from Naruto who appeared in the air above them and dropped down several Kunai and Shurikens down on them, forcing them to break apart.

"_Shit! He's trying to break us apart and take us out one at a time_" thought Shikamaru as he avoided the Kunai and Shurikens from above.

After avoiding the failing projections, Shikamaru started to look around for Naruto and where he would appear next.

As he looked around he saw Naruto suddenly appear behind Ino and was about to knock her out.

"Ino watch out!" cried Shikamaru to his female team members.

After hearing Shikamaru cry, Ino quickly tried to spin around to face Naruto with her Kunai, but when she tried Naruto caught her arm, (which held her Kunai), as she was in mid spin, stopping her from fully facing Naruto.

"Sorry Ino-chan, but this is where it ends for you", spoke Naruto, as he was about to deliver a chop to the back of her neck to knock her out.

But before he could do this, Shikamaru threw a Kunai at Naruto, forcing him to jump away from Ino, where Choji then steam rolled his way towards Naruto from his left hand side in his **Nikudan Sensha **form.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Naruto quickly took out a Kunai with an low medium level exploding note tied to it and threw it at the ground a few feet from him.

When Choji rolled across the Kunai it exploded and blasted him up into the air and sent him crashing into several trees. Fortunately though due to being in his human bullet form and the fact that the exploding note was a medium level one, no real harm was done to Choji.

After dealing with Choji, Naruto suddenly saw a shadow tendril heading for him, upon seeing them, Naruto immediately started jumping backwards to avoid Shikamaru's shadow, knowing there was a limit to how far he could go.

When he got to the point where he knew Shikamaru's shadow could no longer reach him he stopped, knowing he was safe and as he suspected, Shikamaru's shadow stopped a foot away from him.

"Nice try Shikamaru, but I know you can't reach me from here with your shadow, as this is a far as it can go", said Naruto with a smile, which quickly faded when he saw Shikamaru smirk.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Naruto" replied Shikamaru, where the next thing Naruto knew he found himself frozen.

"W-What?" cried Naruto in surprise as he found that he couldn't move.

Deciding to let Naruto in at what happened Shikamaru turned his head around, making Naruto do the same and allowing him to see how Shikamaru caught him.

When Naruto turned around he saw a Shadow tendril come up from the shadow of a nearby tree and merging with his shadow. After which when Naruto turned back to face Shikamaru, where he saw a second Shadow tendril coming from Shikamaru's, merging with another tree's Shadow.

After seeing this Naruto the realised how Shikamaru caught him, he had realised that Shikamaru had tricked him by using the first Shadow tendril to keep him (Naruto) distracted and make him go where Shikamaru wanted him to go. While at the same time, Shikamaru sent a second Shadow tendril into the shadow of one of the nearby trees. Thereby using it as a sort or rely with the other shadows of the trees, allowing him to extend the reach of his shadow farther than it normally could. As well as use it to sneak up on Naruto from behind, when he least expected it.

When he realised this Naruto had to hand it to Shikamaru, as he had played him (Naruto) perfectly and caught him.

"I'm afraid this is checkmate, Naruto" stated Shikamaru, believing he had it won, after which he turned to his female team-mate. "Ino, I need you to take control of Naruto's body, so that I can realise him from my **Kagemane no Jutsu** and we can tie him up".

"Right!" replied Ino with a nod, where she then a few quick hand-seals, "Sorry Naruto-kun… **Shintenshin no Jutsu** (Mind Body Switch Technique)!"

After doing the technique, Ino's body slumped over and Ino voice suddenly spoke from Naruto's.

"Ok Shikamaru I'm in control, you ca…" spoke Ino but before she could finish speaking "Naruto" puffed away in a puff of smoke, after which Ino was sent flying back into her body, where she fell onto her back.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!" cried a surprised Ino, which quickly turn to panic when she no longer saw Naruto, "Did Naruto-kun suddenly commit suicide and blow himself up!"

"Calm down Ino, your being troublesome again… Naruto didn't blow himself up, as that wasn't the real Naruto it was some short of clone", replied Shikamaru with a frown.

"But how? He felt real" asked Ino, as she knew that the Naruto, whose body she entered was real and no illusion.

"Tch! I don't known" replied the annoyed Shikamaru, as things were just getting more complicated. "_What a drag… I knew this Senju guy would troublesome, but I didn't think he be this troublesome. If I knew what he could do, I could make up a proper plan to get him, but since I don't our chances of beating him are very low…Man, I don't even known why I even have to put up with stuff like this? I much prefer taking a quiet nap and watching the clouds go by_" thought annoyed Shikamaru.

As Shikamaru was thinking over what to do next, he suddenly heard Ino shout out to him, where when he turned he saw three Kunai flying towards him at high speed from some bushes from the tree line.

After seeing them, Shikamaru, quickly tried to move out of the way, but couldn't avoid them fully, where he was cut by them in both arms and his right leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

When he hit the ground, Shikamaru then saw the real Naruto appear out of the bush from where the Kunai's came from. Upon seeing Naruto, Shikamaru immediately realised that Naruto had sent his clone into attack them, so distract them and keep them busy so that he could wait for an opening to appear and attack them.

"_Shit! I walked right into this one_" thought Shikamaru angrily.

"_Man that was close, if I had gone myself, instead of sending a clone, there's no doubt that Shikamaru would have caught me. But still, I better end this now and not give him any more chances, as he too dangerous to ignore_" thought Naruto. Where he redrew his Katana from his back and prepared to take care of Shikamaru and Ino.

Unfortunately before Naruto could finish of Ino and Shikamaru, he suddenly heard a familiar rumbling sound, where the next thing he knew, Choji came brusting from the tree line in his **Nikudan Sensha** form. After which he made a sharp turn and sped straight for Naruto, forcing Naruto to move away from Shikamaru and Ino, where Choji then followed after him.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity that Choji gave him, the young Nara quickly formed the necessary seals needed to do his **Kagemane no Jutsu**, where he the formed a Shadow tendril and connected with the shadows of the trees, (Just as he did when he faced against the Naruto clone).

He then used the shadows of the trees as rely points for his own shadow to extend its lengths, where he then created several small tendrils and had them come up from behind Naruto and surround him from multiple angles, where they all converged on him.

At the same time, as he was avoiding Choji, Naruto saw out of the corner of his eyes the different Shadow tendrils surrounding him and converging in on him on multipliable sides, with Choji coming at him head on.

"Shit!" muttered Naruto, when he saw this, as he knew he was trapped.

The next thing Ino and Shikamaru saw, was Naruto being caught in Shikamaru's **Kagemane no Jutsu**, freezing him in place and Choji crushing him under his attack.

"NARUTO-KUN!" cried Ino as she saw her new crush being steam rolled by her team-mate.

But as Ino was about to break into tears over the loss of her new "love", Shikamaru suddenly spoke up.

"Calm down Ino and stop being so loud" spoke Shikamaru with a slight annoyed tone, where he muttered "Troublesome woman".

"But Naruto-kun is…" cried Ino, but was interrupted by Shikamaru before he could finish

"…Isn't dead look" spoke Shikamaru, as he indicated towards the believed to be crushed Naruto, where when Ino looked she saw a crushed wooden log, showing that Naruto had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique) at the last second. Allowing him to avoid being captured in Shikamaru's **Kagemane no Jutsu** and before Choji could flatten him, with his **Nikudan Sensha**.

At seeing this Ino sighed with relief, at Naruto not being dead, while Shikamaru just frowned, as he knew that the longer this battle went on, the worse things would get from him. Since he knew that they needed to capture Naruto now and take him out, as they knew too little about his abilities to beat him in a drawn out battle.

Soon enough Choji joined up with the rest of his team, where Shikamaru began to plan out their next move. But just as soon as they regrouped, eight Naruto's appeared out of the tree line and charged straight at them, half of them carrying Kunai's and the other half holding Katana's.

"Crap! How did he make so many clones?" cried Choji in surprise, where Shikamaru just narrowed his eyes.

Once once Naruto and his clones made their appearance, they quickly charged at the members of team ten and attacked them, where they forced them to break apart from one another.

Despite the fact they were forced away from one another the members of team ten were able to hold their own against the clones, where Choji used his **Nikudan Sensha** to flatten three separate clones, causing them to puff away. Shikamaru also had some success with them where he caught four more of them with his **Kagemane no Jutsu** and got them to destroy each other.

This of course left the last Naruto, who was fighting Ino, meaning he had to be the real Naruto, where Choji and Shikamaru were about to go over to help their female team-mate and surround Naruto. But just when things seemed to be going well for the members of team ten, Naruto took out a handful of smoke bombs and threw them onto the ground creating a large cloud of smoke that covered the training area.

"Cough, Cough…damnit…cough…I need to get outta here fast…cough, cough" said Shikamaru, as he made his way out of the smoke filled area.

At the same time standing outside the smoke filled area, on a thick tree branch of a tree, was the sensei of team ten Sarutobi Asuma, who had been watching the battle.

"_Not bad Naruto, using the clones to separate Shikamaru and the others and then using the smoke as a screen to keep them apart and take them out one at a time. But still it'll take more than this to defeat Shikamaru, as he won't fall for such obvious tactics_" thought the son of the Hokage.

Once Shikamaru made his way out of the smoke filled area, he immediately started to look for the members of the rest of his team, since it was obvious to him that the smoke screen was to help further separate them from one another. Hence he had to hurry and find the rest of his team-mates, fortunately it didn't take him long for him to find Ino, who had emerged from the smoke coughing heavily.

"Ino are you ok" asked Shikamaru as he went up to the blonde haired girl.

"Cough, Cough…Yea I'm fine, but's where Choji?" asked Ino.

"I don't know but he can't be far, we have to hurry, as Naruto's plan is to separate us and break us apart, so that it would be easier for him to beat us", replied Shikamaru, where Ino just nodded in understanding.

Luckily though, Shikamaru and Ino didn't have to look far, as Choji quickly came running towards them, panting slightly.

"Choji you ok?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yea I'm fine, just a little tired" replied Choji.

"Do you want something to eat? As I've some chocolate in my pouch"

"Nah, I'm not hungry, thanks though"

At this Shikamaru just nodded, where he turned and looked at Ino's dress where he saw something.

"Hey Ino, you've some dirt on your dress!"

"Huh?" said Ino as she looked at the spot Shikamaru indicated, "Oh yea! It must have happened when I was stumbling through the smoke, it's nothing, I'll clean it later".

At Shikamaru just nodded again, where he then said that they should go and find Naruto.

But after only walking a few feet, Shikamaru suddenly took out a Kunai with his left hand and spun around, where he pointed it at Choji's neck.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing?" cried Choji in surprise and confusion.

"Can the act...I know your not Choji" stated Shikamaru with usual seriousness.

"What are you talking about of course I'm…" stated Choji, but was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"I know you're not the real Choji, because I know Choji better than anyone and I know that Choji would never pass up on free food" spoke Shikamaru. But as he said this, he found a Kunai pointed at his head by Ino.

"Very impressive Shikamaru, but even still you lost" replied Ino, who suddenly revealed to be Naruto.

"Tsk, I don't think so", replied the Nara heir where Naruto suddenly found that he couldn't move, where when Naruto looked down, he saw that Shikamaru had caught him in his **Kagemane no Jutsu**.

"**Kagemane no Jutsu**! But when?" said Naruto with clear surprise.

"Since when I met you, back when you were disguised as Ino and came out of the smoke, before you saw me".

"But how did you know that I wasn't the real Ino?"

"I didn't, at least not until I asked you about the dirt on your dress, where you said it was nothing, Ino would never say that if she saw dirt on here dress, as she would yell and complain about something like for the rest of the day".

At hearing that Naruto could only shake his head, and would have smacked himself forgetting that, as Asuma had mention Ino being like that earlier.

"Pretty good, but still how did you known that I disguise myself as your team-mates?"

"Your plan was good but fairly obvious, where you had your clones attack us and then separate us from one another, where you then created that smoke screen cover the entire field. If your goal had been really to separate us from one another and take us out one by one, you could have done so without the large smoke screen. While Choji and I were dealing with your clones, you could've taken out Ino and fled. But instead you waited till we had destroyed your Clones and before we could gang up on you. You then used the smoke screen to quickly take out Choji and Ino, where you used a henge to turn into Ino and you created a clone to turn into Choji, which would increase your chances in taking me out. Since you calculated that even if I was suspicious of your plan, I wouldn't suspect that you had taken out both my team-mate, allowing you to take me by surprise".

Upon hearing this Naruto could only smirk, as his mother was indeed right about the Nara's, being dangerous enemies to have and being skilled tacticians, given how Shikamaru had figured out his plan.

"Well you sure left me feeling like a dope, but even still Shikamaru, this doesn't change the fact that I've won, as you can't stab my clone, without having me stabbing you at the same time, thanks to your **Kagemane no Jutsu** making me follow your moves. Hence my Clone can move out of the way and attack you" stated a confident Naruto, but immediately frowned when he saw Shikamaru smirk again.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" answered Shikamaru, where Naruto suddenly found his right hand lowering.

"B-But how?"

"You forget the Kunai that's pointing at your clones neck is in my left hand, while your kunai that's pointed at my head is in your right. During our battle I noticed that you mainly hold your Katana, Kunai's in your right hand and mainly throw your Shurikens and Kunai's with your right hand as well. Meaning that you're right handed, which was why I held my Kunai in my left, as I knew I could most likely end up in a situation like this and you would most like hold your Kunai or Katana in your right hand like the other times. That's why this time I have you for certain and this is indeed checkmate" stated Shikamaru.

After hearing this Naruto could only smile, as he really was impressed with how brilliant Shikamaru really was. "Hmph, Pretty observant of you, your definitely a sharp one… Asuma-sensei was right about you Shikamaru, as you really do have the ability to be a great Shinobi".

At this Shikamaru just nodded, "So do you surrender, or do yo…" spoke Shikamaru, but stopped in mid-sentence as he sudden felt weak, where he could no longer focus his Chakra to hold Naruto and he could no longer keep holding his Kunai in his hand.

As Shikamaru, was wondering what was going on with him, he suddenly realised what happened.

"Poison" he muttered out loud.

"Like I said you're a sharp one Shikamaru, as you're correct" said Naruto as he stood over Shikamaru who was now on his knees, due to being so weak.

With Shikamaru now disabled, Naruto then deactivated his clone, where when he did, Shikamaru suddenly spoke again.

"But when did you poison me? It couldn't be from the smoke, as you would've been poisoned as well and even if you were immune to it, you wouldn't have had to use that ruse with disguising yourself and your clone as Ino and Choji. As you could've waited till we all collapsed from the poison, so when did you poison me?" asked Shikamaru.

"Back when I had cut you with my Kunai's, after you and Ino took out my first clone, as I coated my Kunai's with the poison, where it entered your bloodstream when the Kunai's cut you and spread throughout your body. The poison that I used was a slow acting one, where it doesn't take effect until it spreads through your entire body, through your bloodstream, where it messes up your Chakra control and weakens your body. Normally it takes a few hours to stream through your body, since its slow to spread, but since we've been fighting for so long, the adrenalin from fighting speeds up the process greatly", explained Naruto.

"You may have figured out my plan Shikamaru and caught me, but it's always best to have a hidden ace in the hole, which is why I won this fight. As I knew it would most likely come down between the two of us" stated Naruto with a smirk.

At this Shikamaru could only sigh and mutter "Troublesome", but even still he smiled a little, as he held no hard feelings to Naruto, as he had outwitted him fair a square.

With Shikamaru now disabled Naruto knew the fight was over, as he had already dealt with Choji and Ino. But before Naruto could go looking for Asuma and tell him the battle was over, he and Shikamaru suddenly heard someone clapping nearby.

When they looked around they saw Asuma standing on a thick branch of a tree clapping, "Nice going you two, that was close battle".

"Asuma-sensei, how long have you been there?" asked Naruto

"Long enough, I've been moving from place to place as the battle went on, so that I could get a better view of your battle, and I've to say your fight could have gone either way".

At this Naruto only nodded, as he knew that the battle was close, as the main reason he only won was because Shikamaru didn't known what he could do. If he had known what Naruto could do, the battle might have turned out differently, especially if he had to keep holding back like the way he was.

With the battle now over, Naruto took out a small bottle full of pills and took out a single pill and gave it to Shikamaru and told him to take it, telling him it was antidote to the poison.

When Shikamaru took the pill, Asuma decided to get rid of the remaining cloud of smoke that covered the training area, by using a Wind technique to blow the smoke away.

When the smoke was blown away, Shikamaru saw the rest of his team lying on the ground unconscious, but relatively unharmed.

Once Shimakaru had recovered from the poison, he and Naruto along with Asuma went over to Choji and Ino, where Naruto used some smelling salts to wake them up.

Once Choji and Ino were awake, Asuma went on to explain what happened after Naruto knocked them out.

When the two heard what happened, Choji was of course naturally impressed with what happened and how Naruto was actually able to outwit Shikamaru and be one step ahead of him, which was something Choji had never seen or heard before.

Ino of course cheered loudly, at how "her" Naruto-kun won, (despite the fact that it was her team that lost), where she then jumped forward and hugged Naruto tightly. This then caused Naruto to fall backwards onto the ground on his back with Ino on top of him, who was still hugging him tightly, saying how she knew he would win.

At this Choji and Shikamaru could only sigh at the antics of their team-mate, where Shikamaru just muttered "Troublesome women".

Asuma of course just smirked, as he found the whole situation rather funny, especially at seeing Naruto trying to get Ino off him, but failing it doing so, since Ino was latched on tightly around Naruto. He was also pleased at how his plan worked, for even though his team had lost, they had all show good cooperation and teamwork with one another, where they saw how well they could do by working together.

After eventually getting Ino off of Naruto, Asuma declared that they would call it a day and that they would go and have barbecue to celebrate how well they all fought today, where he would treat the team.

At this Choji cheered at having barbecue, Shikamaru just sighed, as he didn't mind all that much, while Ino squealed a little. Since as far she was concerned this was like a miniature date with her and Naruto, (minus the fact that her team would be with them), where she latched onto his arm tightly as they headed for the barbecue.

When Ino latched onto his arm Naruto of course just sighed, as Ino fan girl antics were getting a bit annoying. But even still, they were at least not as bad as Sakura's was, and despite this little annoyance, he was starting to like working with team ten and being a part of it.

-Next Day with Team Seven-

Following the events after his mock battle with the members of team ten, Naruto joined up with team seven the next day, where they were doing a mission together.

As expected he did not receive too much of a warm welcome from his former team, (with the exception of Kakashi, who greeted him with a wave and his tradition eye smile).

Sasuke pretty much ignored him, as he brooded by himself, Sakura was too busy with trying to talk to Sasuke and asking him out on a date, while Sai just looked at Naruto with his friendly fake smile, which creep Naruto out and made him all the more suspicious of Sai.

After joining up with one another the team then set out on their first joint mission together.

"_**This is cherry blossom, I'm in position**_"

"_**This is artist, I' am also in position**_"

"_**This is hard fist, no sign of the target**_"

"_**This is raven have sighted the target moving in to capture**_"

"_**Roger raven move in…cherry blossom you move in from the north to support raven**_"

"_**Received Copy-cat and will do**_"

"_**Hard fist, artist, you'll move to the south and stay in position there, should raven and cherry blossom fail and the target escape, where you can then intercept it and capture it**_"

"_**Will do Copy-cat**_"

"_**Confirmed and will do**_"

As Sasuke neared his target, he thought how worthless this mission was, where he would much prefer doing a mission of more worth or at the very least do some serious training, than doing kiddy mission like this.

After thinking this he finally sighted his target, which was a brown cat with red ribbon on its right ear. This cat was of course no ordinary cat, as it was the pet cat of the wife of the Fire Daimyo Madam Shijimi. The cat in question was named Tora, meaning tiger, which was fitting consider the cat was as wild and as dangerous a tiger was, or at least that was according to the other Genin teams that were set after him before.

"_Finally found you, you mangy fur-ball, now maybe I can finish this dumb mission and do something more worthwhile_" thought Sasuke as he closed in on his target.

Sasuke then silently sunk up on and grabbed the cat from behind, where it began to hiss widely and struggle as he tried to free himself from Sasuke grip.

"Quiet down you fur ball, as there no point in struggling" spoke Sasuke, he tried to get the cat to settle, but as he did, Tora bit down hard on his right hand, with his sharp teeth. This caused Sasuke to yell out in pain and drop Tora as he held his bleeding hand in pain.

After seeing that he lost sight of his target Sasuke quickly made contact with the others on his short band radio.

"_**I lost the target, it's heading your way Sakura**_".

"_**Right! I get him**_" replied Sakura, where she got ready to catch the target.

Sakura of course didn't have to wait long, as she soon saw her target running straight towards her.

But when Sakura appeared in front of Tora ready to catch him, Tora quickly jumped up into the air and onto Sakura's face, where he preceded to claw at Sakura's face, causing the pink hair girl to scream in pain. After the cat scratched Sakura's face up, it then quickly jumped off Sakura's face and ran in a different direction.

After getting over the pain of her face being scratched up by the ribbon wearing cat, Sakura quickly made contact with the rest of her team.

"_**I lost the target and I have no clue as to where he's gone**_" spoke Sakura over the radio.

"_**Received Cherry Blossom, Artist, Hard fist try and locate the target and capture him**_" spoke Kakashi over the radio.

"Roger Copy-cat" replied Naruto, where he then turned to Sai.

"So any ideas on how to get our target?"

"I believe I have one" answered Sai.

After separating with Sai, Naruto stayed hidden in the bushes, where he waited for Sai to lure out Tora, fortunately Naruto didn't have to wait long as Tora soon appeared chasing after several mice made out of ink.

When Naruto saw Tora he had to admit that the plan was pretty smart, and couldn't help but wonder why they did do this in the first place.

As Tora chased after the ink mice, Naruto quickly did three sets of hand-seals and slammed his hands into the ground, where, several pieces of wood sprung up from the ground and formed around Tora and into a small wooden cage.

When Tora found himself trap inside the small wooden cage, the feline naturally tried to claw itself out, but found that the chakra enhance wood was too strong and its claws did little to nothing to the cage.

Once Naruto saw that Tora was caught he could not help but smile at his work, as his Mokuton skills had improved a lot thanks to his training with Yamato.

"Sorry Tora, but you're going back home, now" said Naruto as he walked over to the wooden cage and picked it up, with the hissing and angry cat inside it.

"Ah good so you did catch, it seems my plan work" spoke Sai, after he jumped down from one of the trees to Naruto's right.

"Yea you plan worked like a charm" replied Naruto.

"Only thanks to you Naruto-san", replied Sai with a smile, where Naruto just narrowed his eyes slightly, since he knew Sai's smile was fake. But as he narrowed his eyes, Naruto couldn't help but wonder why Sai was trying to be so nice to him.

But before Naruto could think any more on Sai, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke quickly appeared in front of them.

"Nice work you two", spoke Kakashi when he saw Naruto holding the cage Tora, where they then headed back to the mission office and hand in Tora.

* * *

"TORA-CHAN!" cried the Fire Daimyo's wife when she was handed the struggling cat, where she precede to squeeze the life out of the cat.

When Naruto saw this he finally understood why Tora was always running away, as given the circumstances, he would probably do the exact same thing as Tora. As Naruto watch, what could be considered animal cruelty, Naruto of course could not help but feel sympathetic for the poor thing.

Although not everyone was feeling sorry for Tora plight, in fact two people were gain sadistic pleasure from the cats suffering. These two were none other than Sasuke and Sakura, who enjoy every minute of seeing the cat that caused them so much pain and trouble, being slowly squeezed to death by the Fire Daimyo's wife.

"_Hah serves you right, you miserable hairball_" thought Sakura.

"_**Cha! That'll teach you from scratching up our face!**_" cried inner Sakura inside Sakura's mind.

Once The Fire Daimyo wife and paid the Hokage (who was sitting at the mission desk, handing out different mission and receiving the money for the missions completion). Madam Shijimi began to walk out the room with the squirming Tora held rightly against her bosom. But as she was walking by Naruto and team seven she notice a silver ring with a phoenix on Naruto's right middle finger.

Upon noticing the ring, she looked more careful at Naruto, "Excuse me young man, put would you happen to be Senju Naruto son of Tsunade?"

"Eh yes I' am, it's nice to meet you Madam Shijimi" said Naruto respectfully, since he didn't know what Madam Shijimi was like and didn't want to get in trouble with her if he sounded disrespectful to her.

But as soon as Naruto answered the Madam Shijimi, she let out a large cry and much to the surprise of everyone in the room, (including the Sarutobi) she grabbed Naruo in a one-armed hugged, with her right arm. Where she then precede to nearly squeeze the life out of Naruto, as she smothered him in her chest, (all the while still holding Tora in her left arm, who was still struggle to try and get free).

"Oh how wonderfully…I've been dying to meet you for years, as my Granddaughter Rurichiyo speaks of you all the time and how you saved her from that horrid bear. But she never said how handsome you were, I could just eat you up" cooed the large woman, where she continued to squeeze Naruto tighter and tighter much like she did with Tora.

Eventually after a few more minutes of this, Sarutobi finally decide to intervene on his surrogate Grandson's behalf, before the women smothered poor Naruto to death, where he was able to get her to let Naruto go. Who after being let go fell to the ground breathing for dear life.

Once Naruto regained himself, Sakura suddenly spoke up.

"Eh Naruto is what Madam Shijimi? Did you really save the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter?"

"Yea, it's true, a while back while I was traveling with my mom, the Fire Daimyo's son became ill and the Fire Daimyo asked for my mom's help. That's when I met I Rurichiyo-chan, where she was staying at the Fire Daimyo's estate outside the capital", said Naruto.

"While I was staying there, Rurichiyo-chan left the estate on her own, where she was attacked by a wild bear that she accidently ran into. Fortunately before the bear could hurt her, I arrived, as I went looking for her, when her personal guards told me she was missing. When I found her, she was being attacked by the bear, where I knocked it out and brought her back to the estate, after which we became friends".

After hearing Sakura, Sauke and even Sai were surprised, as they had no idea that Naruto was on such friendly terms with the royal family of their country and that he saved the life of the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter.

"So how is Rurichiyo-chan doing Madam Shijimi?"

"Oh she is fine, and I sure she will be overjoyed when she hears that you are here" replied Madam Shijimi. "Also tell me Naruto-kun are you in a relationship with anyone?"

"Eh, No why?"

"Oh good, as several good friends of my in the royal court, who have several daughters, who would be just perfect for you".

"Huh?" stated the dumbstruck Naruto when he heard this, but before he could respond to this the Madam Shijimi spoke again.

"Or better yet, how about you and Rurichiyo, as the two of you together would make the cutest couple, yes that would be perfect", spoke Madam Shijimi.

For the next few minutes the Fire Daimyo's wife continued on with her rabbling's on how Naruto and Rurichiyo would be perfect for one another, since playing match maker was a hobby of hers. All the while ignoring the stun look on Naruto's face, who just stood still with his mouth open, at hearing what Madam Shijimi was suggesting.

Naruto was the only one that was surprised at Madam Shijimi suggestion, as when Sakura heard this, her jaw dropped, as she couldn't believe that the Fire Daimyo's wife was actually trying to arrange a marriage between her Granddaughter and Naruto right in front of them.

Sasuke, Kakashi and even Sai were also surprised Madam Shijimi idea, although they were able to mask their surprise much better than Sakura, where the only sign of their surprise was that the three of them had raised eyebrows.

"So tell me Naruto-kun, what do you think of my idea about you and my Granddaughter Rurichiyo?"

"I…eh…well that is…eh…I think that…eh" stuttered a tongue-tied Naruto, as he didn't know what to say to Madam Shijimi's idea.

Deciding to intervene again on the youth's behalf and save Naruto from the awkward situation that the Daimyo's wife had put Naruto in, the Sandaime cough loudly gaining everyone's attention.

"Ahem, Pardon me Madam Shijimi, but if I may interject, I'm afraid I have important briefing that I need to discuss with young Naruto now".

"Oh, but of course I understand" spoke Madam Shijimi, where she then turned back to Naruto, "Well it was a pleasure talking to you Naruto-kun and I hope we met again soon".

"It was nice talking to you to, Madam Shijimi", replied Naruto respectfully, where he then gave his surrogate Grandfather and grateful glance, for getting him out that situation with Madam Shijimi.

At this the Daimyo's wife smile kindly to the young blonde and the preceded to walk out of the room, although before she fully left she quickly stopped and turned around slight, "Also Naruto-kun please consider my suggestion on you and my Granddaughter, as I certain that they two would match up handsomely with one another".

"Eh, I will Madam Shijimi", replied an uncomfortable Naruto, where Madam Shijimi just nodded and then left the room. Upon which Naruto let lose a large sigh of exhaustion, as he hoped his mother never hears about this, as he knew she have a major fit over it. Sarutobi on the other hand smile in amusement and some pity of Naruto's previous situation.

"Thanks Jiji, I owe you one"

"Anytime Naruto-kun" replied the Sandaime with a smile.

"Are you sure you wouldn't want to take up Madam Shijimi up on her offer Naruto? as being the Grandson-in law to the Fire Daimyo would have it's advantages, plus I hear that Rurichiyo-hime is quite the looker" spoke Kakashi with a sight chuckle as he saw the annoyed Naruto glare at him.

Once the excitement from the conversation with the Fire Daimyo's Wife died down, the Hokage dismissed team seven, stating that they were done for the day.

But instead of leaving the mission office with the others, Naruto remained in the room with the Sandaime, stating he wanted to talk to the old Hokage about something.

Seeing the serious look on Naruto's face, the Hokage dismissed the other Shinobi's that were working in the missions office with him, leaving Naruto and the Sandaime alone together.

"So Naruto, what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"

"What can you tell about Sai? The one who replaced me on team seven when I left it?" asked Naruto.

Upon hearing this, a slight frown appeared on the Sandaime face.

"Why do you ask this Naruto?"

"There just something off about that guy that puts me at odds with him, plus he seems too skilled to be just another ordinary Genin, not to mention I can tell there's more to him than he's letting, on as if he's working for someone"

Upon hearing this the Sandaime frown further before he let a tired sigh.

"Sigh, Very well then… tell me Naruto, has either your mother or Jiraiya told you anything about an organisation called the foundation otherwise known as ROOT?" asked Sarutobi.

"No, I never even heard of it"

"Very few people have, as it was a branch of ANBU that use work outside normal operations and was led by a man name Shimura Danzō, who is one of the three Shinobi Elders of the Council and one of my leading advisors".

"Danzō?" said Naruto in surprise.

"You've heard of him?"

"Yea, Kaa-chan told me he is a very dangerous guy and that I was to keep as far away from him as possible".

"And she is correct, as Danzō isn't someone you can take lightly"

"So how does Sai fit in with Danzō and his ROOT organisation?"

"Sai is one of the last members to be trained in ROOT, before I had the organisation disbanded due to their training methods and how it would recruit orphans for the organisation and conducted several illegal operations".

"What kind of training methods did they use that would cause you to have the group disbanded?" asked Naruto

"Naruto has your mother ever told you about the History of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) or to be more precise, why it was once called the Bloody Mist?"

"Eh, yea Shizune-nee-chan told me about it during a History lesson of the different Shinobi villages. She told me that Kiri use to have a special graduation exam, where they would have the class members fight each other to the death so to…" said Naruto until he suddenly realised what the Sandaime was telling him.

"Wait! Are you telling me that this Danzō character, used the same kind of graduation test as Kiri use to do?" asked an appalled Naruto. As he found the very idea of forcing classmates and friends to fight a kill each other, just to try and have a better quality of Shinobi's ludicrous.

"Correct, that was one of the main reasons why I had the group disband, as well as because it seemed that Danzō was brainwashing the young oprhans along with the other members into becoming his loyal followers" replied Sarutobi.

As Naruto heard this, as he starting to like Danzō less and less and was beginning to see why his mother detested him so much.

"But why is Sai in team seven, if he was trained to be an elite Shinobi under Danzō command?"

"I believe that Sai was place on team seven, so that he would've the chance to observe you Naruto"

"Me? But why exactly, it's not like I ever met Danzō before or done anything to him?"

"You forget Naruto that you've a great deal of influence in Konoha, whether want to admit it or not, as you are the sole heir to the Senju Clan, the main founders of this village. You're also your mother's son and as well the descendant of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, which can hold a great deal of sway over many people in Konoha. Not to mention you possess the Mokuton bloodline of the Shodai, where you could possibly pass it onto any children you may have in the future, and at the same time restore the Senju Clan in Konoha. Those reasons by themselves are enough for Danzō to want to keep an eye on you, and one day find a way to gain control of you. So to use you to either help him take my place as Hokage or at the very least, influence you to turn Konoha into the type of place he wants it to be, by having you becoming Hokage, where I'm sure you can guess what it would be like".

At hearing this Naruto just nodded, but then spoke again, "But if you know that Sai is working for Danzō, why did you allow him on team seven?"

"I'm afraid I had little choice, since Sai was originally supposed to be on team seven along with Sasuke and Sakura, but I had him removed when you arrived, although that changed back when I had you move to be trained with Yamato and Kushina. As Danzō was able to arrange for Sai to take his place back on team seven" answered the Sandaime.

"But I thought he only wanted Sai to be on team seven because he wanted to observe me, so why did he arrange to have Sai place on team seven before people knew I even existed?" asked Naruto as that part didn't make sense to him.

"It's because, originally you weren't the target…Sasuke was"

"Sasuke?...was it because of the same reasons he wants me?" asked Naruto, for although he didn't like to admit it, Sasuke and him were a lot alike in many ways. Both were the last heirs of their individual clans, both called prodigies by people, due to their great skills, both were from the two Clans that lead to Konoha being formed and both possessed powerful bloodlines, along with that, they also had several other things in common.

"I'm not exactly sure, but it is possible, although I willing to bet that Sai's orders are to monitor both you and Sasuke now" answered Sarutobi. Although what he wasn't telling Naruto was that he believed the main reason that Sai was ordered to monitor Sasuke was in case he tried to leave or betray the village, in the hopes of gaining a chance to kill his brother Itachi, as Danzō had brought it to the Sandaime's attention on more than one occasion, that Sasuke could one day become a threat to Konoha.

"But still? Why didn't you deny him to be part of the team to begin with?" asked Naruto.

"Sadly Naruto, things aren't that easy, as Danzō is quite powerful and has a great deal of influence in Konoha. Not to mention, even if I did deny Sai to be a member of team seven, Danzō will just find another way to monitor you both, this way allows me to monitor Sai and his actions, while he monitors you and Sasuke", replied Sarutobi.

"Meaning you're having Kakashi-sensei watch Sai, when he's training or doing missions with Sasuke and Sakura, as well as have Kakashi-sensei along with Kushina-sensei and Yamato-sensei do the same whenever I'm training with team seven. Thereby letting you limit or control what Danzō may learn from Sai, as he monitors me and Sasuke, as well as give you a chance to try and find out what Danzō is doing, since he's obviously up to something" said Naruto.

Sarutobi of course could not help but smirk when Naruto figured out what his plan was so quickly, as it showed that Naruto was quite astute for his age.

"Very good Naruto, I'm very impressed", spoke Sarutobi, before he became serious, "but still I want you to be careful around Sai and not let on that you're on to him. Let him monitor you, without revealing anything important about yourself, as Danzō is a dangerous man and I've reason to believe that ROOT is not truly disbanded, as Danzō may let on".

Naruto of course just nodded, understanding, after which he then left the room and headed home, but as he did, he planned that he would also keep a close eye on Sai, as you can never have too many eyes on a person.

N/A

(1). Don't forget Sarutobi was made Naruto's surrogate Grandfather by Tsunade

**Custom Jutsu's**

(A). **Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water): This is a defensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style, where the users creates a multiple waves of water and creates a wall of water around him. This technique is highly effect defence move, where the user can block many different attacks including Ninjutsu. The technique is also effective in reducing the effects of most attacks and gives the user a chance to take a defensive stance if an attack breaks through the wall of water.

(B). **Mizu no Atsuen** (Rolling Water): This is an offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style, where the user would slash using one hand, but this would simply be revealed as a feint attack whilst the katana is switched to the user's other hand to create a genuine slash after the intended target is caught off guard attempting to dodge or block the first feint attack.

(C). **Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water): This is a defensive movement performed by those who utilize the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. The user holds their blade backwards and channels the water around him or her as he or she spins around to create a whirlwind-like shield of water around the user. It is highly effective defensive technique used when facing against multiple attacks or opponents from multiple directions. The technique has an added effect of blasting an opponent back, if they are near the user.

(D). **Tachioyogi** (Treading Water): This is an offensive move where the user coats his or her Katana with water to enhance the blades' density and length, while charging forward at high speed, the user can also increase sharpness of the water covered Katana, where the user thrusts forward and impale a target.

(E). **Mizu no Kagayaku **(Glittering Water): This is an offensive and defensive technique, where the user creates a wave of water in front of him or her. The wave then acts as a mirror, so when his target is distracted by the reflection, the user can attack from the opposing direction.

(F). **Jinsoku Mizu **(Swift Water): This is an extremely powerful offensive move, where it can be used multiple different ways. The first way is where the user can slash's at the opponent, while at the same time draws the moisture from the air and form hundreds of tiny high speed water blades around the blade. This makes it virtually impossible for an opponent to fully avoid the attack, due to the number of tiny water blades around the blade when it slashes. The water blades themselves are sharp enough to cut an opponent to pieces or at the very least disable him or her. The other ways is where the user can created an invisible wind like vortex made out of thousands of tiny water blades as the user swings his or her Katana, the vortex is strong enough that it can blast an enemy or a large body of enemies away and shred them to pieces at the same time.

Well I'm back, where to quote Mark Twain, "'The reports about my death are an great exaggeration", hence I hope that I've settled the fears of you fans who feared that I had abandoned this story, which you can see I did not. I would have updated a week earlier but I'm afraid there was some kind of error with fanfiction, where I was unable to update any of my stories because of it and it's only come back now.

Now I hope you enjoyed the Chapter and the interaction between Naruto and the members of team seven, team eight and team ten, along with how Kushina and Yamato trained Naruto. Now the next Chapter will involve the wave arc, which I known many of you fans are looking forward to, hence there be some good interact scenes and fighting scenes in next the Chapter.

Also before you all ask me to update the next Chapter, I've nearly done it, so if all goes well I have the next Chapter up by next week, give or take a few days.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters, I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people, for that I'm sorry. But I'm doing the best I can, with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.


	15. Chapter 15

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Fifteen: ****Wave****.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-The Hokage Office-

Several days after the events with the Fire Daimyo's wife, Naruto along with his sensei's Kushina and Yamato were called in by the Hokage for a mission.

"You called for us Hokage-sama" spoke Yamato after he, Kushin and Naruto entered the room.

"Yes, I did, thank you all for coming so quickly".

"So what is it that you need us for Hokage-sama?" asked Kushina.

"I called you all here because I've an important mission that I need you for".

At hearing this Naruto immediately got excited as he was getting pretty tired of all these D-rank missions, and wanted to do something a little more exciting, where he could put the results of his training with Kushina and Yamato to use.

Kushina and Yamato of course remained a little more sober, as they knew there was more to this than a simple mission, given how serious the Hokage was.

"And what exactly is the mission, Hokage-sama?" asked Yamato.

"The mission involves sending you to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) and support Kakashi and his team on their mission in helping to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna" answered Sarutobi.

At hearing this Kushina raised her eyebrow in curiosity, "Excuse me Hokage-sama, but why are you sending us to support Kakashi and his team on a mission, that is clearly a C-rank mission. Surely Kakashi can handle anything that could happen in a C-rank mission", spoke Kushina.

"Normally I would agree with you Kushina, but this is not your ordinary C-rank mission, for you see, it seems that the client Tazuna lied to us when he requested our assistance" replied the old Hokage.

"How so Hokage-sama?" asked Yamato.

"According to the message that Kakashi sent to me, it seems that Tazuna is being targeted by a man name Gatō"

"Gatō? As in the wealthy shipping magnate and leader of the shipping company, Gatō Corporation?" asked Kushina.

"The very same, although from what recent intelligence has told me, Gatō's export and import business is actually a front for smuggling illegal goods and selling drugs. This has resulted in Gatō becoming one of the richest men in the world as a result".

At this Kushina, Yamato and Naruto all nodded their heads in understanding, after which Naruto then spoke up.

"But how is he involved with this mission Jiji?" asked Naruto.

"Well seemingly, Gatō has set up his headquarters in Nami no Kuni, as the Country is in a key position for sea trade between Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and most of the other island nations. He then used his monopoly over shipping to take control of the country's economy, which is allowing him to slowly take control of the country itself. But Tazuna is threating all this with the bridge that he is building to connect Nami no Kuni to the mainland, which would destroy Gatō's monopoly over Nami no Kuni. Hence he has hired a group of Nuke-nins to eliminate Tazuna", spoke the Sandaime.

"If that is true Hokage-sama, why didn't he tell the truth? Where we could've sent a team more suited for the mission than a team of Genin and their Sensei" spoke Yamato.

"Seemly from Kakashi's message Tazuna-san, and his people have spent most of their remaining money on the equipment and materials needed to build the bridge, and did not have much left to request a higher rank mission, hence why he lied when he requested our help".

"So what did Kakashi go against on the mission, to make him call for backup?" asked Kushina, as she knew Kakashi was no pushover and it would have to be something dangerous for him to need help.

"Well it seems that when Kakashi and his team where traveling to Nami no Kuni, they were ambushed by the Oni Kyōdai (Demon Brothers) Gōzu and Meizu. Kakashi and his team easily dispatched them and left them to be arrested by our forces, after sending word of what happened. Upon which he and his team then continue on with the mission, but after they landed on Nami no Kuni they encountered Momochi Zabuza the fame Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of The Hidden Mist)".

Upon hearing this, the eyes of Yamato, Kushina suddenly in widen, as they had both heard of the infamous Nuke-nin of Kiri. Even Naruto had heard of the former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (The Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist), who had lead a failed revolt against the Yondaime Mizukage and was force to flee afterwards. Naruto only knew about him since his mother had made certain that he knew all the high rank Nuke-nins in the Bingo books on the chance that he encountered one.

"The Demon of the Hidden Mist…no wondered Kakashi called for backup" muttered Kushina to herself.

"You need not worry about Zabuza, as Kakashi reported that he defeated him, thanks to the help of his team, after which Zabuza was killed by a Hunter-nin who had been tracking Zabuza", spoke Sarutobi.

This of course surprised the three Shinobi, especially Naruto, since he knew that they only way that Sasuke and the others could have helped Kakashi in any way, would be if they worked together. This of course was surprising, since he didn't think Sasuke would work with his team-mates, let alone that they all could work together to begin with.

"But if Zabuza is dead, why do we need to support Kakashi team?" asked Naruto.

"Although Zabuza is dead, we don't know for certain that he and the demon brothers were the only ones that Gatō hired to take out Tazuna. This is why I sending you all to support him and team seven, since after his battle, Kakashi was left gravely weakened and even with Zabuza dealt with, who was most likely the greatest threat. Kakashi will be in no shape to defend Tazuna for a while" answered the Sandaime.

At this the three Shinobi's nodded again in understanding, although Yamato suddenly spoke up again.

"If I may Hokage-sama, why are you sending us on this mission, as surely this would be something for a more senior team?" asked Yamato.

"Normally I would do so, but unfortunately our forces are spread rather thin, where if I were to send a more senior team, it would weaken our defensives, which is why I'm sending you three. I have no doubt that whatever happens on this mission you and Kushina can handle it with Kakashi's help. While Naruto as you both known, is already a skilled Shinobi who can hold his own in most situations, not to mention he is also skilled in medical Ninjutsu thanks to his mother's training, where he can help Kakashi recover more quickly. Also Naruto already has some experience in combat thanks to the incident in Oni no Kuni (Demon Country), so I've no doubt he will be of help, whatever happens".

After hearing this Yamato only nodded, upon which he Kushina and Naruto left the room to pack for their mission, where two hours later they left the village and headed for Nami no kuni.

-Three days Later near Tazuna home-

After three days of travelling from Konoha to Nami no Kuni, Naruto and his Sensei's arrived at Nami no kuni, where they entered the nearby village. When they arrived at the village, they found it in an appalling state, where most of the people were in in tattered ragged clothes, with sorrowful looks on their faces, as if their spirits had been broken. The children were even in worse shape than the adults, as they were all skinny and dirty with tattered clothes and just sitting on the ground, with blank looks on their faces.

When Naruto saw this, he could not help but become angry at seeing all this, as he knew that Gatō was responsible for all these people suffering.

Soon enough though they found a person who directed them to where Tazuna home was.

When they arrived at the gate they all sensed a familiar presence nearby watching them, but before any of them could call to the person to come out, the person in questioned jumped out in front of them from a nearby tree.

When the person appeared in front of them, Naruto and his two Sensei's saw that the person that had been watching them was Sai, who had been keeping guard of the house in case of any sneak attack.

"Greeting's, so you're the ones who the Hokage has sent to assist us" spoke Sai.

"Correct, could you please bring us to Kakashi-senpai", spoke Yamato, where Sai just nodded and led them into the house.

When Yamato, Kushina and Naruto followed Sai into the house, they saw a young woman in a small kitchen cooking what most likely was evening dinner for the group. They then saw an old man, who was most likely the bridge builder Tazuna, sitting at a table drinking sake. While sitting in the far corner was Sasuke with his eyes closed, only to open them when Naruto and his Sensei's entered the house.

When Naruto and his group arrived, the young woman in the kitchen quickly turned around and smiled, "Oh! New arrivals are these the people, that Kakashi-san said would arrive to help?"

"Indeed we are" replied Yamato.

At hearing this, the woman's smile grew, "Then you've our gratitude…my name is Tsunami".

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Yamato, this is my partner Uzumaki Kushina and this is our student Senju Naruto".

"It is very nice to meet you all…please make yourselves at home, I will prepare some more things for dinner" spoke Tsunami

"That is very kind of you, thank you" spoke Kushin respectfully.

"Hmph! Another brat! But at least this time they sent some people that might actually be of some help to us" spoke the slightly drunk bridge builder.

At hearing Tazuna calling him brat Naruto scowled, "I suggest you be more grateful you old fart…as it was brats like me that helped save your sorry ass earlier…" retorted Naruto, remembering the Hokage report of what happened with Kakashi and his team.

When Sasuke heard this, he could not help but smirk at Naruto putting the old drunk in his place, as he had received such similar remark from Tazuna when he and his team first met him

At hearing this Tazuna scowled at Naruto's remark, but before he could retort back, Naruto continued. "…Besides that, you should also be grateful, that our village even sent us to help you, as our Hokage could have easily just called Kakashi-sensei and his team back, like most Shinobi villages would. Especially after you lied to our village about the dangers of the mission and but Kakashi-sensei and his team in danger and nearly got them killed"

Tazuna was of course taken back by Naruto response and as much as he hated to admit it Naruto had a point and was indeed correct, as he nearly did get Kakashi and his team killed, because he held back information from them and lied to them. But even still, he was a stubborn old man and wouldn't back down in argument, especially to someone Naruto's age.

Thankfully though before an argument could break out between them, Tsunami placed her hand gentle on her father's shoulder, stopping her father from making the argument go any further.

Yamato also did the same, by placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder calming the hot-headed young blonde from fighting with Tazuna anymore.

"Please forgive my father, he gets rather moody when he is drunk" spoke Tsunami, as she apologised for her father's remark.

"Of course, and allow me to apologise for my student, as he can be rather hot-headed at times" replied Yamato.

Tsunami of course nodded, after which Kushina asked where Kakashi was, where Tsunami pointed to the room next to them indicating that Kakashi was in there.

When they entered the room, the team found Kakashi lying flat on his back, with a blanket over him and Sakura sitting next to him, making sure that he was ok.

When Kakashi heard the door to his room opening, he lifted his head up slightly to look up to see who was entering the room. When he saw that it was Yamato, Kushina and Naruto, along with Sasuke and Sai (who had followed Naruto and his Sensei's), he greeted them and gave them his tradition one eyed eye smiles (while keeping his Sharingan eye closed).

After entering the room, Naruto then began to do his check up on Kakashi to see the extent of his injuries, which were remarkably minor, much to Naruto's surprise. As he expected a great deal more damage from Kakashi, after he fought and defeated the infamous Demon of the hidden Mist.

"Well Kakashi-sensei, your injuries aren't as bad as I thought they would be and I healed them all, but your main problem is that your suffering from Chakra exhaustion, most likely from using your Sharingan for a belong period, correct?" stated Naruto. As Jiraiya had told him a while back, that due to the fact that he wasn't an Uchiha and didn't possess the Sharingan naturally. Kakashi couldn't turn off his Sharingan, nor could he use it for long periods as it drained too much of his Chakra.

Kakashi of course just nodded as what Naruto said was correct

"Well I'm afraid there is little I can do there, as it's best to let your body rest and recovery by itself, so as long as you don't do anything too strenuous and keep resting, you should recover in a couple of days' time", stated Naruto, where Kakashi just nodded again.

Once Naruto had finished his check-up on Kakashi, Kushina then spoke up "So Kakashi why don't you tell what happened in detail with you and Zabuza?"

Kakashi of course complied with his former senior ANBU captain question and began to describe in detail what happened between him and Zabuza. Throughout the explanation, Kakashi told them, how he had fought Zabuza and was tricked and trapped by him in a **Suirō no Jutsu** (Water Prison Technique). Where he only to escape thanks to Sai and Sasuke working together to free him (Kakashi), where Sai used his **Chōjū Giga** (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create several Ink birds, which distracted Zabuza. Allowing Sasuke to fire a barrage of Shurikens and Kunai at Zabuza, forcing him to move and freeing Kakashi, who reengaged Zabuza and defeated him. But before Kakashi could finish him off a Hunter-nin arrived and stabbed Zabuza in the neck with some Senbon needles.

"Using Senbon Needles?...that's an unusual choice of weapon for a hunter-nin" commented Kushina.

At hearing this Naruto began to frown, as something didn't settle with him, "Eh Kakashi-sensei, do you know where exactly the Hunter-nins hit Zabuza with the Senbon needles in his neck?"

Kakashi nodded, where he then indicated on his neck with his hand, where exactly the Senbon needles hit Zabuza.

When Kakashi showed Naruto where Zabuza was hit in the neck with the needles, he frowned, as Kakashi confirmed what he feared.

"Zabuza isn't dead" spoke Naruto suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean Senju? Of course Zabuza dead, we saw it with our own eyes" spoke Sasuke.

"What you saw was what Zabuza wanted you to think" replied Naruto.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sakura, not getting what Naruto meant.

"It's simple, like Kushina-sensei said, Senbon needles are an unusual choice of weapon for a hunter-nin to use. But they're a perfect weapon for a medic-nin like me, especially if you want to do something to someone's body without doing any serious harm. From the points that Kakashi-sensei indicated, Zabuza was put in a near death state by the Hunter-nin, where Zabuza's heart rate was slowed down to a point where it can be barely felt, even if you checked for it".

When Kakashi heard this he felt like he could slap himself, where he would've if he could, as he couldn't believe he had forgotten that or hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Kakashi-sensei, is what Naruto saying true, is Zabuza really alive?" asked Sakura with some worry, at the idea of Zabuza still being alive.

"I'm afraid so Sakura, as what Naruto said is indeed true, not to mention another fact that I didn't notice earlier, where the Hunter-nin did not cut Zabuza head off when he "killed" him. As a hunter-nin is to decapitate his or her target on the spot and then destroy the body, so that that there is no chance of enemies learning any secrets of the village from the body. While the head is used to prove that the target has been eliminated", spoke Kakashi cursing himself for not seeing it sooner.

"It seems that you're losing your touch, Kakashi" spoke Kushina.

"You might be right Kushina-senpai" replied Kakashi with a sigh.

"Clearly the Hunter-nin was in league with Zabuza, where he watched your battle in case Zabuza lost, so that he would intervene and save Zabuza before you could kill him, and you would believe that he is dead. Giving Zabuza the chance to attack you when your guard is down", spoke Yamato, where he had to admit it was a clever ploy, which could fool most people.

Naruto himself also had to admit that the fake Hunter-nin was also very skilled, maybe as skilled if not more skilled than him, as it would take keen knowledge on the human anatomy. Not to mention to be highly skilled in Senbon needles, to precisely hit the small points on Zabuza neck with just the right amount of force and put him in the near death state, while at the same time, doing it all without killing or permanently paralyzing Zabuza.

"Well there is a bit of good news", spoke Naruto, gaining everyone's attention again.

"Which would be?" asked Sai.

"Well Zabuza won't be able to make any kind of attack on us for a little while, as the side effects of putting someone in the near deathlike state, is that the person will be unable to fully move their body for some time", answered Naruto.

"How much time would we have exactly?" asked Yamato.

"Well given the injuries he suffered after fighting Kakashi-sensei, along with being put in the deathlike state, I would say just over two weeks, but if the Hunter-nin is as a skilled medic as I think he is, given how he saved Zabuza. I would cut that recovery time in half and given the time that has already past, we only got a couple of days".

After hearing this Kakashi, Yamato and Kushina frowned, as that didn't give them much time to plan what to do.

Sakura, of course began to worry, while Sai remained emotionless and Sasuke actually looked eager at the idea of going against Zabuza again.

"Well it seems that we have quite the situation here and if we want to survive it, we're going to have to make you guys even stronger", spoke Kushina, as she looked at the members of team seven.

At hearing this Sasuke actually looked even more eager than before, especially at the idea at becoming stronger.

"Very well then, we'll start training tomorrow" spoke Yamato, after which the Konoha group began to talk over what they would do tomorrow, right up until they were called by Tsunami for dinner.

-The Next Morning-

The next morning in a small clearing in the woods of Nami no Kuni, the members of team seven along with Kushina, Naruto and Yamato prepared to do some training.

When they were planning on what to train team seven in last night, Naruto and his sensei's learned that Kakashi had yet to teach Sasuke and the others tree climbing. This of course surprised Yamato, as tree climbing should've been taught in the second week of taking in a team or at the very least before the team took on a C-rank mission.

Kushina of course rebuked Kakashi for not teaching his students something so basic and important sooner.

Kakashi of course tried to explain that he had been busy training to get his team to work together.

Normally such excuses would not work, but when considering how badly the members of team seven were getting along with one another and how until only a few days ago, couldn't work together. Yamato and Kushina could understand where Kakashi was coming from, but even still, Kushina did reprimanded Kakashi for not teaching his team simple three climbing, before they took this mission.

Kakashi himself was back at Tazuna home, where Tsunami made sure he did nothing too strenuous so that he could rest and recover more quickly. Normally this would be no problem for Kakashi, as he would use such time to read one of his Icha Icha books. But sadly when Naruto was doing his check up on Kakashi, he took the book from Kakashi, stating that he needed to focus more on recovering than on reading his book. Although Naruto also state that he was taking Kakashi's book as punishment, for not training his students in tree climbing, before they took the mission.

"Well now, since we're all here and we know what we're going to do for the next few days, I believe we should give a demonstration, of how exactly three climbing is done…Naruto would you care to show them how it's done?" spoke Kushina, as she then turned to Naruto.

Naruto of course nodded, where he started to channel his Chakra to his feet, while explaining it all to Sasuke and the others.

Once he had finished explaining to the others on what to do, he then simply walked up the tree and up to a large thick branch on a high part of the tree.

Seeing this, both Sasuke and Sakura looked surprised at this, as neither of them had seen anything like what Naruto was doing before. Sai on the other hand remained as emotionless and as blank as always, not showing the slightest sign of surprise.

After Naruto had shown them what to do, he quickly jumped down to the ground, upon which Kushina then told the three other Genin to attempt it as well.

The three Genin of course nodded and where they each took their own individual trees and channelled their Chakra to their feet and attempted to walk up the tree.

Sakura was able to walk up the tree she had chosen on the first attempt with no difficulty, which was of course no surprise to Kushina, Yamato, as they had read Sakura's academy report, where it showed, that much like Naruto, she had flawless control over her Chakra.

Sasuke on the other hand was having difficulty climbing the tree, where each time after only taking a few steps, he would fall to the ground, whether it was from streaming too much or too little Chakra to his feet, to keep himself on the tree.

Sai also seemly had the same problem as Sasuke, where he kept adding too much Chakra to too little, although Naruto believed he was doing it on purpose, so to stay close to Sasuke and keep an eye on him. Naruto guessed this, since he highly doubted that Danzo wouldn't have already trained Sai to do the tree climbing exercise.

Yamato and Kushina were of course of similar minds as Naruto, as they had heard from the Sandaime that Sai was a spy belonging to Danzo.

Seeing that Sakura could already do the tree climbing practise, Kushina decided that she would send Naruto and Sakura to guard Tazuna, while he and his men built the bridge.

Both Genins of course nodded, as having no problem in doing what Kushina asked them to, where they left together for the bridge.

Soon after, Yamato left to head back and guard Tazuna's family, in case Gato's men tried to kidnap them and force Tazuna to submit, while leaving Kushina to watch over Sasuke and Sai.

-Next day at Tazuna home-

After another day, the members of team seven along Naruto and his sensei's were sitting down around the small table in the living room with Tazuna family, eating dinner. Also among the group was Kakashi, (who was now well enough to move around a little) and Inari, Tazuna's grandson, who mainly kept to himself.

Naruto and Sakura had spent much of the day guarding Tazuna and his workers as they worked on the bridge. Naruto even helped a bit where he created clones to help the workers build the bridge.

Yamato had also kept guard over Tsunami and Inari as well as Kakashi, while he was recovering.

Kushina also kept watched over Sai and Sasuke as they trained in the tree climbing practice, where Sasuke was making good and steady progress, where he had already gotten half way up the tree before falling. Sai was also at the same level, but Kushina guessed he was only doing that so that he could keep an eye on Sasuke for as long as possible.

Throughout the past few days Inari had kept his distance from Naruto and all the others, Naruto, Sakura as well as Kushina had each tried to befriend or talk to the young boy. But each time any of them tired, he would yell at them to go away and would then runaway crying.

When they asked what was wrong with Inari, Tazuna went on to explain the sad story involving Inari's step father Kaiza, who had tried to stand up to Gato and his goons, but was beaten and executed in front of everyone by Gato's men.

As they all ate dinner together, Sakura decided to try and start a conversation and ask Kushina how Sasuke and Sai were doing in their training. Kushina of course answered saying that they were both making progress, but neither of them had reached the top.

As Sakura and Kushina continued to talk Inari suddenly spoke out.

"Why are all even bothering? You're all going to die anyway, none of you can beat Gato he's too strong!"

After hearing this, Sasuke frowned at Inari's little rant and was about to retort, about how a weakling like him wouldn't know anything about them, but before he could, Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"Don't act like you know anything about us brat, as we're a lot stronger than you think we are and we've no intention of dying to scum like Gato", replied Naruto.

"No you wrong! You're all going to die, as you've no idea what's it's like for us here, no-one can beat Gato!" cried the young boy.

At this Naruto just frowned further, at hearing how Inari telling them all, that it was useless and that they were all going to die. Naruto of course despised people like Inari who gave up on something without even trying and let bullies like Gato walk all over them and others.

"You're right I don't know what's it like to live under Gato's rule, but I sure as hell know that your step father Kaiza is probably turning over in his grave as we speak, at seeing how much of a whining cry baby and coward you've become. Your Grandfather is risking his life right now trying to build this bridge, all because he wants to save this country and give you a better life. While you're just sitting there crying, telling everyone its hopeless and that they should give up without even trying yourself" retorted Naruto harshly.

When Naruto said this, Inari quickly broke into tears and then ran off the next room, where Naruto just scoffed, after which he stood up from the table and began to walk out the front door.

"Naruto!" spoke out Yamato, when he saw his student getting up from the table, as he was about to rebuke Naruto for losing his temper with Inari. But when he spoke out to him, Naruto ignored Yamato and continued to walk out of the house.

"Naruto where are you going?" asked Yamato, where Naruto simple replied "out" before shutting the door behind him.

Yamato was of course going to follow after him, but was stopped by Kushina, who placed her hand on his shoulder, "Easily there Yamato, leave him be, he come back when he cools off a bit".

Yamato of course just nodded, knowing that Kushina was right, after which he turned to Tsunami. "Please accept my apologies for my student's outburst towards your son, as he can be rather hot-headed at times".

Tsunami of course nodded in acceptance "It is alright Yamato-san, as Inari can be rather difficult at times, ever since my husband's death, as it had an awful effect on him. But even still that did not excuse him for what he said, so I hope you can accept my apologies as well".

Yamato naturally accepted Tsunami apology, although was still planning to have a talk to Naruto about controlling his temper better.

Deciding to change the subject a bit Tazuna decided to ask Yamato something that he had been wondering for a while.

"If you don't mind me asking, but I've been wondering, why is it that kid has you two as his Sensei's? Why isn't he on a team like this group?" asked Tazuna as he indicated towards Kakashi and team seven.

"Naruto is a special case, where due to certain abilities he has, Kushina-senpai and I were assigned to help train in him. Although another reason why we were assigned to train him, was also to help protect him as well", answered Yamato.

"Protect him? But why?" asked Tsunami.

"You see Naruto is the heir to the Senju Clan, who were the main founders of our village and were said to be the strongest a Shinobi Clan in the world. Naruto is also the descendant of both our Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage, who led the building of Konoha. Not only that, but Naruto is also the son of Senju Tsunade the Slug Princess, credited of being the greatest Medic and strongest Kunoichi in the world and is a member of the Densetsu no _Sannin_ (The Three Legendary Ninja's). The three strongest Shinobi's that our village has ever produced" spoke Kushina.

"So the kid is basically like royalty in your village, since he the descendant of your village's first two leaders and is the heir to the Clan that founded your village" replied Tazuna.

"One could look it at that way, but the reason as to us protecting him isn't for what you may think. For you see as I said, Naruto has certain unique abilities that make him a special case, ones that if certain people found out that he had them, they would hunt him down relentlessly. Also being the heir of the Senju Clan and the descendant of both the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokages, along with being the son Tsunade, puts a very large target on Naruto's head, once the rest of the world learns of him. For many groups and rival villages would target Naruto, either due to grudges they may have against Naruto's mother or his Clan or because of the potential threat he represents to them once he is older" stated Yamato before he continued.

"It's because of these reasons that Naruto had to start training to be a Shinobi at a very young age, so that he would have a chance of surviving later on in his life, when those who would target him come after him. Also it because of these threats that Naruto had to grow up constantly on the move with his mother, so that no-one could discover him, this also resulted in Naruto growing up with very few friends. Also when he was seven, Naruto had to kill an enemy Shinobi in self-defence, when the Shinobi attacked Naruto and a young girl that he was defending".

Naturally after hearing the last part about Naruto, everyone in the room gasped in surprise (Minus Kushina and Kakashi, who already knew about that event).

"You mean that kid actually had to kill a person when he was just seven?" asked Tazuna is surprise as he found it hard to believe.

"Yes, although it was unintentionally I can assure you" replied Yamato.

"I guess the kid has it harder than I thought" muttered Tazuna, as he felt kind of bad for Naruto.

Tazuna of course was not the only one, as Sakura felt equally as bad, as she doubted she could have dealt with the fact that she had killed a person if she had been in Naruto's shoes.

Even Sasuke felt somewhat sympatric towards what happened to Naruto when he was seven.

"Indeed, which is why I believe that Naruto acted so harshly towards your grandson, as to Naruto, giving up without even trying to defend the people your care about, goes against everything he been raised to believe in" spoke Yamato.

As everyone in the living room thought over what they had heard, Inari who had been silently listen in to the conversation, also mulled over what he had heard, where he could not help but remember what his step-father Kaiza told him

"If something is truly important to you... even it's heart-breaking, even if it's sorrowful... you keep on trying and trying, even if you lose your life, you keep on protecting it with these two arms! ...Then, even if you die, you leave behind the proof that you are a man... forever..."

"_Tou-chan…what do I do?…what would you do?_" thought Inari sorrowfully, as a tear fell down his already tear stained face".

-Next morning in Zabuza's Hideout-

Currently sitting beside Zabuza's bedside, as he recovered from his battle with Kakashi, was Zabuza apprentice Haku, who had been treating Zabuza's wounds for the past few days. Haku had also been protecting him as well from Gato, who had appeared yesterday with his two his two wannabe Samurai goons Zōri and Waraji.

When Gato tried to touch Zabuza, when he was in his weakened state, Haku had broken his arm and then quickly subdued Zōri and Waraji, when he left; Gato had stated that Haku would pay for breaking his arm.

As Zabuza lay on his bed, Haku saw the light of the early morning sun shine through the window. Seeing that Zabuza was still sleeping and due to the early hour, where no-one would be up, Haku decided to get more herbs to treat Zabuza's injuries.

Quickly changing into a pink sleeveless, low-cut kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls, Haku began to silently walk out of the room. But before Haku could leave, a now awake Zabuza suddenly spoke up.

"Where are you going Haku?"

After hearing Zabuza's voice, Haku quickly spun around, "Forgive me for waking you Zabuza-sama, it wasn't my intent to wake you, I was only going out to gather herbs to help treat your injuries".

"Hmph! fine, just don't be too long" replied Zabuza, before he closed his eyes again, when Haku nodded and left the room.

After an hour and a half, Haku had gathered all the necessary herbs that would be needed to help heal Zabuza, but just before Haku could start heading back. The Young Hyoton (Ice Release) user notice several trees that had been seemly cut down.

Deciding to investigate further, Haku walked up to where the cut trees were, upon which Haku then came upon a large clearing, where there were several more trees that had been cut down, by seemingly a single cutting slash.

After studying under a former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Haku of course knew a little about swordsmanship. Hence Haku knew that whoever did it had some skill to be able to cut down a large tree with a single slash.

Looking more around the clearing, Haku noticed that, there were several large dents on the ground, as if being punched by someone or thing. Haku also noticed that there were several large dried patches of grass and flowers, where they all seemed to be brown and shrivelled up, as if all the moisture had been drained from them.

It was after seeing this that Haku noticed that there was a person lying on the ground among a large patch of flowers in the clearing. As Haku looked closer it almost seemed like the flowers were thriving around him, as if the flowers where growing stronger from being next to him.

Once Haku came up to the person, Haku saw that the person in question was a young blonde haired boy, holding a long Katana in his hand. As well as wearing a Black sleeveless vest with a Green sleeveless zip up top over it. He also wore Green pants and Black boots with Green elbow pads and Green fingerless gloves with s bead like bracelets on both his wrists.

But what caught Haku's attention the most, was the Konoha headband that was wrapped around the boys' head.

"_A Konoha Shinobi…but not one of the group that Zabuza-sama met when he fought Hatake Kakashi…did they call for reinforcements?... if so, why did they send a young boy, as he looks no older than the Genin from Kakashi's team…He must be with another team and if so there must be others_" thought Haku with concern, as Kakashi was a dangerous enough opponent to face against.

"_I must eliminate him here and now, as give the state of this area he clearly has some skill and could be a danger to our mission_" thought Haku further and drew out a set of Senbon needles.

But before Haku could make even an attempt on Naruto, the young Hyoton user heard a groan coming from Naruto, where his eyes began to slowly open. Seeing this, Haku quickly put away the Senbon needles before Naruto fully woke up.

As Naruto was waking up, Haku spoke "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" spoke Naruto has he fully woke up, where he looked straight up at Haku "Sorry did you say something?" asked Naruto, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.

"I said are you alright? I saw you lying on the ground and I didn't know what was wrong with you", spoke Haku.

"Oh sorry, I guess I must have fallen asleep when I took a break from training last night", replied Naruto, who was a little embarrassed.

"You should be more careful, as if you sleep on the ground outside you'll catch a cold or get sick" warned Haku.

"Nah, I be alright, I've never gotten sick in a day in my life", said Naruto, which was true as it helped to have the world greatest medic as your mother, to keep you from getting sick.

At this Haku just nodded and stood up, when Haku stood up, he noticed the basket full of herbs next to Haku. "Oh! Are you collecting healing herbs?"

Slightly surprised at Naruto knowing that the herbs were for healing, Haku just nodded at first before speaking, "Eh yes I' am, a friend of mine had an accident and I was collecting some herbs to help heal him", answered Haku with a half lie.

Hearing this Naruto just nodded, where he continued to look through the basket full of herbs "Hmm, You seem to have a good collection of herbs needed to heal injuries. Although there is one that you're missing that would be quite useful"

"What would that be?" asked Haku generally curious.

"Here I show you, it's not a hard plant to find", spoke Naruto where he led Haku to some trees and began looking for the plant, as they looked for the plant Haku and Naruto got to talking.

As the two talked, Haku asked Naruto a question, "Tell me Naruto-san how is it that you know so much about herbs for healing and medicine?"

"Well my mom is a medic, who taught me a lot about medical techniques and my Nee-chan taught me about herbs and how they were used for different types of injuries.

Haku of course nodded in understanding as it made sense, where the young Hyoton user also found it interesting.

Soon enough though Naruto found the herb that he was looking for and showed it to Haku, the plant itself was a small weed like plant, with small white flowers top. "This is Milfoil, it's an excellent herb for treating wounds and injuries, it's also a good digestive aid, for treating menstrual cramps, and is a mild sedative", spoke Naruto, after which he explained how to make it into medicine correctly.

After showing Haku the plant, Naruro helped the young Ice user to gather more of the weeds and place them in the basket. As they gathered the weeds, Naruto could not help but notice that despite her age Haku was a very beautiful young girl. By just looking at her Naruto knew she was maybe only a year or two older than him. Yet she was already extremely beautiful, showing that in a couple of years' time, when she has grown into full adulthood. The girl would most likely be a major knockout on the level or Kurenai or his mother.

Naruto of course quickly got out of his staring when he heard Haku suddenly speaking to him, "Tell me Naruto-san do you've anyone precious to you, someone you would want to protect?"

At this question, Naruto thought for a moment before answering, "Eh yea I do…I have my Kaa-chan, my Nee-chan, our pet pig TonTon, my Jiji even my perverted Godfather Ero-sennin".

At this Haku smiled a little, as it was clear at the way Naruto spoke about them that he cared for them all deeply.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well I believe that when a person... has something important they want to protect... that's when they can become truly strong" replied Haku, where Naruto could not help agree.

Soon enough Haku had gathered enough of the Milfoil and decided to head back to Zabuza.

"I think I have enough now…thank you for your help Naruto-san it was nice talking to you" spoke Haku.

"It was nice talking to you to Haku-chan, I hope your friend gets better soon" said Naruto, where he then shook hands with Haku.

Haku of course just nodded and then started to walk back towards Zabuza's hideout.

As Naruto watched his new friend walk away, he soon saw Haku stop and turn around slightly, "Oh and Naruto-san I think you should know I'm a boy" after which Haku continued on towards Zabuza's Hideout, leaving a stun Naruto behind.

"_S-Sh-She a HE! ...I was actually attracted to a guy!_" cried Naruto in horror as his face turned deathly white when he realized this.

"_AAAHHHHHH_, _I can't believe I was actually attracted to a boy?...But he looked like a girl and even sounded like one…he must be one of those pretty boys Shizune-nee-chan told me about…but I thought they were only a myth_" ranted Naruto in his mind, as he felt like he wanted to have a shower. Not that he had anything against guys who like guys, it was just that he was straight, Sai or Sasuke might be those type of guys considering how they showed no interest in girls, but wasn't certain, as considering the types of girls that were around them.

But still Naruto could not help but be weird out by what Haku said, he was also slightly grateful that his godfather wasn't around, as knowing Jiraya he tease Naruto to the end of days about it. Although then again, if Jiraiya really thought Naruto went for guys, he probable beat Naruto until he went straight, as he was certain that Jiraiya would not stand for a godson that went to the other side.

At the same time, when Naruto was coming to terms to what Haku had said to him, the young Ice user in question was walking slowly back to the hideout with a solemn look.

"_I would prefer if you and I were to not meet again Naruto-san…for the next time we meet, I fear we'll met as enemies, something I would greatly dislike, as I would not what to fight someone like you…but I fear it is inevitable and only one of us will most likely walk away_".

-The Next Day in Tazuna House-

Currently sitting around the living room table, after eating dinner the seven Konoha Shinobi's planned out what they were going to do next, since they knew that Zabuza would most likely recover in the next few days and attack.

"So what exactly should we do?" asked Kakashi

"Well we can't just wait, for him to attack whenever he wants" replied Kushina.

"Why not, since he doesn't know about you or Yamato-sensei, where together the two of you along with Kakashi-sensei could beat him" spoke Sakura.

"We can't be certain that Zabuza doesn't already known about us, as Gato could've people watching us, where he could've then told Zabuza about us", said Kushina.

"But we don't know that" replied Sakura.

"True but it's always best to assume the worst situation, so that we can prepare for it" answered Yamato.

"But even if he does know about you three, it would still be all of us against him and his partner", spoke Sasuke.

"You're right about that, but even still you four are all just Genin and although you're all pretty skilled, your still no match for someone like Zabuza, as any one of us would've trouble with him. Beside we don't even know if Zabuza doesn't have more subordinates or partners with him. Not to mention as well Zabuza is a master in using **Sairento Kiringu **(Soundless Murder Technique) in conjunction with **Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Art of Hiding in the Mist), where he wouldn't have much difficulty using that to fight against all of us, which would put us at a disadvantage", spoke Kushina.

"So what should we do sensei?" asked Naruto

"I think we should strike first at Zabuza, before he can recover, while at the same time take out Gato, since Zabuza would most likely be hidden someone near where Gato is", answered Kushina.

"But how do we even do that? As we don't know where they are?" asked Sai.

"Kakashi, can't we use your dog summons to track Zabuza? As I remember you saying that you found a piece of cloth that belonged to Zabuza, after you defeated him" spoke Kushina.

"I suppose that you could do that, but I do not think we should all go, as some of us should stay here in case Tazuna or his family is attacked by Gato or his men"

"Agreed, I believe Kushina and I would be enough, while the rest of you stay and protect Tazuna and his family" replied Yamato.

The rest of the group of course agreed with the plan, believing it was the best thing to do, as it would be the best way to protect Tazuna and his family without endangering any of them. Hence it was decided that Kushina and Yamato would go and track down Zabuza tomorrow with Kakashi's dog summon Pakkun.

-At Zabuza's Hideout-

Currently sitting up on his bed the nearly recovered Zabuza was eating an apple, while Haku finished checking him to see if he'd fully recovered.

"It seems that you've just about regained your strength Zabuza-sama" spoke Haku.

"Yes…and tomorrow we will strike at Kakashi and the bridge builder and kill them" spoke Zabuza.

"But what about the possible other team that I mentioned to you?" asked Haku.

"Given how the boy you met was just a Genin, it just means we be dealing with another team of Genins and their Jonin sensei, which won't be too much trouble for us…as we'll crush them", spoke Zabuza as he crushed the apple in his hands

-Next day at the bridge-

"Hold on what the heck is going on here, what happened?" spoke Tazuna in surprise, as he saw his workers, all on the ground hurt and unable to move, as they groined in pain from their injuries. "Someone was here, someone got to them".

"_Could it be?_" thought Kakashi, as he saw the injured men, but just as he was thinking of this a thick mist began to roll in.

"_This Mist!_" thought Kakashi, before he quickly cried out to his students, where they took up a defensive stance around Tazuna.

"_So Naruto was right, he was alive…I guess he couldn't wait till round two, but why did he have to attack now of all times, when Yamato and Kushina were away_" thought Kakashi, as he kept his senses on alert.

"It's Zabuza isn't sensei?...Naruto was right about him still being alive" spoke Sakura.

"So you knew I was alive…Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi" spoke Zabuza as he stayed hidden in the mist. "I see that you still have those brats around you…It looks like that one is still trembling…pitiful".

It was after saying this that several Zabuza's, suddenly appeared surrounding the group.

Upon seeing this Sasuke just smirked, which surprised Zabuza, "I trembling with excitement".

After hearing this Zabuza just smirked, amused at what Sasuke had said.

"Go ahead Sasuke, Sai" said Kakashi, knowing that his two students could handle this.

Acknowledging the go ahead from Kakashi, both Sai and Sasuke attacked, the two Genin charged forward with impressive speed. Where within the space of only a few seconds, the two Genin easily despatched the Zabuza's that surrounded them, where they all reverted into clones.

"Not bad, it seems the brats are improving…and it seems that you've some rivals in speed Haku" spoke Zabuza, as he and Haku appeared in front of team seven.

"So it seems" spoke Haku without an emotion.

"Well, well, so Naruto had it right, it was all an act" spoke Kakashi.

"An act?" asked Tazuna in surprise.

"Yes and it was all done with a simple little mask"

"So you mean to tell me that all that stuff that guy said about being a hunter-nin protecting his village, was a bunch of bull?" asked Tazuna

"Correct" replied Kakashi, "And I'm willing to beat that those two have played this little trick a few times before".

"That mask guy is mine, I'm taking him out" spoke Sasuke with determination, where he and Haku then charged forward at one another.

-Tazuna Home-

At the same time that team seven and Kakashi were facing against Zabuza and Haku, Tazuna daughter Tsunami was washing the dishes from breakfast.

As she was washing the dishes, she suddenly heard the door opening, when she turned around she saw Gato's two bodyguards Zōri and Waraji entering the house.

"So you're Tazuna daughter huh? Too bad for you, as you'll have to come with us" spoke Zōri.

Upon seeing them, Tsunami tried to runaway but she could not, as Zōri quickly grabbed hold of her arm and pushed her into the nearby wall.

Hearing his mother screams and the sound of things breaking Inari quickly ran into the leaving room to see what was happen.

When Tsunami saw her son she told him to run away, seeing Inari, Waraji quickly grabbed hold of Inari and pushed him into the other side of the room opposite his mother.

"Should we take this kid as well?" asked Waraji.

"No, Gato's asked for just one hostage" replied his partner.

When Inari heard this, he then realized that Gato wanted to use his mother as a hostage and force him to give up.

"Well that's fine by me… let's waste him" said Waraji with a sadistic grin as he drew his Katana out.

"Wait…please don't hurt my son, he just a boy, he hasn't done anything wrong…I do anything just don't hurt him", spoke Tsunami.

"Fine… then you will come with us, without any resistance" said Zōri before he turned to the teary and scared young Inari and smirked. "Guess it's your lucky day kid, your mom just came through for you".

After seeing his mother being tied up by Waraji and Zōri and walking out the house with her, Inari began to cry even more and telling his mother that he was sorry over and over again and how he couldn't, as he was too scared. But as he was crying he began to remember what his step-father told him and what Naruto told him at the dinner table.

Realizing that he could not just sit back and cry and let Waraji and Zōri take his mother away, Inari knew he had to save his mother.

As Waraji and Zōri led Tsunami, Waraji turned around and cupped Tsunami face, where he had a perverted like grin, "Don't worry your pretty little head, we're going to treat you fine".

"Come on Waraji, we don't have time for this" spoke Zōri, but before they could walk on, the two men and Tsunami, suddenly heard Inari from behind telling them to stop.

When they turned around they saw Inari coming out of the house charging straight at them.

Seeing Inari charging at them, the two men just smirked unafraid at the young boy.

"No Inari don't, run away!" cried Tsunami, but after saying this Zōri just hit her at the back of the head and knocked her out, not wanting to deal with her any more.

"Let's finish this" said Zōri, as if he was board, where he and his partner drew their Katana's and charged straight at Inari and slashed at him.

But just when they had slashed at Inari, he quickly turned into a log.

"A **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique)!" said Zōri in surprise recognizing the Shinobi technique.

"The woman she gone!" said Waraji, when he turned around to Tsunami and saw that's she was gone. "What they hell is going on here?"

"Well looks like Kushina-sensei was right on the money about what Gato would try" spoke a new voice, causing the two men to start looking around and try and find who had just spoken.

When they turned around to look behind them, they saw a young blonde boy in a green outfit, putting Tsunami gently on the ground, all the while still holding on Inari.

"Naruto what are you doing here?" spoke Inari, as Naruto put him down.

"Kushina-sensei always suspected that there was a good chance that Gato might try and kidnap you or your mom, so to use against your Grandfather. Hence she, Yamato sensei or me, would take turns to hide in the trees and watch the house, in case Gato did try this", spoke Naruto.

"Also sorry I was late, when I saw those guys enter the house, I didn't want to fight them in there where your mom and you could've been caught in the crossfire. So I waited until they came out, but before I could act you came out charging" continued Naruto where he then smiled at the young boy. "And I've to admit that you were pretty brave there and you did great, as when you distracted them, it gave me the opening I needed to rescue your mom without them knowing".

"Hmph! This must be one of those Shinobi brats that Tazuna hired" commented Waraji, when he saw Naruto.

"Get him" spoke Zōri, where he and Waraji redrew their swords and charged at Naruto.

Seeing the two goons charging at him, Naruto quickly threw some shurrikens at the men, who quickly blocked the shurikens with their Katana's.

But what the two wannabe Samurai didn't know was that the Shurikens where just a distraction, where Naruto suddenly appeared right in front of Zōri and punched him the gut, while using his super human strength.

After Naruto punched him, Zōri was then sent flying into a large tree several meters and caused the tree to crash right on top of him.

"_What the?_" thought Waraji, when he saw what happened to his partner, but before he could think about it anymore. Naruto quickly spun around and delivered a powerful round house kick and sent Waraji flying into the water, a few meters away.

When Inari saw this, he was of course shocked at Naruto's incredible strength, as he had taken out the two men with little to no trouble.

With Inari and Tsunami now safe, Naruto then told Inari to take care of his mom, while he went to check up on his friends at the bridge, as he guessed that if Gato was trying to kidnap Tsunami, then he was no doubt making his move on Tazuna at the bridge.

-At the Bridge-

"Clang, Clang!" were the sounds that echoed around the bridge, where Kakashi and Zabuza fought one another.

As the two Jonin Shinobi's broke apart from one another Kakashi glanced slightly at the dome of ice mirrors that now surrounded Sasuke and Sai.

At the beginning of the battle Haku and Sasuke had fought each other in a fierce battle, where the two of them ended in a stalemate, with each of them blocking the other attack, where neither could use either Jutsu or at least that was what Sasuke thought. For as soon as they had reach this deadlock, Haku had revealed the ability to do one handed hand-seals, much to everyone (minus Zabuza's) surprise.

Where after doing the hand-seals, thousands of ice needles formed around them and floated in mid-air, ready to strike.

Seeing that Sasuke was in trouble, Sai had moved in to help Sasuke, by appearing behind Haku, where he tried to stab Haku in the back with his Tanto.

Unfortunately though, Haku expected something like this, where before Sai could stab the young ice user, Haku quickly jumped into the air to avoid the stab, while at the same time firing the ice needles that surrounded Sai and Sasuke.

Luckily though, thanks to the tree climbing exercise, Sasuke as well as Sai were able to avoid being hit by the needles, by channelling their Chakra to their feet and jumping up high into air.

After avoiding Haku's needles, Sasuke and Sai quickly went on the offensive, where Sasuke threw several Shurikens and Sai used his **Chōjū Giga** (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create several lions.

Seeing the attacks, Haku skilfully avoided the them, but as soon as he did, he was put on the defensive as Sai and Sasuke attacked him from different direction. Eventually though Haku was beaten, where after avoiding a strike from Sai, Haku was sent flying by Sasuke, who had appeared next to Haku and delivered a strong kick to his mask covered face.

Naturally when Zabuza saw this, he had been surprised, as he never thought that mere "brats" could defeat Haku.

But just when the two young Konoha shinobi's thought they could win, Zabuza revealed that Haku had been going easy on them. After which Haku revealed his strongest technique the **Makyō Hyōshō** (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors), where he created a dome of ice mirrors around them. Upon which Haku then merged with the mirrors and attacked Sai and Sasuke from all directions, making it virtually impossible for them to defend themselves.

Kakashi had of course tried to help them, but Zabuza had intercepted him, forcing Kakashi to fight him.

After glancing towards Sasuke and Sai, Kakashi quickly glanced at Sakura who was staying with Tazuna to defend him, in case Zabuza somehow got by him (Kakashi) and went for the bridge builder.

Seeing Kakashi glancing at his students, Zabuza smirked in amusement, "I would be more worried about myself than those brats if I were you Kaskashi".

At this comment Kakashi did not respond, but narrowed his one visible eye and readied himself to continue the battle.

As Kakashi and Zabuza faced off against one another, Sai and Sasuke were having trouble with their opponent where both were heavily injured, with several needles sticking in them. Both of them were also having trouble moving, due to several needles that were stuck in the acupuncture points of their bodies. Even after they pulled some of them off, the effects of being hit in the points by the needles were slow to leave.

"This the end for you both, please do not bear any ill-will towards me, as I do this only because I must", spoke Haku sadly from the mirror. After which images of Haku appeared on all the mirrors, making it impossible for Sai and Sasuke to tell which one was the real Haku and which direction the ice user would come from.

Once the images of Haku appeared on all the ice mirrors, Haku then fired another barrage of needles at the two Genin.

But upon doing this Haku, Sai and Sasuke suddenly heard a familiar voice cry out **Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash). After which the top mirror that was directly above Sasuke and Sai shattered, where a crescent shape blade cut through it and the made a large cut on the ground. After which a green blur suddenly entered the ice dome and the sound of metal clashing with metal was heard.

It was after this that Sasuke and Sai turned around to the side and saw another person standing next to them, who had defended them for Haku's assault with his now drawn Katana, the person in question was none other than Naruto,

"_So it seems that we were indeed fated to meet as enemies Naruto_" thought Haku sadly

"Your time is quite impeccable Naruto-san" spoke Sai, with some small ounce of gratitude, where Naruto just nodded.

You should have just stayed outside the dome dope, as you would've actually have been of some use out there" spoke Sasuke, as he didn't want to admit that he owed Naruto one.

"Tsk, I would have, but I had to save your sorry ungrateful ass teme" scoffed Naruto, as he kept his eye on Haku, who had remerged with the ice mirror.

"So I'm guess this is the guy who pretended to be the Hunter-nin that "killed" Zabuza right?" asked Naruto, where Sai and Sasuke just nodded in conformation.

"Correct, and as you can see he can use some kind of ice techniques" spoke Sai.

"He's a Hyoton user from the Yuki Clan of Kiri then" stated Naruto, surprising Sasuke and Sai and even Haku.

"You know about him?" asked Sasuke in surprise.

"Only bits and pieces, that I heard from Ero-sennin, from what I heard from him, The Yuki Clan was a small Clan in Kiri, who possessed a bloodline that allows them to use Hyoton, where they can create Ice techniques that only they can do. Although until now I thought the Clan was extinct, as the Clan was said to have been wiped out a few years ago back when Kiri went under an upheaval. Where people began to turn against bloodline holding Clans, because they feared their great power on the battlefield and because they believed that the bloodline holders were the cause of all the war and infighting that was going on in Kiri" spoke Naruto, which of course surprised his teammates, when they heard this.

"You are well informed Naruto-san, as you are indeed correct and I'm indeed the last living member of the Yuki Clan" spoke Haku.

When Naruto heard Haku's voice, his eyes suddenly widen in recognition, "Haku is that you?"

At this Haku let out a sad sigh before speaking "Yes it is me Naruto-san"

When Haku said this, Naruto began to think over when he met Haku and remembered how the young Hyoton user, had told him that he was looking for herbs for healing a friend that was injured. When he remembered this he cursed himself for not noticing this earlier and how he should have realized who Haku really was.

"You met him before Naruto-san?" asked Sai.

"Sort off, back when I left the house to train I met him, as he was picking herbs, I didn't know who he really at the time, so I helped him a bit" replied Naruto as he stared coldly at Haku.

"I would prefer not to fight you Naruto-san, so I ask you only this one time, leave now…my object is only the bridge builder not you".

"Can't do that Haku…Tazuna hired Konoha Shinobi's to protect him and as one I will protect him with my life" spoke Naruto as he raised his Katana up, where both Sai and Sasuke nodded in agreement and smirked slightly, where they prepared to continue the fight.

"Very well then, but know that none of you'll leave this place alive" spoke Haku, before attacking with another barrage of needles.

Seeing the needles, Naruto quickly turned his Katana around, so that he was holding it backwards, after which he then told Sai and Sasuke to stay close to him. After which he then started to gather the water around him and spin around at a high speed, where he then cried out "**Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water)!" and created a vortex of water around him and the others, protecting them from Haku's needles.

Naturally when Haku saw this, the young Ice user was surprised, but as surprised as Haku was, Zabuza was even more surprised he knew that technique and the style that it came from.

"_That style! That's the __Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) fighting style_" thought Zabuza in surprise as he recognised the sword style. "_But how on earth can a mere brat use that fighting style? Also what was that technique he used to break Haku's ice mirror, it looked like some kind of Wind technique, just who the hell is that brat?...Could he be actually a student of her?_"

Once the water vortex around Naruto, Sai and Sasuke died down, Sasuke quickly turned to Naruto is surprise. "What the hell was that?"

"It's called the **Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water) technique, it a Kenjutsu move that Kushina-sensei taught me not long ago" replied Naruto as he kept his eye on Haku, who was in front of him.

Upon hearing this Sasuke frowned again in frustration at seeing how even after a few weeks Naruto had become even stronger.

"Most impressive Naruto-san, you're indeed skilled, just as I thought" spoke Haku.

Naruto of course did not reply to Haku's praise, where he just readied himself for battle along with Sai and Sasuke, where after a minute or two they attacked.

As the battle with the three Genin and Haku waged, Zabuza and Kakashi continue with their battle, but soon enough they broke apart again from one another.

After breaking away again from Kakashi, Zabuza quickly glanced over at where Haku was fighting Naruto and the others, when he looked over he could see that despite their situation the three Genin were able to still hold their own well. As whenever two of them went of the offensive the third member would defend the others, from any attacks from behind by Haku.

Zabuza also saw that Naruto was actually able to do some damage to Haku mirror dome, much to his surprise, where Naruto had used his **Surasshu-fū **to destroy several of the mirrors. But luckily though, Haku was able to reform the mirrors just as soon as Naruto destroyed them.

Seeing this, Zabuza turned back to look at Kakashi and smirked slightly behind his mask, "That's quite the impressive brat you got there Kakashi".

"I'm afraid I can't take credit for him Zabuza, as he isn't exactly my student or at least not my full time student" replied Kakashi, which made Zabuza frown, not fully understanding what Kakashi meant by that.

"Well even so, those three brats are as good as dead, as no-one can escape Haku's technique… not even me" replied the confident Zabuza.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Zabuza, especially when it comes to Naruto and Sasuke"

"Oh and what makes you so sure of that?" asked Zabuza generally curious as to what Kakashi had such fate in Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well it quite simply really, since I know what both those boys are capable of and you would understand as well if you knew who they really were", answered Kakashi.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" asked Zabuza.

"Well you see both Naruto and Sasuke are the heirs of the two most powerful Clans in Konohagakure, who founded it" replied Kakashi.

At this Zabuza eyes widened in surprise when he realized what Kakashi was saying "You mean?"

"Yes Sasuke full name is Uchiha Sasuke and the unique bloodline of the Uchiha Clan runs through Sasuke's veins and the Sharingan is his birth right" stated Kakashi before he continued on. "And Naruto's full name Senju Naruto sole heir to the Senju Clan, the main founders of Konoha".

"Ah! I had heard the rumours that a single young boy had survived the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan…no wonder he advances so quickly. But I don't believe you on that other brat, there's no way that brat could be of the Senju Clan, as that Clan is extinct…the only actually living member is…" spoke Zabuza confidently until it suddenly hit him, where his eyes widen in shock. "…No! It's not possible!"

At this Kakashi smirked behind his mask, seeing that Zabuza had realized the truth, "Oh yes it is, as Naruto is the son of Senju Tsunade of the Sannin, as well as the direct descendant of the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama and the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama".

"Tsunade of the Sannin had a child?" said Zabuza is surprise, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "_No wonder that brat is so strong…he the son of one of the sannin_"

"Correct and I tell you little something else about him..." spoke Kakashi as he lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan "…Naruto's potential surpasses my own".

At hearing this Zabuza's concerns grew as he was beginning to doubt Haku's chances to win, as Sasuke would be trouble enough. But given Naruto and his revealed heritage along with Sai he was beginning to wonder if Haku could really win, especially after Kakashi stated that Naruto's potential surpassed his own. As Zabuza knew that Kakashi wouldn't say something like that unless he believed it to be true.

"_Blast, I can't afford to toy with Kakashi anymore; as I need to take care of the bridge builder and Kakashi now and then help Haku. Not to mention, if I'm right about who trained the boy, given his kenjutsu style, some serious trouble is most likely on the way here_", thought Zabuza with a frown. After which he used his **Kirkgakure no Jutsu** to make the mist thicker and disappear, so that Kakashi could no longer use his Sharinagn on him.

When Kakashi and Zabuza recommenced their battle Naruto and the others continued with their battle.

As the battle raged in the ice dome Sai quickly deflected several Senbon needles fired at him by Haku from one of the ice mirrors. But as soon as Sai deflected the Senbon needles, Haku appeared out of another one of the ice mirrors behind Sai, and tried to stab him with some Senbon needles in the back of the head.

But before Haku could hit Sai, the young ice user suddenly heard Sasuke's voice cry out "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)!" When Haku glanced to the left, the young ice user saw a large ball of fire flying towards him.

Upon seeing the large fire ball, Haku quickly avoided the attack, but after avoiding Sasuke's attack Haku then saw Naruto appear next to him with his Katana in mid swing ready to slash him.

Seeing this Haku quickly spun to the left to avoid the slash, but even though Haku avoided Naruto's slash, the young ice user still received a slash mark on his mask.

When Haku avoided Naruto's attack, Haku then quickly merged with another one of the ice mirrors, right before Sai's ink beasts could hit him.

After avoiding both Sai's and Naruto's attacks, Haku quickly transported to a different ice mirror near Sasuke and tried to attack the young Uchiha by using his high speed. But when Haku stuck, Sasuke spun around and blocked Haku's strike with his Kunai, much to the young ice user surprise.

"_Impossible! There's no possible way that normal human eyes could keep up with my speed…so how did he see me coming?_" thought Haku with surprise.

Although Sasuke could not see Haku's face, he could tell that the young ice user was surprised.

"You're not the only special one here" spoke Sasuke with a smirk, where when Haku looked directly at Sasuke face the ice users eyes widens slightly in surprise, as he saw Sasuke eyes. For instead of black eyes, Sasuke eyes were now red with two tomoes in his right eye and one in his left.

"The Sharingan" muttered Haku in surprise.

"It's not complete, but it's still enough to keep up with your speed" spoke Sasuke, after which he then, tried to kick Haku in the side. But was unable to hit Haku, as the young ice user was able to jump back, but just as Haku avoided the kick, Naruto appeared from above him and attempted to slash Haku again with his sword. But once again Haku avoided Naruto's slash and merged with one of the ice mirrors.

When Haku merged with the ice mirrors again Naruto quickly glanced at Sasuke and smirked, "Pretty good moves there teme and I see that you've finally acquired the Sharingan"

"Yea now I can keep up with his moves and you weren't too bad yourself there Senju" replied Sasuke.

After Sasuke said this, Haku then appeared in the ice mirror in front of them "It seems that I have greatly underestimated you all, especially you two" stated Haku, where the ice user looked at Sasuke and Naruto.

"I had no idea that you were of the Uchiha Clan…" said Haku when the ice user looked at Sasuke, before turning to Naruto "…let alone that you Naruto were of the Senju Clan, as I was under the impression that your Clan died out".

"Well you find that I'm full of surprise Haku" replied Naruto with a smirk.

"Indeed" replied Haku, as the young ice user knew that he could no longer let this battle continue on. As the **Makyō Hyōshō** used up a great deal of Chakra and took even more to maintain, meaning that if this battle continued much longer he would run out of Chakra.

Deciding to end this now Haku quickly went on the offensive, where images of Haku once again appeared all around the three Konoha Genin. After which a barrage of Senbon needles were fired from all direction, forcing Naruto and the others on the defensive. But even though Naruto the others were able deflect most of the Senbon needles; they were unable to deflect them all, due to the sheer number of them and the speed they flew at.

But what Naruto and the others didn't know was that this barrage of needles was just a distraction to keep them occupied, which allowed Haku to appear from the ice mirror directly above them and jump down between them.

When Haku suddenly appeared behind them, the three boys quickly spun around to face their opponent, after sensing him, unfortunately though it was too late for both Sai and Sasuke, as Haku quickly hit them with several Senbon needles, where both boys fell to the ground in a deadlike state.

Naruto although was able to avoid being hit, by raising his Katana up in time, but when he did this, some needles were able to hit certain points in his arm, making it go numb and worthless and causing him to drop his Katana.

Seeing what happened, Haku quickly moved forward on Naruto so to finish the job on him and take advantage of his disability.

Seeing this Naruto quickly flipped backwards, just as Haku struck at him, where he then threw several Shurikens at Haku, forcing the young Ice user to jump back to avoid them, upon which Haku then merged back in with the ice mirrors.

After forcing Haku back, Naruto then quickly went over to Sai and Sasuke to see how they were, where when he checked their pulses, he couldn't feel anything at first. But Naruto quickly realised that they were in a death like state, (much like Zabuza was in earlier on), when he saw the positions that the needles were in on their bodies.

Sighing slightly in relief, Naruto turned around to face Haku, who had just appeared in one of the ice mirrors.

"Your friends are now dead Naruto-san and you are all alone and you have lost the use of your right arm, you've lost this battle" spoke Haku, although became curious when Naruto just smirk.

"Can the act Haku, you know as well as I do that neither Sasuke nor Sai are dead, they're just in a death like state, just like the one you put Zabuza a while back and you're no killer… As for my right arm being useless… I wouldn't be so sure of that" said Naruto, where he then pulled the needles out of his arm and was able to move his arm again much to Haku's surprise.

"But how even if you pull the needles out correctly, the effects should still take hold of you for some time" spoke the surprised ice user.

"Well let's just say that I heal fast and leave it at that" replied Naruto, as this was one of the rare occasions that he was glad he had the Kyuubi in him.

"I see, but even if you can use your right arm again, you still cannot win as you are alone" replied Haku.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that either" replied Naruto with another smirk, where the then did a single hand-seal and cried out "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique)!" where several dozen suddenly appeared around Naruto, much to Haku's surprise.

Upon which Naruto then had all his clones attack the ice mirrors at the same time, reacting quickly to Naruto attempts to escape the ice dome, Haku quickly used the technique that projected images of him on all the mirrors and attack the clones, destroying most of them within a few seconds.

Unfortunately Haku was unable to destroy all of them, where one of the Naruto's was able to shatter one of the mirrors with his bare fist, much to Haku's surprise.

"_Impossible! How can he have the strength to be able to destroy one of my mirrors with just his bare hands?_" thought Haku is surprise, but quickly got over it. As the young Ice user then quickly transported to one of the shattered pieces of the ice mirror that Naruto destroyed and emerged from it and attacked Naruto from behind and stabbed him in the back.

But as soon as Haku had done this "Naruto" puffed into smoke, revealing that he had been a clone, realizing that he had been tricked, Haku tried to renter one of his mirrors. But before the young ice user could, he felt a hand grab hold of him, stopping him from moving.

When Haku turned around the young ice user saw that it was Naruto who had grabbed hold of him, upon which Haku realized that Naruto had used the clones not to break out of the ice dome, but as bait to lure him out of the ice mirrors.

"This is where it ends Haku" stated Naruto, where he then quickly raised his arm and used his enhance strength (not at full power) and punched Haku right in his mask causing it to break into pieces, as well as sending the ice user flying straight through the one of the ice mirrors and shattering it.

After being sent through the ice mirror, Haku continued fly through the air a bit (due to the power that Naruto put in his punch), before crashing to the ground in a heap. Where after landing Haku tried to pick himself up, but was unable to do, due to the punch that Naruto gave the young Yuki Clan member.

When Haku looked up the ice user could see the ice dome falling part into pieces (due to him being out of Chakra), as well as Naruto coming towards him, with his Katana in hand.

"_Forgive Zabuza-sama…I 'am …no match… for this boy_" thought Haku sadly, as Naruto stood over him holding his Katana in front of Haku's face.

As Naruto held his Katana over Haku's face, the young ice user spoke, "Why do you hesitate kill me…I've lost my purpose in living…I've failed Zabuza-sama…I' am no longer fit to be his weapon".

"What kind of fucked up crap are you talking about? You're not a weapon, you're a human being, you have your own life and your own free will, why the hell would you want to die, simply because I defeated you?" asked Naruto, what Haku was saying didn't make any sense.

For the next few minutes Haku went on to explain his life in Mizu no kuni (Water country) and how when his father discovered that he and his mother were bloodline holders. He gathered a mob and killed Haku's mother and then tried to kill Haku, but were killed themselves when Haku accidently used his bloodline to kill them.

After which he roamed the cold streets of Kiri during the dead of winter until he was found by Zabuza and made him his weapon, thereby giving him a purpose in living again.

When Naruto heard this, several different thoughts ran through his head as he was unsure what to say or think at what Haku told him.

"I can understand why you feel that you owe Zabuza after he took you in, but that still doesn't make it right that he views you and treats you like some kind of weapon" spoke Naruto.

"But is what I'm, I' am his tool to use in whatever why he wishes", spoke Haku

"STOP BEING SUCH A BAKA HAKU!" cried Naruto angrily, which surprised the young ice user. "You're a human being, just like me, you're not a tool, you feel pain, you feel joy, you feel sorrow and you have your own dreams just like me or anyone else. The only person that has a right to decide how you live your life is yourself, as it's your life not his!"

As Haku heard this, the young ice user understood what Naruto was saying, but even still he was too loyal to Zabuza. "If you say that I can choose how I live my life Naruto-san, then I choose to serve Zabuza-sama as his weapon. As that is my purpose and my dream is to help him to achieve his dream, for he is my precious person and I would gladly give my life up for him…so kill me now and be done with it".

"Agh!" cried Naruto in frustration "Damnit Haku I won't kill you, simply because you think you should die!"

At this Haku couldn't not help but smile kindly despite the situation he was in as the young ice user could tell that Naruto was a kind individually and that the two of them were a lot a like many ways.

But as Haku and Naruto were talking to one another, the two Shinobi's heard a cry of pain, after which the mist slowly began to die down, where they then saw Zabuza a pack of on top of Zabuza, biting deeply into his arms and legs, preventing him from moving. Also at the same time they heard a large chirping noise, where when they looked they saw Kakashi holding his right hand, which was now covered in Lightning.

"_Shit's that Kakashi-sensei __**Raikiri**__ (Lightning Cutter)!_" thought Naruto in surprise at seeing the jutsu's with his own eyes for the first time. As he had heard about it from his Godfather, as it was one of Kakashi's strongest moves and was the advance form of his only originally Jutsu the **Chidori** (One thousands birds). He had also heard from his Godfather that Kakashi had given the technique this name after he cut a bolt of Lightning with it.

Upon seeing that Zabuza was in trouble, as well as seeing that Naruto was monetarily distracted, (as he was looking towards Kakashi). Haku quickly took advantage of Naruto's distraction and spun around, kicking Naruto off his feet and making fall onto his back, after which Haku then quickly got back onto his feet. But before he raced of towards Zabuza, Haku turned to look at Naruto sadly (who was still on the ground), I'm sorry Naruto-san, if he had met at another time and in another place, I believe we could've been friends.

"But we're friends Haku!" spoke Naruto as he tried to stop the young Ice user as he knew what Haku was planning to do.

At hearing this Haku could not help but smile sadly before disappearing and using the last of his Chakra to create an ice mirror so to appear next to Zabuza.

"Damnit Haku you baka" muttered Naruto as he got back up, where when he saw Kakashi racing towards Zabuza, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop Haku in time, leaving him with only one other option left, where he then started doing some quick hand-seals.

"_I'm going to be in some much trouble after this_"

"This is the end for you Zabuza…your future is death" stated Kakashi as held up his **Raikiri** and charged straight at Zabuza.

But just as he was charging at Zabuza, Kakashi suddenly saw an ice mirror appear next to Zabuza, where Haku suddenly emerged from it and stood in front of Zabuza to shield him from Kakashi's attack with his own body.

Kakashi of course could not stop or avoid Haku in time and just when he was about to stab Haku right through the heart with his Lightning covered hand, he suddenly heard someone cry out "**Suiton: Teppōdama** (Water Style: Gunshot)!", where a large blast of Water crashed right into him in the side and sent him flying sideways and onto the ground .

Surprised by this Haku and Zabuza both quickly turned to where the blast of water came from; when they did they were surprised to see that it had been Naruto who had fired the Jutsu.

"Naruto what the hell are you doing, why did you just attack Kakashi-sensei?" cried Sakura in surprise as both she and Tazuna had seen what had happened.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I couldn't let you kill Haku, it wasn't right" spoke Naruto.

"_Naruto_" thought Haku, as the young ice users didn't know what to think as Naruto had just attacked his own comrade just to save him.

"Muhahaha…hahaha…Well Kakashi, it seems that you were wrong again about me dying" spoke Zabuza as he looked over toward Kakashi, who was just picking himself up after being hit by Naruto's attack.

"And this time I was saved by one of your own students" continued Zabuza, where despite his injuries from Kakashi's Ninja dogs (who had returned home, right when Kakashi charged at Zabuza). Zabuza lifted up his arm and took hold of his sword and pushed Haku to the side and charged straight at Kakashi.

Seeing Zabuza was coming towards him Kakashi, quickly prepared to defend himself, but just as Zabuza had crossed half the gap between them. Zabuza suddenly found himself being wrapped around by a chain, which pinned him arms to his body and forcing him to stop. After which Zabuza found an unknown Konoha ninja standing behind him with a Kunai against his neck.

"Nice timing Yamato" spoke Kakashi as he greeted his comrade, who nodded.

"Zabuza-sama" muttered Haku, who was about to once again about to go help Zabuza, but before the young ice user could, he found the tip of a blade at his neck, where when Haku looked to the left, he saw Naruto standing next to him with a serious look that said "Not this time".

When Zabuza saw the situation that he and Haku were in now, he knew they had lost, where he cursed himself several times over, as he had become too focus on his battle with Kakashi, that he had forgotten about Naruto Sensei's.

"Well, well, well It seems that the big bad demon of the hidden mist was all talk just like I thought, you couldn't even kill a simple old man" spoke a new voice, where when Zabuza, Haku, Tazuna and the Konoha-nins looked to the end of the bridge. They saw Gato along with a hundred or so of his hired goons.

"Gato! What they hell are you doing here?" asked Zabuza angrily when he saw the greedy businessman.

"Isn't oblivious, I'm here to do the job you couldn't, as it's clear that you weren't up to the task, but it's just as well as I never planned on paying you to begin with, and since most of you are all tired out and hurt from fighting each other, my men will have no problem taken you all out".

"Gato you piece of vermin!" cried Tazuna out angrily.

"Sticks and stones Tazuna, sticks and stones, besides I suggest that you not resist not unless you want that lovely daughter of yours to be hurts, as I sent my two best men to your house and they should be here any minute now with her", sneered Gato.

When Tazuna heard this, he was about ready to tear Gato apart, but before Tazuna could say or do anything, Naruto spoke up.

"If you're talking about those two wannabe Samurai who you sent to kidnap Tsunami, then I guess I should tell you not to expect them anytime soon, as they're taking a long nap and won't be doing anything for a long time".

Upon hearing this Tazuna sighed with relief at his daughter being safe and planned to thank Naruto later. While at the same time Gato frowned at this information, as he had begun to wonder what was taking his men so long.

"Huh! It doesn't matter as you're all going die here" replied Gato with a sneer, before he turned back to his men "Alright you lot, I don't want a single one of them left alive and there's a ten thousand ryo bonus for the man who kills the bridge builder and a fifty thousand ryo bonus for the head of Zabuza's brat, as I want him to pay for breaking my arm".

At this the small army of thugs cheered loudly at the idea of being paid bonuses.

When Zabuza heard what Gato said, he turned to Kakashi, "It seems that our fight has come to an end Kakashi and we are no longer enemies".

"So it seems" replied the copy-nin, where he signalled to Yamato that he could let go of Zabuza, as with Gatoi betrayal, Zabuza no longer had a reason to be their enemy and they were now on the same side.

Yamato of course loosen the chain around Zabuza letting him go, although did stay near him, on the chance that he might try something against them.

Seeing Zabuza and the others were going to resist, Gato just sneered, as he was certain that with the number of men that he on his side, he would win. But before Gato could give the order to attack, an arrow suddenly flew right past him, barely missing his head.

"What the?" spoke the short businessman when he saw the arrow and looked to the other end of the bridge, from where the arrow came from. When he looked he saw all the villagers gathered at the edge of the bridge, right behind Zabuza and the Konoha shinobi's and were being led by a young boy. Who was wearing a stir fry pan on his head like a helmet and was holding a crossbow in his head.

"That's as far as you go Gato, we're not going let you take on step into our village" spoke Inari, where all the villagers behind him cheered, as they were all ready to fight to defend their home.

Tazuna of course was amazed at the sight, as he never thought he would see something like this, as ever since Kaiza death, the people of Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) had lost their will to fight. Yet now he was seeing his entire village here standing up to Gato and his men and willing to fight for their homes.

But what shocked Tazuna even more was that it was his own Grandson who was leading the villagers and rallied them to stand up and fight Gato. When he saw this the old bridge builder could not help but wonder what happened to his Grandson to cause this kind of change in him.

At the same time, Naruto could not help but smirk, at seeing Inari leading the villagers of Nami no kuni against Gato "_Nice going Inari_".

When Gato saw this, he became furious at how the people of Nami no kuni were raising up against him, he got even angrier when he saw that some of his men look worried, as these weren't the same broken villagers that they had been use to dealing with.

"What are you lot doing? They're only a group old men and women, with pit forks and rusted tools, being led by a brat!" cried Gato, where upon hearing this, his men regained what little courage they all had to begin with.

"Now kill them all and don't leave a sin…Arragh!" spoke Gato, but cried out in pain, before he could finish speaking, when a sword sprung out from him chest. After which the blade retreated back into Gato, where the greedy tyrant fell to the ground dead, in a small growing pool of his own blood.

"Finally the bastard shut up", muttered the person who had stabbed Gato.

When the men saw their leader fall to the ground dead, they immediately took notice of the person who had appeared out nowhere right behind Gato and killed him.

The person in question was a tall attractive young woman, with long bright red hair wearing an ANBU outfit and holding a long Katana in her left hand (1).

After stabbing Gato the woman in question then quickly **Shunshin** (Body flickered) away and reappeared right next to Naruto and Haku.

"Nice timing Kushina-sensei, but sure took your sweet time" spoke Naruto with a smirk, when he saw his female sensei.

Kushina of course smirked back at the remark, before speaking "Yea sorry about that, by time we found Zabuza's hideout the entire place was empty and we realised that he and Gato must have left to attack to attack Tazuna and the rest of you, so we raced as quickly as we could here. But by the time we got here, we saw that Kakashi was about to finish off Zabuza, only to be stopped by you" stated Kushina were she stared at here student with a serious look.

At this Naruto started to sweat a little with worry, as he knew he was in trouble with his Sensei "Eh…yea…about that" spoke Naruto nervously.

"We talk about it, once things are settled here" interrupted Kushina with a serious tone, where Naruto just gulped, not looking forward to that talk.

At the same time that this was happing Zabuza was staring at the newly arrived Kushina intently "_So I was right, the brat is the student of the __Buraddi Shinku no Ikari _(Bloody Crimson Fury)_,_ _I knew he had to be, as she's the only one that could've taught him the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style_" thought Zabuza. As he had heard of Kushina, back when he was still with Kiri in ANBU, she was especially famed in Kiri for the unique Kenjutsu style that she created and used.

Zabuza's attention although soon turned back from Kushina to the army of thugs that were in front of them, as the thugs were unhappy at how Kushina had just killed their meal ticket.

"What are they hell are we going now", spoke one thug.

"I say we kill this lot and take whatever is worth taking from the village" spoke another thug.

"Yea, and if we take Zabuza's head along with his partner's to Kiri, maybe we can a reward for it" said third thug.

"Dibs on the redhead there, as she looks like she could be fun", said the first thug, as he eyed Kushina with lustful eyes, which made the redheaded Kunoichi, feel dirty and want a shower.

Upon hearing this, Naruto became furious, where he slowly walked forwards towards the thugs, since being raised by two women for most of his life, Naruto had naturally had a strong hatred of rapist or those who abused or beat women. Hence after hearing on what one of the thugs wanted to do to his sensei, not to mentioned what they were thinking on doing to Inari's home, Naruto wasn't planning on showing these guys any mercy.

When Kushina saw Naruto walking forwards towards Gato's thugs she called out to Naruto, telling him to stay back and let her and Yamato deal with them as both of them were fresh and could easily deal with them. While Naruto and Kakashi were both tried from their battle and neither Sai nor Sasuke were in any condition to fight.

Naruto of course ignored Kushina as she called out to him, and continued to walk towards the men. After walking a few metres away from Kishina and the others, Naruto stopped.

"Well, well, look at this boys, it seems that this brat is going to take us all on by himself" spoke one of the thugs where the others just laughed.

Naruto of course ignored the thug's laughter and began to slowly crack his knuckles, where upon seeing this, the Konoha Shinobi quickly realised what Naruto was going to do.

"He isn't going to do what I think he's going to do?" asked Sakura slightly worried.

"I'm afraid so" replied Yamato, with a slight sigh.

"Oh boy" spoke Kushina.

"When Zabuza, Haku and Tazuna heard this, all of them had confused looks on their faces, along with most of the villagers of Nami no Kuni, as none of them could understand what the Konoha Shinobi's were talking about.

"Hey Tazuna!" cried Naruto as he looked over his shoulder to look at Tazuna, do you've any spare building material for the bridge.

"Eh yea plenty of it, why?" asked the old bridge builder.

"Good, because I'm afraid that I'm going to be putting you behind schedule a bit" answered Naruto.

At this Tazuna became even more confused at what Naruto was going to do, but before he could ask what Naruto met, one of the thugs suddenly cried out "Enough of this crap, Let's kill them!" upon which the hundred or so thugs charged forward at Naruto and the others.

-Begin Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -

As the Thugs came towards him, Naruto just smirked where he then quickly channelled an immense amount of Chakra inside his body, and a moment later gathered it into his fist. After which Naruto then slammed his fist into the ground and cried out "**Chikakuhendō** (Earthshaker Impact)!" and released the Chakra into the ground.

Where thanks to Naruto's superhuman strength the entire section of the bridge that the thugs were on began shake, causing the thugs to stop in their tracks. After which, cracks began to appear on the bridge section, where the ground underneath the thug's feet rose up and the entire front section of the bridge fell apart into pieces into the water below, along with the thugs themselves. Where many of them drowned due to either being unable to swim or because large pieces of the bridge fell on top of them, while the rest quickly swam back to the boat from which they came from with Gato and quickly sailed away never to come back.

Naturally after seeing this all the non Konoha Shinobi's were of course completely blown away at seeing Naruto destroying the entire front section of the bridge with just a single punch.

When Inari and the rest of the villagers of Nami no Kuni saw this every single one of their Jaws literally hit the ground, while their eyes with the size of saucers.

Tazuna himself was dumbstruck, where he planned to get himself plastered later on, as he couldn't believe what he had seen.

Zabuza himself was equally as stun, as he couldn't believe the strength that Naruto had, especially at so young an age "_Unbelievable…they boy really is the son of Tsunade of the Sannin_".

"Amazing" muttered Haku with a shocked look, as they young ice user still found it hard to except that Naruto possessed that kind of strength and held it back during their battle.

-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -

"Figures Brat had to hog all the glory for himself" muttered Kushina with an amused smirk, while her partner Yamato just sighed at what Naruto did, as he was getting more and more like is mother, where he would cause more and more excessive destruction.

Kakashi himself let out a tired sigh, after his battle, where he just sat on the ground and smirked behind his mask as he looked at Naruto.

"_You certainly have a knack for the dramatics, Naruto_", mused the copy-nin, as Naruto had ended this battle in a way that no-one would forget it anytime soon.

-Several days later-

The next several days after the battle on the bridge had been fairly calm in Nami no Kuni, for Naruto and the Konoha-nin, with the exception of a few incidents.

After the battle, both Kushina and Yamato spoke to Naruto about interfering with Kakashi's battle with Zabuza. When Naruto told them his reason as to why he attacked Kakashi, both sensei's were somewhat understanding towards Naruto's plight and why he did what he did. But even still Kushina and Yamato had to punish him, as things could've easily had gone wrong.

Hence Naruto was giving several intense training regimens, along with helping with the building of the section of the bridge that he destroyed. As well as helping to heal and care for Kakashi while he recovered from his injuries and from using his Sharingan for so long.

Kakashi of course made sure to milk as much as he could out of the situation, where he had Naruto wait on him nearly hand and foot, where he Naruto do thing likes, getting him something to eat or drink. As well as feeding him, having him hold up his Icha Icha book (which Yamato force Naruto to give back to Kakashi) and turn the pages for him, as well as many other things.

Naturally Naruto had been fairly ticked off, with how he was like Kakashi's slave, but knew he had little choice, given how he did technically attack him. But eventually Naruto reached his limit when Kakashi called him "Nurse Naruto", after which Naruto then forced feed Kakashi with the worst tasting medicine that the copy-nin had ever tasted, thereby insuring that Kakashi would never call Naruto nurse again.

Kakashi of course was not Naruto's only patient, as he also has Sai and Sasuke, along with Haku and Zabuza, who despite being former enemies, were allowed to stay.

Both Sasuke and Sai were of course bed ridden for a couple days; due to being in the deathlike state that Haku put them in with the Senbon Needles.

When Sakura found them, she had naturally be distraught, when she though that her "Sasuke-kun" was dead and even tried to attack Haku, believing that the ice user killed Sasuke.

Naruto of course stopped her and explained to her that neither Sasuke nor Sai were dead, and that they were put in the same kind of state that Haku had put Zabuza a while back, where once Naruto correctly pulled the needles out, both Sai and Sasuke awoke.

When Sakura saw that Sasuke was alive, she natural became teary-eyed and hugged Sasuke tightly (much to the young Uchiha discomfort, where he tried to get her off him).

Naturally after the battle of the bridge things had been a bit unsettling for Tazuna and his family, when Naruto and the others brought the injured Zabuza and Haku into the house. This was of course understandable given how they had been hired to kill Tazuna, where the members of the family were of course nervous to be around Haku and Zabuza. Even after Kakashi and Naruto assured them that neither of Zabuza or Haku had any reason to harm the bridge builder or his family anymore.

Eventually though things calm down, where Tsunami even became friendly with Haku, where they two would often work together to make meals.

But even so not everyone was as forgiving towards Haku as Tsunami, as Sasuke still held a slight grudge against the young Yuki Clan members, due to Haku defeating him. This defeat was made all the more bitter to the young Uchiha, when he learned that after Haku had knocked out him and Sai. As well as Naruto defeating Haku and then later taking out Gato gang of thugs by himself. But even still Sasuke took some solace in the fact that he finally awoken his Sharingan, where upon recovering he began to practice in using it, so that he could activate it when he wanted it.

Haku injuries had been of course minor, despite the slight injury that Naruto had given the young ice user when he punched Haku in the head, where thankfully the masked had protected him from much of the harm. Naruto had of course offered to give Haku a full check over to make sure that the young Ice user had no other injuries, but Haku and stated that he was fine and he could check himself over.

Zabuza's injuries were of course a bit more serious, where much like Kakashi he was bedridden for a while, where the two men were left in the same room together. This was to make sure that Zabuza would not try anything, for even though Zabuza had no reason to go after Tazuna and his family. It did not state that he wouldn't try anything against Kakashi or the others, hence either Yamato of Kushina, would always be on guard in the house, whenever everyone was gone to work on the bridge or asleep at night.

"Well Zabuza it seems that you're healing quite nicely" spoke Naruto after checking on the former Mist swordsman injuries.

"Tsk! Yea well, when can I finally be able to move and get outta here as unlike Kakashi over there, I don't like spending days on end lying down and doing nothing" spoke Zabuza, as he looked over at the sleeping Kakashi.

"Well I'm afraid you just have to bare it for a little while longer, as although you're healing well, your wounds can still easily open up, meaning you've to stay in bed for a while longer and rest" answered Naruto.

Naturally Zabuza was not pleased to hear this, as he wanted to be on the move as soon as possible, before Kiri's hunter-nin squads caught onto him and Haku.

"Since you'll be with us for a little while longer there is something I want to talk to you about" spoke Naruto.

"What about?" asked Zabuza

"It's about Haku"

"What about Haku?

"What is Haku to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is what do you think of Haku? do you think of him as a friend, a comrade or something else?" asked Naruto

"Haku is just a tool to me, a weapon that I use against my enemies, nothing more" replied Zabuza without any emotion, but as soon as he said this Zabuza found a scalpel blade pointed right at his throat, with an angry Naruto standing over him.

"You dare call Haku that again and I swear I open you up and gut you like a fish, here and now" spoke Naruto in a deadly tone.

Surprised but unafraid by Naruto's threat, Zabuza raised his eyebrow, "Why do you even care what I think of Haku? Better yet why do you even care about Haku to begin with?" asked Zabuza. Since this was the second time that Naruto had defended Haku, the first being when he stopped Kakashi from stabbing the young ice user with his **Raikiri**.

"Because Haku is my friend and I won't stand for anyone attacking or insulting my friends" replied Naruto, which surprised the former demon of the mist, at how Naruto called Haku his friend so easily.

"You may be skilled boy, but you're naive in the real world of the Shinobi, as I'm merely using Haku skill and power for my own use, just as Gato tried to use me" replied Zabuza.

"So mean to tell me that all those years you and Haku spent together, fighting alongside one another and traveling together, meant nothing to you?" spoke Naruto. "Because if you do mean that Haku means nothing to you, then you're an even bigger fool than I thought you were".

At this comment Zabuza did not reply and simply looked away from Naruto.

When Naruto saw this he became even angrier, "Why you! After everything Haku has done for you, he lived for you and was willing to die for you without a second thought and yet you're telling me he met nothing to you at all? Haku has given up everything just to help you achieve your selfish dream of becoming Mizukage and you've never once considered letting Haku live his own life his way, you never let him have his own dream or give him a choice in anything. You a probably the closest thing that Haku has to a family and you treat him like a disposable tool instead of human being...that isn't right, Haku deserves better, you know it and I know it!"

After saying all this, Naruto saw that Zabuza kept looking away him, refusing to look at Naruto.

When Naruto saw this he grew angry, but quickly got up and walked out of the room, refusing to waste any more of his time on the man.

Once Naruto left the room, Zabuza remained silent for several minutes, going over what Naruto had said to him and has much as he hated to say it. Naruto's words had gotten to him, they had cut deeper than any blade or injury that he had received over the years, as Naruto had been right, Haku did mean something to him, no matter how much he denied it to himself. Zabuza had also realised how badly he had treated Haku and how Naruto was indeed right, at how Haku did deserve better.

"He got to you didn't he?" spoke Kakashi suddenly, causing Zabuza to turn to the copy-nin.

"So you were awake…" stated Zabuza, "I'm guessing you heard everything?"

"Pretty much" replied Kakashi with a slight smirk behind his mask, "As it's not every day that one would get to see the fame Kirigakure no Kijin at a loss of words after arguing with a young Genin".

At this Zabuza just scoffed and turned his back to Kakashi, who just smirked further, knowing that he was right about Naruto getting to Zabuza. He also guessed that Zabuza had a lot to think over the next few days now, after which Kakashi decided to leave Zabuza been and closed his eyes to get some rest.

-A few days later in the early morning-

As the early morning sun rose over the horizon and it shone through the window of the room that Naruto, Sai and Sasuke were sharing. The rays of the sun shun down on Naruto's face, (due to him being nearest to the window), where he slowly woke up.

After fully awakening Naruto looked out the window and saw that it was going to be another beautiful day.

Not wanting to wake either Sasuke or Sai, who were still sleeping Naruto quietly sunk out of the room and headed to the bathroom to wash and change, as he wanted to do some early morning training before everyone else got up.

When Naruto reach the bathroom, he quickly opened the door, believing that he was the only one up and that there would be no-one in the bathroom. But upon opening the door, Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in surprise, for when he opened the bathroom he saw Haku stepping out of the shower with a towel being the only thing covering the ice user's body.

Normally this would not be a surprise or be an issue with Naruto, but the thing that caught Naruto by surprise was the fact that the wet towel that covered Haku's body clung tightly around the ice user's body, showing two medium size lumps on Haku's chest along with a slightly curvy figure and long feminine legs.

"Y-Y-Yo-You're a girl!" stuttered Naruto in surprise as he pointed at Haku.

For a moment or two, the two of them just stared at one another, frozen is surprise, but that soon came to an end when Haku then let out a loud scream in horror, before the now revealed female Haku began to grab onto anything she could grab hold of and throw at Naruto. Who did his best to avoid everything that Haku had thrown at him, although eventually Naruto was hit right between the eyes by a large bar of soap that Haku had thrown, causing the young Senju to fall backwards and out of bathroom. After which Haku then created several ice needles and sent them flying at Naruto, who couldn't avoid them in time and was pinned against the wall behind him.

Still in full feminine fury and outrage and not able to fully think on what she was doing, Haku quickly took hold of a plunger, which was nearby and planned to beat Naruto over the head with it. But as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway, she found Tazuna, Inari, Tsunami, Sakura, Yamato, Kushina, Sasuke, Sai along with Zabuza and Kakashi (who were now well enough to walk around) standing in the hallway, (due hearing Haku's scream and believe that they were under attack) staring at her towel covered body.

When the rest of the household saw the towel covered Haku, the majority of the group (with the exception of Zabuza) were shocked, at Haku being actually a girl, as they were seeing the same things as Naruto did when he entered the bathroom.

Seeing that everyone was now staring her and Naruto in the state that they were both in (with Naruto in just boxers and a shirt and her in a wet towel), Haku's face quickly turned bright red (not unlike a certain Hyuga heiress). Upon which she quickly dropped the plunger she planned to beat Naruto with, and quickly ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, at which point Kuhsina spoke out.

"Well that was interesting", leaving everyone to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads, not knowing how to comment on what just happened.

Eventually though, things calm down from the escapade of the early morning, where the mortified Haku eventually came out of the bathroom, in her usual attire, although both she and Naruto had trouble looking at one another. As Haku was still very much embarrassed at Naruto seeing her right after she came out of the shower, while Naruto had trouble looking at Haku without turning red and remember seeing her all wet, as she came out of the shower and with just a towel, where it clung tightly around her body.

When everyone asked why both Zabuza and Haku had played the whole façade of Haku being a boy. Zabuza explained that after he and Haku left Kiri, he had Haku tell everyone that she was a boy and had her dress the way she did, so to hide her figure, so to prevent any other Nuke-nins that they might work together with from trying to harm Haku.

At first the group had trouble believing it, but as they thought about it, it did make sense, where although Haku voice and face did look feminine, she still kept her figure hidden, making hard for people dispute whether Haku was a boy or a girl. Plus given how most of them did believe Haku was a boy for most of the time, it showed that it did work, as most people wouldn't feel comfortable asking someone like Haku if she was girl after she stated she was a boy.

Naruto himself was also slightly grateful that Haku really turned out to be a girl, as the idea of him being even momentarily attracted to a boy who looked like a girl creeped him out.

Once the excitement of the morning died down, Zabuza later on took Haku away, stating that he had something important to talk to the now revealed female ice user about.

The two of them of course did not return until several hours later, where Haku, eyes were buffy red as if from crying a lot, although instead of looking sad, she looked happy. She also then later went up to Naruto and hugged him tightly and said thank you to him before, giving the young blonde a kiss on the cheek, (much to Naruo's and everyone's surprise).

Naruto was of course confused by all this until Kakashi explained that seemly his little talk with Zabuza, had gotten through to the demon of the mist and seemly had forced him to revaluate his views on Haku, which was seemly what he and Haku went off to talk about.

When Naruto heard this he was of course glad he gotten through Zabuza, and hoped that things would of course be better for Haku now.

-A Week Later-

After almost two weeks since the battle on the bridge, the bridge had finally been completed two weeks ahead of schedule despite the delay, when Naruto destroyed a section of it.

This was of course thanks to the help of Naruto and the others, including Zabuza and Haku, who had decided to help, since they didn't have much to do, as they couldn't really leave the island until the bridge was finish.

With the bridge now finished the mission was finally over, where Naruto and the others would be heading back to Konoha the next day.

As Naruto and the others walked back to Tazuna's home, Naruto decided to ask Zabuza something he had been wondering the past few days. "So Zabuza, what do you and Haku-chan plan to now, with Gato dead?"

"To be honest kid I'm not exactly sure, as considering recent events, I'll have to rethink some of my plans" replied Zabuza, where he glanced a Haku for a moment and smirked a little. "Although one thing will be for certain…neither Haku or I can stay here much longer as Kiri's hunter-nin squads are certain to come after us".

"But why don't you head back to Kiri?" asked Naruto

At this Zabuza looked at Naruto as if he was nuts "Are you insane, the moment that we step foot in Kiri, the Yondaime Mizukage will have our heads"

Naruto of course tried to reply to this comment, but before he could, Zabuza and Kushina and even Sai suddenly drew their swords, while Yamato and Kakashi took out their Kunai's and Haku took out her Senbon needles.

"Kakashi-sensei's what's wrong?" asked Sakura not understanding what was going on.

"It seems that we've an unexpected visitor following us", answered Kakashi, where he put his senses on high alert, as he and the others had just sensed an unknown person nearby.

"Make that a group of unexpected visitors", spoke Kushina, "as he or she has some friends with them".

"She right", spoke Zabuza, "I can sense them…there are about four…no…make that five of them and given the way they got so close to us without us knowing I would say they are at ANBU level".

"Agreed" spoke Yamato, as he could tell that the people that they were sensing were quite skilled.

At hearing this, Sasuke, Sakura quickly drew their own Kunai's, along with Naruto who drew his own Katana, while Tazuna stood in the certain of the group of Ninja's, where they all took a circle like formation with their backs to one another.

Soon enough though the identity of the unknown party was revealed with for masked Shinobi's appeared on both sides of the groups, surrounding them. When the masked Shinobi's revealed themselves, Zabuza and Haku, along with Kakashi and his fellow Jonin's, Kushina and Yamato realised that the Shinobi's were Hunter-nins from Kiri, due to their masks.

"_Shit! …they found us quicker than I thought they would_" thought Zabuza, before he turned slightly to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, you and your teams should take the bridge builder and get out of here while you can, as they're after us… not you".

Before Kakashi could respond to this, the fifth person that they had sensed earlier appeared in front of the group and spoke up, "That won't be necessary Zabuza, as we aren't here to fight you".

Upon hearing this, the group quickly looked towards the person who had spoken; when they looked forward they saw the person in question was a middle aged man, wearing the same kind of uniform that Haku wore, and had blue hair and a patch over his right eye. Along with a talismans on each ear with the kanji for a humble form written on them twice on each side.

"Ao!" spoke Zabuza in surprise recognising his former ANBU comrade, who was also the captain of the Hunter-nin division and was one of Kiri's best.

"It's been some time Zabuza, Haku" spoke Ao.

"So the Mizukage has sent you after us …I'm flattered" spoke Zabuza, and he raised his sword, as he had no plans on making this easy for Ao or his men, where if he was going down, he was going down fighting and would take as many of them with him as he could.

"Take it easy Zabuza I told you already, we aren't here to fight you" spoke Ao.

"If you're not here to kill us then why are you here?" asked Zabuza.

"We're here to take both you and Haku back to Kiri on the orders of the Godaime Mizukage's, as the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura is dead" said Ao, which surprised the majority of the Shinobi group, as none of them had heard of the death of the Yondaime Mizukage or there now being a new Mizukage.

After the surprise of this information sunk in Zabuza then let out a low chuckle before he spoke "Hehehehe…do you really think that I'm that stupid to fall for such a lame and obvious trick Ao?"

"It's no trick Zabuza, as Yagure is indeed dead, as there was a coup d'etat and he was over thrown and replaced by the Godaime Mizukage", answered Ao.

Before Zabuza could reply this Naruto spoke up, "He's telling the truth, as I heard about it from Ero-senin, a few weeks before I arrived in Konoha"

When Zabuza heard this, he of course raised a non-existent eyebrow in surprise, "And why the hell didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I tied but I never got a chance to" retorted Naruto.

As this was going on Ao eyed Naruto with curiosity, as he wondered how a young boy like Naruto learned of the coup d'etat, but before he could think about Naruto more, Ao heard Zabuza addressing him.

"So who exactly is the Mizukage now?"

"Terumī Mei"

Upon hearing this, Zabuza raised his non-existent eyebrows in surprise again "Mei?...she the Mizukage now?" where Ao just nodded in confirmation.

"Do you known her Zabuza-sama?" asked Haku.

"Yea…I met her a couple times, back before I found you Haku, she is a powerful and highly gifted Kunoichi" spoke Zabuza, for as much as he hated to admit it, Mei was stronger than him.

"But the thing that is most surprising about her, is that she is a bloodline holder or to be more precise, she's a duel bloodline holder, where she possesses both the Yōton (Lava Release) and the Futton (Boil Release) bloodlines".

After hearing this, Haku along with the Konoha-nin group were of course shocked, as none of them had heard of a dual bloodline holder. What was even more surprising was that Kiri of all places had elected a bloodline holder as their new Mizukage, especially given their past history when it came to bloodline holders.

"So why exactly did they elect Mei as the Mizukage?" asked Zabuza.

"When the Yondaime Mizukage was killed, the elders decided that to help heal the wounds of the bloodline purge between the remaining bloodline holders and the rest of the people. They would elect the Mei-sama as the new Mizukage, along with the fact that she was the strongest Shinobi in the village".

At this Zabuza just nodded again, "So why does the Godaime Mizukage want me to come back to Kiri? Does she hope to make a mark for herself by having me executed in front of the village?"

"Hardly" replied Ao "With you, Kisame and Raiga all gone rogue and the others members of the Mist swordsmen dead, the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū is practically non-existent, something that the Godaime Mizukage wants to change. That's why she sent me to find you, as she wants to rebuild the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū and with you back in Kiri, it would be possible".

"Why me?" generally curious at how the Godaime Mizukage was willing to overlook the fact that he once tried to take over Kiri for himself".

"Well you, Kisame and Raiga are the only surviving members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. Both Kisame and Raiga are out of the question in being allowed to return to Kiri, given their crimes. But you can be accepted back, since your crimes are only of revolting against the Yondaime Mizukage, which can be forgiven" answered Ao.

After hearing this Zabuza didn't know what to think, for right now he was being offered a chance to return to his village, where he would no longer be a hunted man. But if he accepted he would then most likely have to give up on his dream on being Mizukage, but given his own situation now, the chances of him ever becoming Mizukage were highly unlikely.

As Zabuza thought more on Ao's offer, he glanced a Haku and remembered Naruto's words on how he had never considered Haku when it came to the decision he made. He also knew that regardless of his own feelings, Haku would follow him anywhere without compliant.

"So what is your answer?"

After much thought Zabuza came to a decision, "Fine you got a deal".

At this Ao just nodded, as he was pleased with Zabuza's answer, prefering not fighting the former Mist swordsman and would rather have him back on their side.

When Haku heard Zabuza's answer, she was of course surprised by her master's answer, where he quickly turned to him, "But Zabuza-sama, what about your dream?"

"Some dreams are met to just stay as dreams, besides for the past few years you've been helping me trying to achieve my dream. It's time that you've a dream of your own and live your own life as how you see fit, as staying on the run with me isn't a life for you nor one you deserve. And if that means I must give up on my dream on becoming Mizukage and return to Kiri, then it's a price I'm willing to pay".

After Haku heard this, she didn't know what to say and her eyes became teary like, but quickly wiped them away before they could fall. After which she then looked up at Zabuza and smiled, said "Thank you".

With the matter of Zabuza and Haku returning to Kiri settled. The two groups headed back to the Wave village, as there was going to be a party in the village, in celebration of finishing the bridge and Gato being gone, where Naruto, Kakashi and all the others were all invited as honoured guests.

-The Next Day at the Newly Finished Bridge-

The following morning, after the celebrations in the village ended, the two Konoha teams were about ready to head back home to Konoha. Tazuna and the villagers of Nami no Kuni were of course all there to bid farewell to them, along with Zabuza and Haku, who were accompanied by Ao and his team, as they would be leaving right after Naruto and the others left. Although not everyone was a clear head or has happy due too many people were suffering from severe hangovers, due to drinking too much ().

"Well this is where we part ways, thank you all for everything you done; we won't forget what we done for us, especially you Naruto" spoke Tazuna.

"Not a problem Tazuna", spoke Naruto, before turning to Inari, "Make sure to take care of your gramps and mom Inari".

"Don't worry Naruto-nii-san I will" replied Inari with a smile.

After saying goodbye to the villagers of Nami no Kuni, Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku.

"Well we be seeing you around brat" spoke Zabuza.

"Yea I been seeing you, but don't forget what we talked about" said Naruto, where he shook hands with Zabuza, who just smirked behind his mask and nodded, saying he wouldn't.

"Take care Naruto-kun…I wish you a safe journey home" spoke Haku, as the young female ice users shook hands with Naruto.

"You too Haku-chan, I hope we met again soon and this time not as enemies".

"As do I" replied Haku with a smile, after which Naruto and the others started their journey back to Konoha.

As Naruto and the others headed back to Konoha, one of the villagers suddenly spoke up, "So what do you think we should call the bridge?

"How about the bridge of hope, as this bridge was the hope our Country" spoke another villager, where many muttered in agreement.

"I've a better idea, I think we should call it, The Great Naruto Bridge, in honour of the boy who helped save our country and helped give us back our hope and courage. Besides I think the name would help bring good luck to the bridge as I'm certain we be hearing many great things in the near future about that boy", spoke Tazuna, where everyone in the village quickly approved of the bridge's name.

Zabuza and Haku of course both smiled at hearing this, as they both could not help but concur with what Tazuna said, as they were certain that they would be hearing great things about Naruto as well in the near future.

After which the two of them, along with Ao and team, began their journey back to Kiri.

N/A.

Well another Chapter done and dusted hoped you enjoyed reading the Wave arc and how things turned out in the Chapter. Now the next Chapter will involve Naruto and his sensei's on their own mission, where Naruto encounters someone who is very interested in him. Along with that, you will see the reaction of the other hidden villages on the news about Naruto and what they plan to do

Also before you all ask me to update the next Chapter, I will do my best and I will update this again as soon as possible.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.


	16. Chapter 16

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Fifteen: ****Reaction****.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Mind Talk"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

After the events in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country), Naruto and his sensei's as well as team seven returned to their village to report to the Hokage of their successful mission. Naturally when the Hokage heard what had happened, he had been surprised as he had not expected things to get so dangerous. But even still he was pleased with how well Naruto and the members of team seven acquitted themselves on the mission.

Upon hearing the full story the Sandaime had decided to give each of the members of the two teams the payment of an A rank mission, for doing so well on a dangerous mission, even though the mission was still classified a C rank mission.

Naturally after hearing this all the members of the two teams were pleased with the extra pay boost, where after they were dismissed by the Sandaime, they each went to celebrate their successful mission in their own way.

Kakashi went off to read in Icha Icha book somewhere quiet.

Sasuke went off to train more in Sharingan.

Sakura followed after Sasuke, asking him for a date to celebrate accomplishing their first real Shinobi mission, where Sasuke naturally replied with a "No" each time the pink haired girl asked.

Naruto, Kushina and Yamato went to Ichiraku Ramen Stand to celebrate, although this time Yamato was going to make sure that he wasn't stuck with the bill this time.

While Sai went of two give his report to his leader.

- ROOT Secret Quarters-

"…and that is what happened Danzo-sama" said Sai as he knelt before the Leader of the "suppose" disbanded ANBU division ROOT aka the Foundation, Shimura Danzō.

"Hmmmm…Interesting, it seems that the boy is progressing faster than I anticipated, as I did not expect him to master Kushina's Kenjutsu style to that point so soon quickly, and his strength is clearly growing with how easily he destroyed the bridge. But even still the boy lets his emotions control him, where he attacked Kakashi to save Zabuza's partner Haku", spoke Danzō, where he frowned at the last part. As he knew that this was the result of Naruto being raised on the teachings of Sarutobi from his mother Tsunade.

For the next few minutes, there was just silence in the room, where Danzō thought over everything that he had heard from Sai.

Soon after though Sai then spoke up, breaking Danzō's from his train of thought, "Will you then be approaching Senju then Danzō-sama?"

"No not yet" replied Danzō as he looked at his subordinate, "As I want you to keep monitoring his progress right now and see how he develops, as the Chunin exams are nearing and I'm interested in seeing how he handles himself in the exam, as well as seeing his abilities first hand".

At this Sai only nodded, where he then kept his head down and only raised it when Danzō spoke again "I also want you to keep monitoring Uchiha Sasuke now, since he has now awakened his Sharinagn bloodline, and is now at a pivotal stage of his development, where he can either become a powerful ally to us or a major threat".

"Hai Danzō-sama" replied Sai, after which Danzō then dismissed him, where Sai quickly **Shunshin'd** (Body flickered) away, upon which Danzō then simply walked away and out of the room.

-The a few days later at Konoha's Main Gate-

Several days after the events in Nami no Kuni, Naruto was once again ready to do another mission, where much to his pleasure his Sensei Yamato told him that they were now going on their own official C rank mission. Although on this mission it would only be the two of them, since Kushina had been called up by the Hokage to do a high rank mission for him, where she would not for some time.

Naruto was of course a little down with this news, but understood, as Kushina was only assigned as an assistant Sensei, where she would be only with Naruto and Yamato part time, as Yamato was his official Sensei on paper, along with his Godfather Jiraiya and his mother.

Naruto of course did not have to wait long for Yamato as unlike Kakashi, Yamato was extremely punctual.

"Heya Yamato-sensei!" greeted Naruto when he saw his fellow Mokuton user and Sensei, who nodded in greeting when he came up to Naruto.

"So Yamato-sensei, what's our mission going to be?"

"Our mission is to find a missing person…a man called Genami from the nearby village of Iahao, who disappeared in the hills" spoke Yamato, where he then took out a photo of the man from one of the pockets of his flank jacket and showed it to Naruto.

When Naruto took the photo, he saw the man, where the photo showed him holding a young boy, who clearly was his son.

"So he lost then?" asked Naruto, as he handed back the photo to his sensei.

"Not exactly"

"What do you mean?"

"According to reports we've received, there is supposed to be a large group of bandits around the area, hence why we believe that he might have been abducted by them" explained Yamato.

Naruto of course nodded in understanding, where the two of them then headed off to where the man named Genami was last seen.

After several hours of travel Naruto and Yamato soon arrived at the large forestry, where Genami was reported to have been last seen.

Once they travelled for a bit and entered a small clearing, Yamato told Naruto to stay where he was, while he scouted around for any sign of the bandits that were supposed to be in the area.

Naruto was of course not pleased to hear this, but reluctantly nodded, as he didn't want to get in any more trouble than he did at Nami no Kuni.

-With Yamato-

As Yamato jumped through the trees at Shinobi speed, he kept his senses alert, as when he first entered the forest he had sensed that there was something amiss, hence why he had gone ahead and told Naruto to stay in the clearing.

Soon enough though, he suddenly heard a man's voice crying for help, along with a dog barking, where after hearing this, he quickly hid in the treetops and waited to see what was going on.

Yamato of course did not have to wait long, as within moments of him hearing the man cries and the dog's barking, he saw the man who was crying for help, where he was being chased by a large black dog.

The dog in question, quickly caught up to the man, where it jumped on top of him and bite his arm, after which Yamato was then able to get a look of the man's face and saw that it was Genami, the man that he and Naruto had been sent to find.

Seeing that he had found his target, Yamato quickly threw a flash bang to the ground and told the man to hold his breath and close his eyes, where when he did, there was a small explosion causing a loud noise and lots of smoke, which quickly scared the dog away.

Once the dog had ran off, Yamato immediately jumped down to Genami, who quickly thanked Yamato for saving him and asked him how he knew him, when Yamato said his name.

Yamato of course quickly explained that he had been sent by Konoha to find him, upon which he then asked Genami what had happened to him.

Sadly though Genami could not tell Yamato, as he explained that he could not remember what happened to him for some unknown reason.

Natural after hearing this Yamato frowned, as this confirmed what his senses were telling him, that there was something going on here.

After hearing Genami's unknown case of amnesia, Yamato quickly decided to get out of here as quickly as he could, where he went to help Genami up off from the ground.

Unfortunately though, as soon as he touched Genami's hand, a large seal suddenly appeared on the ground underneath both him and Genami, where they were enveloped in a world of darkness.

-With Naruto-

For the past few minutes Naruto stood in the small clearly, waiting for his sensei to return.

Soon enough though, he suddenly sensed something happening not far away and at the same time saw a large flock of birds suddenly flying away in fear, a distance away from his position, confirming that something was happing.

But just as Naruto saw this, his Shinobi senses kicked in again telling him to move, which was of course a good thing, for as soon as he jumped away, something came crashing to the ground hard, causing a large amount of dust to rise up and fill the clearing.

When Naruto landed back on the ground next to a large tree, he narrowed his eyes as he could just about see three figures standing in the dust filled clearing.

"Show yourselves" stated Naruto as he started at the three figures.

When the dust settled, he saw two young men and a young woman standing in the clearly, the one in the middle, who Naruto guessed was the leader of the group, was a young man, who had two markings under his eyes. The man in question wore a grey shark-like top complete with a hood which resembled a shark's head, with an appendage on the back that resembled a dorsal fin and dark pants.

The other two that flanked the man, each wore masks similar to the one that Kakashi would wear, where the masks would cover the lower part of their faces and each wore Shinobi like outfits.

After the smoke had cleared the man with the shark-like top suddenly spoke, "You're Senju Naruto son of Tsunade of the Sannin aren't you?"

"And what if I 'am?" asked Naruto with a neutral look, as he guessed that the rumours about him were already spreading outside Konoha.

"Well we've been hearing rumours about you and were wondering if you'd like to play with us" spoke the leader in a confident smile, after which he and his two comrades charged straight at Naruto at great speed.

The leader of the group quickly struck first, where he jumped up into the air and came down at Naruto with his fist raised to hit him.

Seeing this, Naruto quickly jumped away, where as he did, he saw that the leader had some impressive strength, as when he missed Naruto. His fist hit the ground and imbedded itself into the ground.

Seeing an opening Naruto went to take out some shurikens so to throw them at the leader, but before he could, the other male member of the enemy team appeared in front of Naruto and tried to hit him with a right hook.

Naruto of course easily dodge the fist, where he began to fight the masked man in a fierce taijutsu battle in the tree tops, jumping for one tree to another as they fought each other.

Naruto of course used his own personal taijutsu style, where after avoiding another one of the masked man's fists, Naruto jumped up into the air and delivered a powerful spinning back kick to the side of the man's head, while crying out "**Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick)!(A)".

When Naruto made contact with the man's head, the masked man was sent flying into a nearby tree trunk with great force and made a large dent in the tree trunk, which was impressive in itself, as Naruto had not used his superhuman strength.

After dealing with the masked man for the moment, Naruto then quickly took out a set of Kuni's and threw them at the masked Kunoichi nearby, who was on a large tree branch and was about to strike him from the side.

The masked Kunoichi of course quickly deflected the Kunai's with a pair of Kusarigama that she carried on her back, after which she then charged straight at Naruto.

Seeing her coming at him, Naruto then quickly took out his Katana from his back, where he then spent the next few minutes clashing blades with her, and began a fierce battle with her in the tree tops.

After avoiding a slashing move from one of the masked Kunoichi's Kusarigama, Naruto then quickly raised his Katana to block the other one, which was aimed to cut his head in two.

After blocking the attack, Naruto then quickly pushed the Kunoichi back and into the air, although as soon as he did this, Naruto barely dodged another attack from behind, by the group's leader, who wore the shark like top and the masked male Shinobi.

Seeing that he wasn't in the ideal situation, where he was surrounded and outnumbered, he quickly threw a large smoke bomb that covered the clearing.

Knowing what Naruto was planning to do, the group waited outside the smoked filled clearing and waited for Naruto to come out, but what they didn't expect, was for several Naruto's to jump out of the smoke and run in different directions.

Seeing all the different Naruto's the shark hood wearing leader quickly turned to his team-mates "Quickly take them all out…one of them as to be the real one… we can't let him get away as we've our orders".

The two masked Shinobi of course quickly nodded, and went after some of the Naruto clones.

As Naruto travelled through the woods, trying to keep his distance from the group, Naruto could not help but wonder who these guys were, as they were clearly not your run of the mill bandits. He also could not help but wonder what had happened to his sensei, as he knew that something must have happened to him, for him not to be here to help him and guessed that the group got to him somehow.

Knowing that he wouldn't get any answers by just running away, Naruto decided to go on the offensive, where he then quickly used his **Chakura no Parusu** (Chakra Pulse) to locate the position of his enemies.

After using his **Chakura no Parusu**, Naruto learned that the group had split up, which of course worked for him, where the leader had gone after one sent of clones in one direction. Whereas his two masked team-mates had gone off in another direction after another sent clones.

Deciding that he would take out the masked woman and man first, Naruto quickly ran towards their direction.

-With Yamato-

Currently standing in the middle a black void, with the only light coming from the seal that he was standing on, Yamato had several thoughts running through his mind, on different ways on how to escape the seal he was trapped in.

For the past few minutes, Yamato had tried breaking the seal with different, Doton (Earth Style), Suiton (Water Style) and Mukoton (Wood Release) Jutsu's, but all of them had failed to break the seal, revealing that it would take much more than ordinary level jutsu's to break him and Genami out.

As he thought on ways to free himself, Yamato looked at Genami, who was lying in the centre of the seal, unconscious. It had not taken long for Yamato to realise that Genami had been used as a trap, where someone had placed a powerful seal on his body, so that the moment he touched Genami, it activated and he became trapped within the seal.

It was then that Yamato came to realise that the only way that he would break out of the seal, was to help Genami first.

As Yamato worked on freeing Genami from the seal, Yamato began to wonder, who was responsible for placing such a powerful seal on Genami in the first place, as well as wonder why said person was holding him in this seal.

As the masked man and woman took out the last of Naruto's clones, the masked man quickly turned to his female partner and spoke in annoyed tone.

"Tsk! Another clone, why the hell is our lord so interested in this brat…sure he's the son of the Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade), but still it doesn't explain the lengths he's having us going at for him".

"Our lords reasoning is not for us to know…we've our orders and we must follow them" spoke the masked Kunoichi, although as soon as she said this, the two of them quickly jumped off the branch they were standing on to avoid several shurikens that were thrown at them from a nearby tree.

After avoiding the shurikens and landing on another large tree branch, the two masked Shinobi's looked in the direction from where the shurikens came from, where they then saw Naruto spring out from the tree with his Katana in hand.

"Another clone?" asked the masked man.

"No, I believe this is the real one" replied the masked Kunoichi.

"Good now we can finish this" said the masked man, after which he and the masked female jumped straight at Naruto with great speed.

Seeing them coming at him Naruto waited till the last moment, where just as they were right on top of him, he then quickly spun up into the air and delivered a powerful round house kick and set the two masked Shinobi flying into different directions and crashing into two different trees.

Sadly though the two masked Shinobi's recovered quickly from Naruto's hit, where they then used some kind of vanishing technique to make themselves invisible and hid in the trees.

"_Shit!_" thought Naruto", as he cursed himself for going easy on them, as he thought he could knock them out with that kick, without having to use his enhance strength.

As Naruto looked around his surroundings for any signs of the two masked Shinobi's, he found he could find none, as they had hid themselves well. Knowing of only one way to find them, Naruto quickly used his **Chakura no Parusu**, where upon locating them, Naruto then channelled his Wind Chakra to his Kanata and swung it, where he cried out "**Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash)!".

Upon doing so, a power crescent shape blade of Wind exploded from Naruto's Katana and flew straight at the masked Shinobi's location.

Surprised at how Naruto found them so quickly, the two masked Shinobi's barely avoided the Wind attack, where the crescent blade of wind cut right through the tree they were hiding in, where the top portion of it fell to the ground.

"Shit! How they hell did that brat find us?" spoke the masked man angrily.

"I don't known" replied the masked Kunoichi, as she eyed the top part of the tree that Naruto's attack cut through with worry, as she had never seen at technique like that before and given how easily it cut through the tree, it was extremely deadly.

Wanting to finish this battle quickly the masked man then quickly took out the large fuma shuriken that he carried on his back, while the masked women took out her Kusarigama's again.

Not wanting to deal with these guys any longer than he needed to, Naruto quickly became serious, where he quickly avoided the masked man's fuma Shuriken, when he threw it. After which Naruto then created a clone and had the clone attack the masked man, while he dealt with the masked Kunoichi.

Upon engaging the masked Kunoichi, Naruto was forced on the defensive for a moment or two, as the woman swung her Kusarigama's from different angles, preventing him from counter attacking.

Fortunately though, Naruto was able to create an opening, where he tripped the women with his foot, causing her to lose her balance, thereby giving the opening Naruto needed. Upon which he then used his **Hien no Jutsu **(Flying Swallow Technique) and channelled his Wind Chakra to his Katana, allowing him to cut right through the masked Kunoichi's Kusarigama's, making them worthless.

After which Naruto then used his enhanced strength and kicked the Kunoichi right stomach and sent her flying to nearby tree, where she then hit a large thick stub branch that was directly behind her and was run right through it. Due to the force of Naruto's kick, where she died instantly, as the stub branch could be seen coming out of her chest.

When Naruto saw what happen, he was of course frozen with shock, as he had only intended to knock her out, not kill her.

At the same time when Naruto realized what he had done, the masked male Shinobi took out Naruto's **Kage Bunshin** (Shadow Clone), where after doing this; he saw that his partner had been killed.

Angered by the death of his female partner, the masked male shinobi charged straight at Naruto from behind with a Kunai, where he roared out "I KKKIIILLLLL YYYOOOUUU!"

Reacting to the man's roars of rage, Naruto quickly spun around and avoided the masked man's Kunai, just as he was about to stab him and out of pure instinct, he rammed his Katana right through the masked man's chest killing him.

It was only in that instant, after stabbing the man, that Naruto realised what he had done, as he'd moved and pure instinct and had not thought on what he was doing. As Naruto looked into the dying man's eyes, he saw the same look of surprise, anger and fear that he saw in the Ame-nin that he killed back in Oni no Kuni (Demon Country), when he was defending Shion.

After a moment or two, Naruto regained himself, where he then pulled his Katana out of the man's chest, where the masked man then fell down from the tree branch that he and Naruto were on and onto the ground.

Once the masked man hit the ground Naruto could not help but stare down at him, where at that moment he felt like he was going to be sick. As he had been trained to help save people lives and although he knew that killing was part of being a Shinobi, it didn't mean he had to like it.

Soon after though, Naruto came to grips with himself and washed the blood off his Katana and placed it back in the sheath on his back. After which he then used his **Chakura no Parusu** to find the leader of the group, who was not far away, thankfully.

As the leader of the group headed towards where his team-mates had went, as he ran through the tree tops, he suddenly heard a male voice cry out "**Surasshu-fū**!" where then next thing he knew his right arm had been severed off by a fast moving blade of Wind.

But just when Naruto thought he had dealt with the shark like hood wearing man, the man quickly reverted into Water, where Naruto quickly realised that he had replaced himself with a **Mizu no Bunshin** (Water Clone)

After realising this, Naruto suddenly saw several Kunai flying towards him at high side from his right hand side, reacting quickly Naruto immediately deflected the Kunai's with his Katana.

"Pretty impressive and I'm guessing since you are here and I cannot sense my comrades anywhere nearby, that they are dead" spoke the man, without a trace of remorse at his comrades being dead.

Naruto of course did not reply to the man's stamen, as it needed none, but there was one thing he wanted.

"Who are you and why are you after me? As I highly doubt that this is just for fun for you"

"My name is Kajika, as for why I'm after you, the simple thing is that I wish to be useful to someone I greatly admire and respect." replied Kajika, causing Naruto to raise his eyebrow in curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple, my master has heard about your existence and order my comrades and I to fight you and find out what kind of strength that you possess, and see if you are worthy of all the excitement that is beginning to spread about you",

"Your master?" asked Naruto, wondering who Kajika master was.

"Yes the wonderful one" spoke Kajika, after which he then took out another Kunai and charged straight at Naruto, who quickly brought up his Katan to defend himself, where the two of them fought in a fierce close quarter fight.

After a minute or two of fierce fighting, Naruto quickly used his **Kage Bunshin** to attack Kajika from multiple directions all at once.

Sadly though, Kajika proved himself to be a skilled and dangerous Shinobi by easily dispelling the clones, with simple taijutsu in the space of only a few seconds.

With his Clone gone Naruto then reengaged Kajika, where they once again met in close quarter fighting, where they found that they were both equal in speed.

As the fight progressed, Naruto quickly did several one handed hand-seals, (which surprised Kajika) and then cried out "**Suiton: Teppōdama** (Water Style: Gunshot)!" where several large blasts of Water burst out of his mouth flew towards Kajika at high speed.

Seeing them coming, Kajika quickly avoided them by using the trees as cover, after which then then raced to a large pond that was not too far away from where he and Naruto were fighting.

After jumping onto the surface of the pond, Kajika quickly did several high speed hand-seals and cried out "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!"

Upon seeing the massive Water Dragon heading towards him, when he landed on the surface of the Water, Naruto quickly dipped his Katana into the Water underneath him and cried out "**Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water)!" where he swung his Kanata upward, creating several waves of water around him and acting like a wall of Water.

When the Water Dragon collided with the wall of Water that was around Naruto, the wall of Water protected Naruto from the majority of the blast, but was fairly drenched when the attack ended and had dropped his Katana into the Water from the force of the collision.

"You defended yourself from my attack pretty well there, although it seems that you lost your Katana, when my attack hit", said Kajika, as he walked towards Naruto.

"Well if you think that you've won this battle then you're dead wrong" said Naruto, where he then did a single hand-seal and cried out "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" where he created several dozen Shadow Clones where they then charged at him in a mass wave.

Unafraid by the small army of Naruto's charging at him, Kajika used a quick Water Jutsu to destroy the clones in only a few seconds, but as he did and the smoke and Water died down, he could not see Naruto anywhere. As he looked around his Shinobi senses, suddenly though him to move, where just as he did, Naruto appeared out of the Water from underneath him with his Katana and slashed at Kajika, where he was able to make a large but shallow cut on his chest.

Upon landing back on the Water, Kajika narrowed his eyes at Naruto, who was in front of him "_Damn him, he used the clones to distract me, so that he could go into the Water and get his sword and attack me from underneath_".

Using an unknown Justu, Kajika quickly turned himself into water and attack Naruto at high speed at multiple angles.

Seeing this, Naruto quickly jumped out of the way, but just he was in mid-air, Kajika appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back with a Kunai, but when he did this, Naruto reverted into Water, revealing that he had replaced himself with a Water clone.

After seeing that the "Naruto" he hit was a Water clone, Kajika quickly came under attack from behind, where Naruto threw several high speed Senbon Needles at him.

Barely avoiding the Senbon Needles, Kajika quickly tried to use the invisible technique that the two masked Shinobi's used against Naruto earlier, and planned to sneak up on Naruto from behind.

Sadly though for Kajika, Naruto was able to use his **Chakura no Parusu** to find him, where he drew some Water from the pond underneath him and coated his Katana with it. After which he then trusted Katana forward and charged straight at Kajika at high speed, all the while gathering more water around him, where he cried out "**Tachioyogi** (Treading Water)!"

Shocked by Naruto being able to detect him, Kajika barely avoided Naruto's attack, but still received a slight cut on his side from Naruto attack, as he avoided it.

After avoiding Naruto's attack, Kajika saw an opening where after doing some quick hand-seals, he cried out "**Suiton: ****Kōri dātsu no Jutsu** (Water Style: Ice Darts technique)!" where he shot several large darts of ice from his mouth.

Seeing the ice darts coming at him, Naruto barely avoided the attack, by jumping over to the shoreline of the pond, but even though he avoided the attack. He still received a slight gash on his side, as he avoided the ice darts and although the gash wasn't serious it was bleeding pretty badly.

Seeing that Naruto was hurt Kajika smirked, "Look like that a nasty little injury and if you don't treat it soon you bleed to death…But you don't you need to worry about that, as I going to kill you here and now for all the trouble you caused me".

But just as Kajika was about to attack Naruto, he suddenly froze, "_What the?_" thought Kajika, as he couldn't understand what was happening, as his body wouldn't move.

It was then when he looked towards Naruto, he saw him holding a one handed hand-seal and smirking.

"What the hell is going on?" cried Kajika angrily.

"Simple really you're in the middle of a **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** (Four Corner Immobilization Seal), which I've just activated" replied Naruto with a smirk, where he then did some hand-seals and used his **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystical Palm Technique) to heal his wounds.

"But how could you?" cried Kajika in fury, as he would've seen Naruto placing seals around the pound.

"It simple, did you really think that when I went underwater, I went to just get my sword…" explained Naruto, where Kajika eyes widen in realisation. "…while I was underwater I also placed certain seals around the four edges of the pond and then activated them once I was out of the Water and while you were still it in".

When Kajika heard this he could not believe that he had been tricked so easily.

"DAMN YOU!" roared Kajika in anger as he struggled in vain to resist the paralyzing effects of the **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** .

As Kajika continue to struggle he suddenly heard a maniacal laughter from inside his mind, where a familiar voice spoke.

"_Well it seems that your life did prove useful after all Kajika…Good work_" spoke the voice, after which for some unknown reason Kajika felt intense pain in his body and spate up blood, causing Naruto to look up at him in concern.

But before he could do anything, Kajika suddenly spoke, but yet it wasn't his voice, it was a completely different one, "It seems that your mother has trained you well Naruto-kun, as you're quite impressive…Thank you for showing me a very entertaining show".

At hearing this Naruto eyes widen in surprise, but as surprised as he was, he was shocked when he saw Kajika body contort and move around with sickening cracks, before Kajika finally made eye contact with him. When Naruto looked at Kajika's eyes, he saw that they weren't his eyes anymore, as they were now yellow and narrow, where they didn't even look human anymore.

At the same time, Naruto sense a foul, dark Chakra coming from Kajika that clearly did not belong to him.

As Naruto stared at Kajika with confusion, he suddenly heard a dark chuckle coming from Kajika, after which much to Naruto's disbelief, Kajika began to move, despite being in the **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** , although the way he was walking made him look like he was some kind of puppet.

"Who they hell are you? I know you're not Kajika and how the hell do you known my mother and me? What they hell do you want?" asked Naruto, when Kajika was directly in front of hi. Where he ready himself, as he was unsure what this person would do in Kajika's body, now that he was controlling it.

"I commend you on defeating a strong opponent like Kajika Naruto-kun, especially with so little injury to yourself; you are indeed worthy of my interest. I look forward to when we finally met face to face" spoke the person controlling Kajika.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Narut,o as he pointed his Katana at Kajika,

At this the unknown person just chuckled, "You need not worry, Naruto-kun, we'll met again very soon I promise", after which Kajika body fell to the ground.

Naruto was of course about to go over to him, but before he even touching Kajika body, Naruto suddenly heard Yamato's voice cry out to him.

"Naruto move away from him quickly!"

Listening to his Sensei, Naruto quickly jumped away, which was a good thing, for as soon as he did, Kajika's body exploded.

"Sorry I'm late, Naruto…are you alright" asked Yamato as he looked at his student, who looked pretty ruffed up.

"Yea I'm fine"

"What exactly happened there with that Shinobi and you?"

"To be honest Sensei, I'm not exactly sure" replied Naruto, "Although that person that was controlling Kajika there, was the one who sent him and was seemly using him and his comrades to test me for some sick reason".

"_So the mastermind of this whole affair was after Naruto….just as I feared…it seems that the groups going after Naruto are already making their move…I will have to inform the Hokage of this…As we need to find out who was behind this_" thought Yamato.

As Naruto and Yamato walked away, back to where Yamato had left Genami, a small white serpent exited out of the dead Kajika's mouth.

-Not far away in a hidden section of the forest-

Currently sitting in a mediation position against a large tree was a pale white skinned man with long black hair, who was being guarded by a silver haired youth with glasses.

The pale white skinned man was of course none other than Orochimaru the famed Snake sannin of Konoha and former member of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's).

The man guarding him was of course Orochimaru's right hand man and top spy Yakushi Kabuto.

As Kabuto guarded his master, he immediately noticed the small serpent slithering along the ground, up his master's body and into his right ear.

Once the snake entered his ear, Orochimaru suddenly awoke.

"Ah you're awake Orochimaru-sama" spoke Kabuto as he turned to face his master. "So tell me…How was Senju Naruto?"

"He has proven himself well, as he is already extremely strong, although he may need some convincing to be turned" replied the Snake Sannin.

"You could've abducted him there" said Kabuto

"No, he must come to me willingly, like Uchiha Sasuke or else it is all meaningless", spoke Orochimaru.

"I see… then can I stay on schedule then?" asked Kabuto.

"Yes, as I must test him further, as I can tell I've only seen the tip of what that boy is capable of, not to mention I must test young Uchiha Sasuke as well, to see if he is worthy candidate".

Kabuto of course nodded, where the two of them then walked together out of the forest.

-One month Later Kirigakure-

Currently walking through the streets of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) was former A rank missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza better known as the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of The Hidden Mist).

For the past month and a half since the inciudent in Nami no Kuni, things had been fairly quiet yet interesting for the former Nuke-nin.

Upon returning to Kiri, the Mizukage had immediately reinstated Zabuza as a member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (The Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist) and as a jonin.

But what Zabuza didn't expect, was the Mizukage making him a Jonin-sensei as well and then making take on a Genin team.

Naturally Zabuza refused to become a Jonin-sensei stating that Haku was his one and only student, but he later caved under the pressure of the Mizukage, where he took on a Genin team.

The team itself was made up of Haku, (which Zabuza stated was non-negotiable with him), a young boy named Chōjūrō, who was a possible candidate as a new member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, who the Mizukage wanted Zabuza to train. While the final member of the team, was another young boy named Saito, who showed some skill as a strong Suiton user.

Soon enough Zabuza arrived at his destination, which was the Mizukage's office in the Mizukage mansion, which stood in the centre of the village itself.

Upon entering the office, Zabuza saw the Godaime Mizukage Terumī Mei sitting behind her desk, finishing off some documents.

Mei was a slender young and attractive woman in her early twenties (1). She had ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. One of which covered her right eye, which were both light green.

She dressed in a long-sleeved dark blue dress that fell just below the knees and was closed up at the front with a zip which was kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her upper arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh shirt that covers more of her upper body than her dress, but stopped short of covering her shoulders leaving a glance at her sizeable cleavage, which often caught the attention of many young and older men, where many stated that they rivalled Tsunade's cleavage size. She also wore shorts in the same colour as her dress underneath her mesh leggings, which reached down over her knees. Also around her waist, she wore a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left.

Furthermore, she wore high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees. She also wore dark blue polish on her fingers and toes along with dark blue lipstick on her lips.

Once the Mizukage had finished signing her documents, she looked up at Zabuza and smiled, "Greetings Zabuza…thank you for coming"

"So what is it that you want Godaime-san?" asked Zabuza.

"To put it simply Zabuza, I want you to enter your team into the Chunin exam".

"What? But I only had the three of them for less than a month" spoke Zabuza in surprise.

"Although that is true, they're the best Genin team that we have in the village and we need the best for this year's exams. As ever since the news of the Yondaime Mizukage's death was released, many nations and important clients are beginning to doubt our village's strength. This is why we need your team to enter the Chunin exam, so to show the world that our village is still strong, and even then that is only part of the reason why we're sending in your team" spoke the female Kage.

"I'm guessing that you're referring to Senju Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke" spoke Zabuza, as it was obvious what the Mizukage was thinking.

"You're correct, as you can guess news is spreading of Tsunade-sama having a son, and there being a new heir to the Senju Clan, who is now a Shinobi of Konoha. Also combine the fact that the survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Uchiha Sasuke is now a Shinobi. Konoha will no doubt enter both boys into the exam, as it is being held there this year and they certainly use the boys' fame to increase their standing and attract more clients", said the Godaime Mizukage and then continued.

"Since both you and Haku have fought the two of them, you both know what they are capable of, where Haku can stand up to either of them. I've also been reading your reports on Chōjūrō in his training and according to your reports; he is learning to use Hiramekarei very quickly".

"Yea the kid is learning to use Hiramekarei quite quickly, but neither he nor Saito are ready to take on either the Uchiha or Senju kids and although Haku could beat the Uchiha. I'm not certain she could beat the Senju kid, as he has proven he can beat her and given the abilities he showed at Nami no Kuni, she would have to become a lot stronger in a short time".

"Hmmm, Yes I read your report on your battle in Nami no Kuni, where according to it, you state that he is skilled in medical ninjutsu and Water ninjutsu and can use Tsunade-sama's super human strength to an impressive degree. You also state in it, that he can use the unique Kenjutsu style of Konoha's Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury) Uzumaki Kushin to an impressive degree as well" spoke Mei, where Zabuza just nodded again.

"But even with this" said the Mizukage, "Your team is the best chance we have, where even if Haku can only beat the Uchiha boy in the exam, it would still help rise our village's prestige".

"Fine then…so when do we leave?" asked Zabuza

"You and your team will leave in two weeks' time" replied Mei, where Zabuza just nodded and left, where as he walked out the office, he thought about how he would have to increase his team's training a lot for the upcoming exam.

At the same time he also thought about how Haku would react to the news. As he knew that she would be happy to see Naruto again, but would not be please of the prospect of having to fight him again. But at least this time, they would not have to fight to the death.

-In Iwagakure-

Currently sitting behind his desk the Sandaime Tsuchikage Ōnoki, better well known as Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki (Ōnoki of Both Scales), read a report he had received from his intelligence division.

As he read the report a large frown appeared, where once he finished reading it he placed the report back on his desk and pinched his nose in frustration at what he had read, after which he then rubbed his lower back, as it acted up whenever he was stressed out with something.

But just when the old Kage thought that he could not become anymore stressed out than he was, he quickly realised he was wrong when he saw his sixteen year old Granddaughter Kurotsuchi enter his office.

Kurotsuchi was a medium height young girl with short, black hair and pupil-less pink eyes. She wore a long, red kimono with the sleeve on her right arm, but missing on her left, while the opposite with her legs, where her Kimono was short of the right side and long on the left side. She also wore a brown Iwagakure flak jacket, with fishnet tights and shorts over them.

"Hey Jiji how's it hanging" spoke the young girl as she entered the room.

At seeing his Granddaughter the Sandaime Tsuchikage could only sigh as he felt his headache grow.

"Not now Kurotsuchi, as I'm not in the mood the deal with you" grumbled Ōnoki.

Seeing that something was bothering her Grandfather, Kurotsuchi decided to press the matter.

"Come Jjji, I know something bothering you, you're more grumpy than you normally are" spoke the young girl.

Sighing again, knowing that his Granddaughter would keep pestering him until he told her, the Sandaime Tsuchikage decided to speak.

"Several weeks ago, our intelligence division informed me of an odd rumour that has recently been spreading among several nations".

"What sort of rumour" asked the young Iwa girl.

"The rumour involves Tsunade of the Sannin, where it states that twelve years ago she had a child, a son to be more precise" explained Ōnoki, shocking his Granddaughter.

"No way! That old hag actually had a kid, it's got to be some kind of trick that Konoha is using to make themselves seen stronger".

"There would be no point is using such a ruse if it was not true, besides our intelligence has confirmed that the rumour is indeed true" replied the Sandaime Tsuchikage.

"So who the hell is the father…her team-mate Jiraiya the Toad Sage?" asked Kurotsuchi.

"We don't know, although I highly doubt that brat Jiraiya is the boy's father" replied Ōnoki with a scoff.

"So what is the brat name?"

"His name is Senju Naruto" replied the old Kage, where he then showed his Granddaughter a picture of Naruto that one of his agents got of him.

"Hmph, he doesn't look like much" replied Kurotsuchi unimpressed, as she looked at the photo of Naruto.

"Don't forget what I taught you about appearances being deceptive Kurotsuchi, as that brat Jiraiya often appears as a perverted idiot, yet even I'll admit that he is a dangerous man. Besides from what our intelligence tells me, the boy is a highly gifted Shinobi, which I 'm willing to believe given his pedigree, not to mention, the rumour states the boy is being trained by not only his mother but by her team-mate Jiraiya as well".

Upon hearing this Kurotsuchi raised her eyebrow, before nodding in understanding, as if the rumour about Naruto was true, in him being trained by the two members of the Sannin. Then there was no doubt to her, that Naruto would be a powerful Shinobi and dangerous enemy in the near future.

"So what do we do then?" she asked.

"I want you to go to Konoha, as in two weeks' time the Chunin exam will be hosted in Konoha and I've no doubt that Konoha will use it as an opportunity to show of not only the Senju boy. But also the young Uchiha survivor of the Uchiha massacre, as both boys are rumoured to be prodigies and having the last sole heirs of the two clans that founded their village, will bring countless clients and highly ranked officials to Konoha. Who will no doubt spend large amounts of money on betting and will increase Konoha's status and mission requests" said the old Tsuchikage.

"But I can't be in the Chunin exam, as I'm already a Chunin", spoke Kurotsuchi.

"Your mission will not be to compete in the exam, but to observe and gather intelligence on both the Uchiha and the Senju heir, along with any other young Genin that may stand out in the exam. You'll leave the following month, when the second round of the Chunin exam begins, as that is when Konoha will be letting clients and other people into the village to watch the finals of the exam".

"But what if neither of them makes it to the second round?" asked Kurotsuchi.

"That will not happen, as Konoha would not allow either of them to fail before the second round, as they would not let the publicity of having the last heirs of two strongest Shinobi Clans that ever lived, fighting it out in their village go by. As people would come all around just to see it" replied Ōnoki

Upon hearing this Kurotsuchi just nodded in understanding, as what her grandfather said did make sense, after which he then dismissed her, where he then left the office.

Once Kurotsuchi left the office the Tsuchikage quickly spun his chair around to look out the window of his office, which allowed him to look down at his village.

As he did this, old Kage could not help but wonder what the next few weeks would be like.

-In Amegakure-

Currently walking through the halls of a large building in the village of Amegakure (Hidden Rain), was tall hooded figure.

As the figure walked through the halls, the person was accompanied by two Jonin Ame Shinobi's, where after a few minutes they came to a large double door, which was guarded by two more Ame Shinobi's.

After being thoroughly searched by the two guards at the door, the men then let the cloaked figure enter the room.

Upon entering the room the figure saw four more Ame Shinobi's standing guard at each corner of the room, watching the figure closely. Directly in front of the cloaked figure were three more men, two of which were guarding the person in between them.

Said person was none other than the leader of Amegakure, the legendary Shinobi, Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzō the Salamander). Whose fame and reputation was known and revered by all throughout the Shinobi world, to a point where the mere sight of him on the battlefield would make many men flee in fear. Hanzō was practically well known for battling all three members of the Sannin singlehandedly in their youth, and for defeating them. But spared their lives and gave them their title, as a sign of respect for their skill and teamwork.

After enter the room the cloaked figure walked towards the revered Ame Leader and bowed to him, before kneeling down onto the ground.

"You summoned me" spoke the cloaked figure.

"Yes, I did" spoke Hanzo, "As I have an important mission for you"

"A mission?"

"Yes one that you are uniquely qualified for you, for you're one of our best Shinobi's in the village, but due to the special training that you've gone through the past few years, you've yet to be given an official rank".

At this the figure only nodded, as what Hanzo said was indeed true, "And what rank, I 'am going to be given for this mission?"

"You'll be given the rank of Genin" replied Hanzo, causing the cloaked figure to look up at Hanzo is surprise.

"A Genin?...With all due respect, I believe that would be a waste of my skills…" stated the cloaked figure, but stop speaking when Hanzo raised his hand.

"There is a reason as to why I 'am giving you the rank of Genin".

"And may I ask what that reason is?" asked the cloaked figure.

"The reason you're being made a Genin, is because I wish for you enter this year's Chunin exam which is being in Konoha" spoke Hanzo.

"Surely that is not the only reason?" asked the cloaked figure.

"No, the Chunin exam is simply an excuse to allow you to enter Konoha without rising suspicion, the main objective of your mission is to monitor a young Genin that'll no doubt be entering the exam this year and evaluate him to see if he is a threat".

"What is the target's name?" asked the cloaked figure.

"The target's name is Senju Naruto" answered Hanzo, causing the cloaked figure to once again look up at the Ame leader in surprise.

"Senju?...But I thought the Senju Clan had just about died out?"

"That is no longer the case, as for the past few weeks, rumours have been spreading throughout the elemental continent about a new Senju heir arriving in Konoha and our intelligence has recently confirmed the story. As well as how Tsunade of the Sannin is the boy's mother", explained Hanzo, further surprising the cloaked figure.

"The boy is the son of Tsunade of the Sannin!" repeated the cloak figure in surprise where Hanzo just nodded in confirmation.

"But how is that possible? I thought she was passed the age of bearing any children?"

"Seemly she gave birth to her son about twelve years ago and then went into hiding, as she raised him, which explains why no-one has seen or heard her in the past twelve years".

At this the cloaked figure just nodded, as it did make sense "And should if I find that he is a threat?"

"Then you're to eliminate him in the exam, for although killing in the exam is frowned upon, it is not illegal, hence Konoha cannot retaliate against us for killing him" spoke Hanzo.

Nodding again in understanding the cloaked figure, then spoke up "If I 'am to enter the Chunin exam, I'll require to be on a team to compete in it".

"That has already been arranged, as recently there has been a team that lost not only its Jonin sensei, but also a young Genin, which has created a vacancy for you to join it".

"But who will be replacing the Jonin-sensei?"

"Kandachi here will be acting as the Jonin-sensei, as well as helping you on your mission in monitoring the young Senju heir" spoke Hanzo. Where he indicated to his most trusted subordinate, who was sitting next to him on his right, where the cloaked figure just nodded in understanding.

"So will you accept the mission?" asked Hanzo

"Hai!" replied the figure.

"Good, then you and Kandachi will have two weeks to prepare, before leaving for Konoha" said Hanzo, where he then dismissed the cloak figure.

"_Pray that I do not find you a threat to my village young Senju…for if I do, you'll not live to see the ending of this exam_" thought the cloaked figure, after leaving the room.

-In Sunagakure-

Currently sitting in a small room in the Kazekage mansion, the Kazekage three children Kankuro, Temrai and Gaara were awaiting their team sensei, who had called them together so to be briefed on an important mission that they would be taking.

The three of them of course did not have to wait long as the team sensei Baki soon entered the room, where the three of them quickly took a seat directly in front of him.

"Now then, as you three are both aware for the past several years that fool the Wind Daimyo has been reducing our village's funding bit by bit. Thereby weakening our military strength and if that was not enough he is sending most of the missions that he would hire us for to Konoha, weakening us even further" said Baki with a frown before continuing.

"Because of this, the Kazekage has had to do certain things to improve the quality of our Shinobi's so to maintain our military strength", stated Baki, where he then glazed at Gaara before continuing. "But even that has proven ineffective, as our village's strength is still weakening, which is why recently the Kazekage has agreed to a plan presented to him by the leader of the new Shinobi village Otogakure (Hidden Sound)".

"What is this plan Sensei?" asked Kankuro.

"The plan involves a joint attack by our village and the Otogakure on Konohagakure, where we'll attack them during the second rounds of the Chunin exam, when their defensives are at their weakest. Once Konoha is destroyed, we'll have proven to the Wind Daimyo's that we're the superior village, where he'll have no choice but to acknowledge our strength and have to increase our funding and return the missions he sends us".

"But what exactly is our involvement in this operation sensei's?" asked Temari, the oldest and only girl in the team.

"Your mission is to enter the Chunin exam, where at the very least Gaara has to make it to the second round of the exam, after which when a signal is given he is to transform into his full state and attack Konoha from in the inside, along with a group of Oto Shinobi's that will infiltrate the village. At the same time this happens our main force will attack Konoha from the outside with the help of the Oto forces, where together we'll catch the Konoha forces in complete confusion and destroy it".

Upon hearing this both Temari and Kankuro nodded in understanding of the plan, while Gaara remained as emotionless as ever.

"But despite all the planning we've done, there has been a recent development that could ruin it all"

"What short of development sensei?" asked Kankuro.

"Recently our intelligence has reported to us a strange rumour at has been slowly circulating and only a few days ago they've confirmed it" spoke Baki, causing both Temari and Kankuro to have confused looks, while Gaara simply raised his eyebrow.

"What short of rumour?" asked Temari.

"According to the rumour a new Genin has appeared in Konoha, who will most likely be entering the Chunin exam this year…this Genin's name is Senju Naruto sole heir to the Senju Clan of Konoha and only child of Tsunade of the Sannin" answered Baki, shocking both Temari and Kankuro.

Even Gaara showed some signs of surprise at hearing this, where his eyes slightly widened, as they had all heard of the Senju Clan, who were the main founders of Konoha and were considered the strongest Shinobi Clan in the world.

"Tsunade of the Sannin had a son?" asked Kankuro in disbelief, as he couldn't believe what he had just heard, where his sensei just nodded in confirmation.

"But how is that possible, she would have to be in her early fifties by now" stated Temari, as like her brother she found the information hard to accept.

"According to our information, it seems that at some point twelve years ago Tsunade gave birth to her son Naruto, after which she then went into hiding. She most likely did this to prevent any of her or Konoha's enemies learning of her son, where they would come after him", explained Baki.

At this the two elder siblings nodded, as it did make sense, especially since they were only hearing of this now.

But even after hearing this, there was still something nagging at Kankuro that he wanted to know.

"Sorry sensei, but why exactly are you so worried about this guy anyway, sure he's the heir of the strongest Shinobi Clan in the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean he going to be some mega powerful Shinobi one day, and even then he's only a kid now and can't be much of a threat".

"Normally I would agree with you on such a case Kankuro, but when it comes to the Senju Clan, we cannot take any chances, as they have a reputation of having some of the strongest Shinobi's in the world. This is a fact given how the Shodaime Hokage, the Nidaime Hokage and Tsunade of the Sannin all come from that Clan and each of them were among the best in their fields and among the strongest of their times. Hence why you should be wary of that boy, as I've no doubt that his mother has trained him in the Shinobi arts, which will of course make him a dangerous adversary to face" said Baki.

At this both Kankuro and Temari, shared a slightly worried glance, as they were both familiar with Tsunade's infamous reputation when on the battlefield, and both agreed that if Tsunade had indeed trained Naruto, then he would be a dangerous enemy to face.

Gaara on the other hand actually looked excited at the prospect of facing against someone who was been trained by one of the Legendary Sannin. As he thought about it, a cold murderous smirk appeared on his face, which naturally got his siblings and Sensei slightly worried.

"Well if this guy's presents such a threat to the mission, should we not take him out in the Chunin exam?" asked Kankuro.

"Only if the opportunity presents itself and only if you can be certain that it cannot be linked back to you, as if you kill the boy during the exam and Konoha finds out you were involved. It would attract unwanted attention on us, where Konoha would be watching us more carefully, which could then jeopardize the operation. Not to mention as well, if you did kill the boy, we would then have to deal with his mother, as I'm certain she would be there to watch her son compete in the Chunin exam. This is another reason why we're so concerned with the boy's existence, as Tsunade's presence in Konoha alone could jeopardize the invasion, and if you killed her son, regardless of the rules of the exam. She would come after us in revenge and I doubt even all of Konoha could stop her" stated Baki.

At this both Temari and Kankuo gulped slightly at the idea of facing a vengeful Tsunade, as quite frankly they had heard enough about her to known that neither of them would want to get on her bedside.

For the next few minutes the room remained quiet as both Temari and Kankuro thought over their mission. While Gaara thought about what it would be like to fight a kill the son of the legendary Slug Princess, Tsunade.

After a while though, Temari decided to speak up "So when do we leave for Konoha?"

"In two weeks' time, so you all have plenty of time to prepare" replied Baki, after which he told the Genin that they were all forbidden to mention the details of the mission to anyone, where once the three Genin nodded in acknowledgement, he dismissed them.

Once Gaara and his siblings left the room, Baki turned out to look out at the window, were as most of the time in Suna, the sun was shining brightly over their village. As he looked out at the village, he could not help but think about the mission that he and his team were doing, as well as wonder how the coming invasion on Konoha would play out in the coming weeks.

-In Kumogakure-

Currently sitting in his office, the Yondaime Raikage was waiting for the arrival of his younger brother Killer Bee, (who was the current host of Hachibi no Kyogyū (Eight Tailed Ox)), and his Genin team.

The Raikage of course did not have to wait too long, as after a little while his brother and his team entered the room.

The Genin team consisted of a dark skinned young boy named Omoi, along with a dark skinned young girl named Karui, a short blonde haired girl named Samui and another blonde haired girl named Yugito. Who was also the current host of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two Tailed Monster Cat).

"Yo bro, how's it hanging?" spoke Bee when he and his team entered the office.

Sighing at his younger brothers antics, The Raikage Ē spoke "Bee you'll settle down, as I'm in no mood for your bad rapping"

"Hey don't hate the player, hate the game" rhymed Killer Bee with a smile, which just made his brothers and his students sigh, after which Yugito decided to change the conversation away from their Sensei's bad rhyming to why they were called here by the Raikage.

"Excuse me Raikage-sama, but why exactly did you call us here?"

"Ah yes, now before I explain that, there is something I wish to tell you, now as you all know last year Killer Bee recommended all of you for the Chunin exam, after you had all completed a year of training with him, but I refused your entry into the exam". (2)

At this the four Genin nodded as they all had been greatly frustrated when their sensei told them that the Raikage had refused their entry, as they believed that they were ready at the time. They were further frustrated as well, when the Raikage had refused to explain his reasons as to why he refused their entry.

"Even though I knew you would all due well in the exam, there was a good reason why I did not want you to enter last year's exam. For you see when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the village lost not only many Shinobi's but also the Yondaime Hokage, which naturally shoke Konoha's military strength. Upon which our village made several attempts on trying to replace Konoha as the strongest of the Shinobi nations. But all of them failed, one such example being the Hyuga Clan incident, where we tried to acquire the Byakugan for our village, which resulted in failure. As not only did we not get it, but we lost one of our best Shinobi'sz and our reputation suffered for it as well" stated Ē with a frown, where neither Konoha nor Kumo came out winners in that incident.

Naturally Killer Bee and the Genin nodded at this, as they were all familiar with that incident.

"Now the reason as to why I did not let you compete in last year's exam was because; word had reached me that the survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Uchiha Sasuke would be graduating this year. After hearing this I was certain that Konoha would have him in this year's Chunin exam, so to show off the boy's power, as he is rumoured to be a Prodigy, not on the same level of his brother Itachi, but a Prodigy none the less…" spoke the Raikage, but was interrupted by Karui.

"What the hell does all this have to do with us?"

"I was getting, if you let me finish explaining…_Genin_" rounded the Raikage with a frown, making Karui gulp a little and blush in embarrassment.

"As I was saying…" stated the bulky Kage, where he looked a Karui, who blush in embarrassment again. "…I knew Konoha would no doubt try and use the boy's fame and natural skill to impress the visiting Daimyo's and other spectators who would come to watch the match, especially since the Chunin exam will be held in Konoha this year. This would of course help to highlight Konoha's reputations, which has suffered with the massacre of the Uchiha Clan and the loss of Uchiha Itachi, where they would use the exam to gain more missions, especially if the boy does well in the exam. This was why I held you back last year, as I've read all of Bee's reports on your individual skill level, which has only increased further from last year, making you the perfect candidates to face the boy. Where if you defeat him in the exam in front of all those visiting dignitaries and clients, Konoha's reputation would suffer a humiliating blow, while ours would soare, as ever since the decline of the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan has be credited with being the strongest Clan in Konoha. Hence a defeat of Konoha's top prized Genin in their own village in front of countless people would immediately show everyone that we're superior to Konoha. As well as cause many other nations and people to divert their mission requests to us instead of Konoha, thereby making us the strongest Shinobi nation".

At hearing this the four Genin and Killer Bee nodded their heads, as the plan could work, but before any of them could comment on the Raikage's plan, the Raikage continued to speak.

"Unfortunately though an unforeseen circumstance has arisen, that has greatly complicated the plan".

"What short of complication?" asked Samui.

"Several weeks ago, I received reports from our intelligence of a strange rumour that sprung from Konoha, which has recently been confirmed to be true" stated the Raikage with a frown.

"What sort of rumour" asked Yugito.

"A rumour that states that the Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade) of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja) of Konoha, as had a child" spoke the Raikage, stunning all the Genin, as well as their Sensei, who was so surprised that all he could say was "Whoa!"

"Tsunade of the Sannin had a child?" repeated Karui in shock, as she still found it hard to accept.

"Raikage-sama surely this is not true?" asked Samui, as like her team-mate she found it hard to believe.

"It is true I'm afraid" replied the Raikage, as he could not blame the Genin for having trouble believing it, as when he first heard this news he could not believe it either. "And since the boy is Tsunade's son, that then makes him the new heir to the Senju Clan".

"But why are we only hearing about this now, surely we should've heard about something like this earlier" asked Yugito.

"Seemly when Tsunade gave birth to her child, she went into hiding, so to prevent anyone from learning that she had an heir, which is why no-one has seen or heard anything about her for the past twelve", explained the Raikage.

At this the four Genin only nodded, as it did make sense, as once people learned that Tsuande of the Sannin had a child, many different people would go after the child.

"So what exactly did she have a boy or a girl and how skilled is he or she?" asked Omoi.

"She had a son and from what the rumours say about him, he is supposed to be a highly gifted Shinobi, which isn't surprising, as according to other rumours. He has been trained by not only his mother but by another of the Sannin, her former team-mate Jiraiya the Toad Sage".

At hearing this, the four Genin, including Samui and Yugito shared worried glances, as the fact that the new Senju heir was trained by not one but two members of the Densetsu no Sannin, would almost guarantee that he would be extremely strong.

"Also as well according to other rumours we've heard, the boy is also now a student Uzumaki Kushina" said the Raikage

"The Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury)?" asked Samui as she had heard of Kushina infamous reputation, especially when it came to their village. This was because of an incident involving her, where back when the Sandaime Raikage ruled, he ordered a team of elite Shinobi's to capture her, due to a unique ability she had with Biju. The plan of course failed, where she was rescued by Namikazae Minato, who would later be known as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash). But even after the incident, it was well known she still held a strong grudge against their village, much like the Hyuga Clan did, and was responsible for killing several of their best Shinobi's.

"The very same" replied Ē.

Naturally when the Kumo team heard this they became even more concerned, as they all knew that the fame Buraddi Shinku no Ikari of Konoha was pushover and if she was training the Senju heir, then that meant the Tsunade son was even more dangerous.

"_Oh man, Oh man, what I'm I going to do, what if I have to fight the Senju heir, what if he turns out to be some super powerhouse shinobi? What if he has to fight Karui or Yugito or Samui? What if he kills or cripples me or the girls when we fight him, what if we accidently kill him and Konoha gets piss at us?_" thought Omi worried, as he began to think over the different ways this mission could turn out.

As the four Genin digested what they were told, the Raikage thought over the incident as well, where he could not help but hand it to Konoha. As they had played their cards perfectly, as he could not have done it better himself if he had been in Konoha shoes. For he couldn't imagine a more perfect way to present this new Senju heir to the world, than to have him appear in the Chunin exam when Konoha itself was hosting it. As well has have the Uchiha heir enter it, at the same time, as once word spreads that the last two heirs of the two founding Clans of Konoha, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, were going to compete in the Chunin exam. Every important official, nobleman and Daimyo worth their salt would appear to see the two heirs fight, especially after hearing how both were regarded as prodigies. For both the Uchiha and the Senju Clan were regarded as the two strongest Shinobi Clans in the Shinobi world, as their reputation was well known across the elemental continent.

Hence the news about the two heirs being in the exam alone would bring massive amount of publicity to Konoha, where many wealthy lords and clients would spend and gamble large amounts of money in the village and on the match. Not to mention as well it would bring in many new clients and mission requests, especially if the two heirs put on a good enough show for the spectators

"So what exactly should we do Raikage-sama" asked Yugito, waking the hulky Kage from his thoughts.

"The plan will go on, for even though the appearance of this new Senju heir will make things more difficult, it can still work, and if you can defeat both heirs in the exam then the damage to Konoha's reputation would be extensive. Upon which everyone would have to acknowledge that Kumo has the strongest Shinobi's in the world and I've faint that you will all do our village proud" spoke the Raikage, which raised the young Genins confidence in themselves.

"So will you all accept this mission?" asked the Raikage, already knowing the answer to it.

"Hai!" replied the four Genin.

"Very good, you all have two weeks before you leave for the exam in Konoha, so I suggest you all use your time well", said Ē, where the Genin just nodded.

It was at this point that the Raikage was then going to dismiss the team, but before he could Samui suddenly spoke up, "Pardon me Raikage-sama, but would you happen to have a picture of both the Senju and Uchiha heir's, as I believe it would be a correct decision to known what our opponents look like".

At hearing this Ē just nodded agreeing with what Samui had said, where he then quickly too out a two photos from a draw next to him and showed them the first photo, which was a photo of Sasuke.

"This is the Uchiha heir Uchiha Sasuke, younger brother of the infamous Konoha Nuke-nin Uchiha Itachi, who was responsible for the killing his entire Clan, with the exception of his brother", spoke the Raikage.

Upon seeing his Karui raised her eyebrow with interest, "Hmph! I have to admit he's not bad looking".

"Forget it Karui, as I doubt he pay any interest in you, since I doubt he goes for flat chested girls like you" commented Omoi, when he took out the lollipop he was sucking. But as soon as he said this, Karui smacked him across the back of his head…hard.

"And who the hell asked your opinion!" cried Karui angrily as she smacked him on the back of the head. After which she then crossed her arms and huffed "Huh!...besides some men prefer young women with small chest".

Omoi of course could have commented on that remark as well, but wisely decided to shut up.

At the same time that this was happening, the two blonde haired girls sighed with annoyance at the antics of their other two team-mates, and decided to move the conversation on.

"And what about Tsunade-sama son?" asked Yugito.

"This is what he looks like…" spoke the Raikage as he showed the team the second photo "…and his name Senju Naruto"

Upon seeing the photo, all four Genin including their Sensei's eyes widened as they all instantly recognized the young blonde's face, as this Naruto was the same Naruto that they met two years ago.

Seeing the surprise look on both his brother and his Genins faces, Ē frowned.

"What's wrong with you lot, you all look like you seen a ghost?"

"We Kn…" spoke Karui but before she could finish speaking; both Omoi and Killer Bee covered the girl's month, preventing her from speaking.

"We were just surprised that he was so young that's all" spoke Omoi, slightly nervously.

"Yea, that all, bro" spoke Killer Bee, backing up his students lie, while he kept Karui from speaking.

Obliviously the Raikage, grew suspicious of this, but before he could press the matter further, Killer Bee quickly interrupted him, where he told his brother that they had to leave for some special training he had to do with his team before they went to Konoha. After which he and the others quickly left the Raikage's office, while carrying the struggling Karui in his arms.

Once Killer Bee and the others were out of the Raikage's tower and were in an isolated area, where no-one could hear them, Killer Bee removed his hand from Karui's mouth.

"What they hell are you guys doing!" hissed the young girl angrily, "We should've told the Raikage, that we knew him"

"If we had done that, then we would have to explain everything that happened when we met Naruto back then, where we would be in a world of trouble for not reporting what happened, to him when we came back", spoke Omoi.

"No doubt, as we be in more shit, that in a shithouse" replied Killer Bee.

At hearing this Karui of course knew that they would indeed be in a lot of trouble, but she still didn't like the fact that Killer Bee and Omoi stopped her from telling the Raikage.

"Well we wouldn't be in this situation if you guys had listened to me in the first place, as I told you he was lying to us, but none of you would listen to me" stated Karui angrily. Naturally none of the others disagreed with her, as they knew what Karui was saying was true, as she had been right along, about Naruto not telling the truth.

"So what do we do guys?" asked Omoi.

"Isn't it obvious, when we see him, we kill him" stated Karui harshly.

"No way we can't" stated Omoi.

"Wake up idiot, Naruto lied right to our faces, he used us and he is now an enemy and we've to eliminate our enemies" cried Karui angrily.

At this Omoi knew that Karui was right, but even still in the short time he and Naruto had hung out, he found that Naruto was a good person and considered him a friend. Hence why he wanted to believe that there was a good reason as to why Naruto lied to them.

"What do you think we should do sensei?" asked Omoi as he turned to Killer Bee.

"Ain't my place to tell ye all whatcha do, as it's all up to you" replied Killer Bee, as this was a decision his students had to make by themselves, as Naruto was their friend, hence he couldn't force them to do what they didn't want to do.

"Yugito, Samui, what do you think?" asked Omoi, as he turned to his other female team-mates.

After a moment of thinking Samui voice her opinion, "I agree with Karui, Naruto is a Konoha Ninja and is now enemy" sated Samui without any emotion.

At hearing this a smirked appeared on Karui face, at finally having some support, while a troubled look appeared on Omoi's face, where he then turned to look at Yugito who was still thinking.

After a few minutes of deep thinking, Yugito then spoke, "Our orders our clear, we were ordered by the Raikage himself to target Senju Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke and as loyal Shinobi's of Kumo, we must follow our orders regardless of our feelings…" stated Yugito seriously, where at this a Karui smiled in triumphant, while Omoi sighed in defeat. But before Karui could respond to Yugito's comment, Yugito continued to speak.

"…but even still he did not say he had to kill him, our orders are only to defeat him in the Chunin exam along with Uchiha Sasuke. Should we met Senju Naruto before the exam starts, we can question him regarding his lies to us, where we will act according to his answers to us, do any of you disagree with this?" said Yugito, where she then looked at the rest of her team.

At hearing this Omoi sighed with some relief, as at least Yugito was willing to hear Naruto's side of this story.

Samui of course nodded in acceptance with Yugito's decision, and agreed with it, as they would not be disobeying the Raikage's orders.

Karui on the other hand was a little displeased, but knew she could not argue with it, as Samui and Omoi both agreed with Yugito decisions. But even still she took solace in the fact that they agreed that Naruto was now their enemy, and that they would take him out in the Chunin exam without question. She was also looking forward to having another chance in fighting the young blonde again, as she had not forgotten how he humiliated her two years ago, when they last fought, where she planned to beat Naruto to a pulp when she got the chance.

Nodding at his team decision, Killer Bee then told his team, that they should get down to some hard training before they leave for the Chunin exam in two weeks.

As the group left to go train, one thing was certain to happened when they arrived in Konoha, which was that one blonde haired Senju heir had a lot to answer for when they finally met him again.

N/A.

(1). In this story Mei in twenty years old

(2). Yugito and her team are fourteen now, while Naruto is twelve

Well another Chapter done, hope you all enjoyed the individual plans of the villages regarding Naruto in the Chunin exam, as well as people reaction to Naruto existing. I also hoped that you enjoyed reading the how Naruto's own first C rank mission went.

Now in the next Chapter, the Chunin exam will begin, (which is something I know, that many of you have been eager to read) where Naruto will met many new people and met many old friends.

Next thing before you all ask me to update the next Chapter, I will do my best and I will update this again as soon as possible.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Now as I stated in my previous Chapters I know that my grammar and spelling can be a problem for some people I sorry. But I doing the best I can with what I got.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Non-Cannon Jutsu's:**

(A). **Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick). A move that Naruto developed when creating his fighting style, this move involves the user using a combination of speed and power which is concentrated in a spinning back kick, with speed that few can follow Naruto's movement. The force of this kick is so great that it can smash Naruto's enemy with overwhelming strength, which is only enhanced further, when used in combination with his super human strength.


	17. Chapter 17

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Seventh: ****Gathering****.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!**

-Konoha Hokage's Mansion-

Currently sitting in meeting hall, the Hokage along with all of the Jonin-sensei's of Konoha were gathered together to discuss the up and coming Chunin exam, which was taking place in their village this year.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly…" spoke the Hokage, once all the Jonin-sensei's had gathered, "…Now as some of you may or may not know the Chunin exam are about to take place shortly…"

Upon hearing this, there was a large amount of muttering in the hall as many of the Jonin-sensei's were surprised that it was time for the Chunin exam already. Fortunately though, after a minute or two, things settled down again, where the Hokage then continued to speak.

"…So I would like to hear any recommendations from those of you who believe that their team is ready to compete in the exam".

For the next few minutes a large number of Jonin-sensei's stood up and walked towards the Hokage, were they each recommended them their teams. The most notable of these teams that were recommended, were the three rookie teams from this year's Graduating class. Also to be recommended as well was Naruto, where both Kushina and Yamato went up to the Hokage to recommend him, which of course was no great surprise to the old Hokage, as he knew Naruto could handle himself in the exam.

Naturally after hearing that Naruto and the other rookies were entering the exam, many of the Jonin-sensei's began to talk amongst themselves on how exciting this year's exam was going to be, especially with both the Uchiha and the Senju heirs competing in it.

As the Jonin sensei's talked amongst themselves Iruka, (who was currently sitting next to the Hokage), decided to voice his concerns about Naruto and the other rookie teams entering the Chunin exam.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but are you sure that it is wise to have three rookie Genin teams, who only just graduated from the academy less than six months ago? Also if Naruto enters the Chunin exam, then his existence will be exposed to the rest of the world".

"Although I both appreciate and understand your concerns Iruka, the members of teams seven, eight and ten are no longer your students and if their sensei's believe that they're ready to compete, then I'm certain they are. As for Naruto being exposed, I'm afraid that it's already too late for that, as word is already spreading throughout the elemental continent of Naruto's existence" spoke the old Hokage.

"But how?" asked Iruka.

"There are many different ways that it could of spread, for things like this are rarely kept secret forever. Plus the Council has insisted that both Naruto and Sasuke enter this year's exam, and the Shinobi Elders are backing them up one this. As they know how much publicity our village would receive by having the two prodigy heirs of the two founding Clans of Konoha compete in the Chunin exam, while it's being hosted in our village. Already now I've been told that ticket sales for the Chunin finals are already breaking all previous record sales. Yet we're still receiving many more requests, as Daimyo's, lords and influential clients from all around the continent are coming just to see Naruto and Sasuke compete, as the reputation of both the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan are well known".

"So the boys are being used to increase our village's status" stated Iruka with a frown as he didn't like how the boys were being used.

"I'm afraid that is how the world works Iruka, but even still I've fate that both of them are capable of handling themselves in the exam, as well as the other young rookie Genin", spoke the old Hokage.

At hearing this Iruka relented, as he knew there would be no point in arguing, as the decision had already been made.

As soon Iruka and the Hokage had finish speaking, one of the Jonin-sensei's decided to ask Sarutobi something.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but who exactly will Naruto-san be working with, as to enter the Chunin exam he will have to be on a team".

"Yes I'm aware of that, which is why I've decided that during the exam Naruto will join up with team seven".

"Excuse me Hokage-sama…" spoke Kurenai suddenly, "…But are you certain that is the correct decision, as in the Chunin exam a team needs to be able to work well together, and from what I understand out of all the Genin teams he works with. Team seven is the team that Naruto works the least well with. Would it not be better if he were to join up my team, as he works well with my team?"

"Although that's true Kurenai, I think the kid would do better on my team…" spoke Asuma suddenly and came up next to her. "…Even though he gets on well with two of your students, he doesn't exactly see eye to eye with your third student Kiba, which is why I think it be best that he join with my team, as he gets on well with all of them".

After hearing both Kureani's and his son's suggestions the elder Sarutobi spoke up, "Although there is indeed merit in what you both are saying, I believe that Naruto being on team seven would still be the best option. For as you both have said, Naruto gets on the least well with the members of team seven, but yet during their mission in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country), they were all able to put aside their differences and were able to work well together as a team. Hence why I believe that they can do the same again in this exam, plus this exam gives them the chance to further air out their problems with one another and become a proper team, as the Chunin exam has shown that it can improve a team's teamwork.

At hearing this, both Kurenai and Asuma and nodded their heads, for although they didn't fully agree with the Sandaime Hokage's decision. They did understand what he was trying to do; as he was trying to improve Naruto's and team sevens working relationship with each other.

Once the matter on which team Naruto would be working with was settled, The Sandaime called the meeting to an end and all the Jonin sensei's left the room, where those that recommended their Genins teams planned to inform their students.

-With Naruto-

As Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha, the young Senju heir was in deep thought, where he barely acknowledged the many people of Konoha who greeted him as he passed them.

The reason he was in such deep thoughts was because he was thinking over the events of his previous mission, involving Kaijika and his mysterious master.

The more he thought about the mysterious master of Kaijika, the more frustrated he became, as he knew that there had to be some kind of link between this person and his mother. But he didn't know who, as his mother was a powerful and famed Kunoichi and medic-nin, meaning she had a long list of enemies that would come after him to get to her. Yet something kept nagging at him that he should know who this person was, but he couldn't figure out who it was.

As he continued to walk down the street, he suddenly heard someone calling out to him.

"Hey Naruto!"

When Naruto looked up, he saw that it was Sakura who was calling to him and walking towards him.

"What's up Sakura? As I kind in a hurry, as Yamato-sensei and Kushina-sensei asked me to meet them, and Yamato-sensei doesn't like it when I keep him waiting" said Naruto.

"Well I was wondering if you've seen Sasuke-kun, as I met Kakashi-sensei and he told me that he wanted me to find him and tell him that we're to gather at the bridge for a special meeting", replied Sakura.

"Well I haven't see him" answered Naruto simply, as he didn't have time for Sakura and her obsession of Sasuke, as he had a lot on his mind right now.

Surprised by Naruto's short remark, Sakura was about to ask him what was wrong with him, but before she could, she noticed a small box with two eye holes directly behind Naruto.

"Eh Naruto…you do know that there some kind of weird box following you?" asked Sakura, unsure on how to think of this.

"Huh?" said a confused Naruto, not knowing what Sakura was talking about, but when he turned around he did indeed find a small cardboard box behind him with two small eye holes in it.

After seeing it, Naruto figured that since he was so lost in thought about his last mission that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. It was also easy enough for him to figure out who was inside the box, as it didn't take a genius to know who was in it.

Sighing with annoyance, Naruto decided to end the game "Sigh…you can come out Konohamaru…same goes for you Moegi and you Udon".

Upon Naruto saying this, the cardboard box exploded, after which a large puff of smoke appeared, followed by several voices coughing.

"Konohamaru…cough, cough…you used too much gunpowder again…cough, cough" cried a young female voice.

Soon enough the smoked dissipated and it revealed three young children, each with a small wooden Katana on their backs, similar in shape to Naruto's sword.

Once the smoke was all gone the three kids introduced themselves.

"I'm Moegi…the sassies Kunoichi around" spoke the young girl named Moegi, who did a funny looking pose.

"I love algebra…call me Udon" spoke the young glasses wearing boy named Udon, who also did a funny looking pose.

"And I'm the number one Ninja in the village…Konohamaru" declared Konohamaru, where like his friends he did another funny looking pose.

"And when we are all together…we are team Konohamaru!" said the three kids together.

At this Naruto only sighed again, where he began to wonder if somehow his godfather Jiraiya, was secretly meeting these kids and giving them tips on introductions, as what they did was eerily similar to one of Jiraiya's intros.

"Sigh…Yes I known it was all of you, as I just called out your names a moment ago" said Naruto with another sigh.

"Ha just what I would expect from my rival in becoming Hokage!" cried Konohamaru happily.

"Hey Naruto, you know these kids?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Yea this is Konohamru, the Sandaime Hokage's Grandson and these are his friends Moegi and Udon" answered Naruto, as Konohamaru had introduced Naruto to his friends not long after he and Konohamaru first became friends.

Sakura was of course slightly surprised by this this, but quickly got over it and then asked Naruto something else she was wondering, "So why are they all carrying small wooden swords on their backs, like you do?"

"Well you see Konohamru and his friend's kind of look up to me in a way and they enjoyed watching me when I was training with my Katana, so I each gave them a small wooden Katana".

At hearing this Sakura just nodded in understanding and had to admit, that Naruto was a nice enough guy when he went to all that trouble to make Konohamaru and the kids happy.

"So Naruto-nii-san, are you going to play Ninja with us today, just liked you said you would?" asked Konohamaru.

At this Naruto, thought back to when he last saw Konohamru and did remember saying he would play with Konohamaru and the others today.

"Sorry Konohamaru I can't play today, as I'm a bit busy today…besides I still a bit annoyed at you for all the trouble you caused me last week with Jiji" said Naruto

-Flashback Last Week-

Currently in the Hokage's office Naruto was standing in front of his surrogate Grandfather the Sandaime Hokage, who had called him to talk about something.

"You wanted for me for something Jiji?" asked Naruto.

"Yes I did Naruto" spoke Sarutobi, as he smoked his pipe, after which he then presses the speaker button on his desk and said "You can bring him in now". Upon which Konohamru entered the room, flanked by two masked ANBU's.

At seeing this Naruto raised his eyebrow in slight confusion, where he then turned to face the old Hokage, "Eh Jiji, why is Konohamaru being escorted by two ANBU, and what does he have to do with you wanting to talking to me?"

"Well Naruto-kun…it's quite simply really, I called you and brought Konohamaru here, because I wanted to discuss to you about a certain little Jutsu you taught him" answered the Sandaime with a knowing smirk, which only grew when he saw Naruto's eyes widen is surprise.

"You told him!" cried Naruto, as he quickly spun around to face the Hokage's Grandson.

"Sorry Nii-san, I was just so excited about learning the improve version of the **Oiroke no Jutsu** (Sexy Technique) that I kind of let it slip that you taught me it" said and embarrassed Konohamaru.

"Wait an improved version?" spoke the elder Saruobi in surprise at hearing this.

Upon hearing the Sandaime's surprise Naruto suddenly and a sneaky idea to let both him and Konohamaru escape.

"Yea, here let me show you" replied Naruto, where he quickly made several Shadow clones of himself in the room and before the Sandaime or the two ANBU could stop him, Naruto did five quick hand-seals and then cried "**Hāremu no Jutsu **(Harem Technique)!".

After which there was then a large puff of smoke, that filled the room, where once it dissipated, the Sandaime and the others found that the room was now filled with multiple nude blonde haired women all in various intimate poses. Several others also had the arms wrapped around the old Hokage and the two male ANBU agents, pressing their well-endowed chest into their bodies.

Within moments of all this happening, the legendary Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi's) Sarutobi Hiruzen was launched up into the air, by a geyser of blood from his nose and slammed right into the ceiling of his office, where he then crash to the floor, with a happy and perverted grin on his face.

The Sandaime was of course not the only victim of this Jutsu, as the two ANBU that brought Konohamaru in were also launched into the air by their own geysers of blood from noses, although their masked hid their perverted smiles.

After deactivating his Jutsu, Naruto looked around the unconscious Kage and the two ANBU and was quite surprised at how effective his **Hāremu no Jutsu** could be on some people. Originally he had created the **Oiroke no Jutsu** and the **Hāremu no Jutsu** as pranks to use on Jiraiya and other perverts. He never liked using the jutsu much as he felt like it made him a pervert and only used it to have a little fun, which was why he taught Konoahamaru the **Oiroke no Jutsu**, as a harmless prank on the his surrogate Grandfather.

Upon seeing that the Sandaime and the two ANBU were knocked out, Naruto quickly turned to Konohamaru, were as soon as he did, he saw that the young boy had stars in his eyes.

"Nii-san!...that was soooo cooooool!" cried the young boy, "Can you please teach me that Jutsu…can you, can you, can you…pleeeaasssseee!"

At seeing the young boy begging on his hands and knees on learning the **Hāremu no Jutsu**, Naruto had a large sweat drop on the back of his head. "Eh…maybe later Konohamaru, but right now let's get out of here before they all wake up", spoke Naruto, where he the grabbed hold of Konohamaru, and was about to run out of the office.

But before he could get to the door, a new voice suddenly spoke up "That is far enough you two". After which another ANBU appeared right in front of Naruto and Konohamaru, standing right between them and the double doors, blocking their escape. This ANBU was also different from the other two, as this one was a woman given the sound of her voice, the shape of her body and her long purple hair that went down to her lower back.

When the female ANBU made her appearance, Naruto guessed that she had been hiding up in the rafters of the room and had seen the entire event.

"Both of you will stay right where you are until the Hokage and those two wake up" spoke the female ANBU wearing a cat shape mask, where she indicated the Sandaime and her two comrades.

Naruto of course obediently obeyed the female ANBU's order, for although he could not see the woman's face he could tell that the woman was seriously ticked off, as given the number of times he had seen his mother beat up his godfather for his perverted habits. Naruto had formed a sort of sixth sense for such things and could sense when a woman was peeved, this fact was only highlighted further by the fact that the female ANBU had her sword drawn and was gleaming brightly, as if telling them that she was ready the cut both him and Konohamaru up.

After a little while, as well as many tissues stuffed into noses, the Sandaime Hokage and the two ANBU woke. Upon which the Sandaime declared that Naruto's **Hāremu no Jutsu** was a forbidden A rank Jutsu (1).

"Well Naruto, considering everything, I've no choice but to punish you for not only what happened here. But also for all the trouble that your jutsu caused when you taught it to my Grandson" spoke Sarutobi, as he remembered how much trouble Konohamaru caused him when he first used the **Oiroke no Jutsu**. For after using the **Oiroke no Jutsu** Konohamaru had taken his (the Sandaime) hat and started to try and give orders out to the ANBU stating that since he had defeated the Sandaime he was now the Hokage.

Naturally the ANBU had thought that Konohamaru was only joking, but when he took them to the passed out Sandaime, they were shocked to say the least. That was until they found out how Konohamaru did it, after which the Sandaime had become the laughing stock of his own ANBU, where every now and again the Sandaime could hear the snickering of his ANBU.

"Aw come on Jiji it was just a harmless prank", said Naruto as he didn't see the harm in the Jutsu.

"Rules are rules Naruto and you have to be punished for your crime" replied Sarutobi, with a slight glint in his eyes as he had the perfect punishment for Naruto.

"Fine…so what is it I have to do? …D rank missions, E rank mission…or do I've to do some kind of punishment exercise?" asked Naruto, not the least bit concerned as he was certain that he could handle whatever the Sandaime could throw at him.

Unfortunately though, this confidence quickly fell when he saw a glint in the Sandaime's eye and an evil smirk that would've made a certain Snake Sannin proud.

"As punishment for what you've done, I shall be informing your mother of what you've done."

When the Konohamaru heard what his Grandfather was going to do, he didn't think that was much of a punishment, but his opinion quickly changed after he saw Naruto's expression.

For when the Sandaime said that he was going to tell his mother, Naruto almost immediately turned ghost white and started to shake like a leaf. Even the three ANBU spared sympathetic glances at you young blonde, as they did not envy the young blonde's position.

"Y-Y-Yo-You c-c-can't…Y-you k-k-know what Kaa-chan would do t-t-to me!" said the panicking Naruto, as he remembered the last time he was punished by his mother. As he thought back to this, he began to shiver in fear, as horrific images of nightmarish training and punishment exercise, which his mother had put him through, where by the end of them there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't aching in pain or could move. Although all that would be considered child's play compared to the horrors she would unleash, once she found out about his **Oiroke no Jutsu** and his **Hāremu no Jutsu**.

"Oh I'm aware of what your mother would do Naruto-kun" said Sarutobi with a sadistic grin, as he enjoyed the look of horror that appeared on Naruto's face, as he found it fitting after all extra paperwork and the humiliation his surrogate Grandson had caused him.

When Naruto saw this, he knew that he had to do something quick or else his near future would be none too bright.

As he began think of different ways he could avoid his punishment, a spark of inspiration suddenly hit Naruto.

"Wait! What if I offered you something, that would make you reconsider telling Kaa-chan about what happened here" said Naruto, while praying that his idea would work.

"Hmmm, and what is it that you would be offering?" asked Sarutobi as he raised his eyebrow with mild curiosity.

"Well in exchange for you keeping all this quiet from Kaa-chan, I will tell you the secret to beating all your paperwork within a few short hours" said Naruto.

Within the blink of an eye of Naruto saying this, the Sandaime suddenly appeared right in front of Naruto on bended knees.

"It's a deal, it's a deal…now please Naruto tell me how to get rid of this cursed bane, I can't take it anymore, it's going to be the death of me, I swear it" stated the begging Sandaime with anime tears falling from his eyes.

At this sight, both Konohamaru and the three ANBU had large sweat drops at the back of their heads at seeing the former Kami no Shinobi like this.

At hearing this Naruto smiled, "Ok the secret is in two little words…which are **Kage Bunshin**".

At hearing this, the sweat drops on the back of Konoahamaru and the three ANBU grew even bigger, at how the famed Professor had not thought of something so simple and obvious.

After hearing this, the Sandaime quickly regained his composure and immediately returned to his desk, after which he then dismissed Naruto and the three ANBU. Although as soon as they left the Hokage's office and closed the large double doors behind them, they all heard the Sandaime yell out "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?" After which it was followed by a series of loud banging noises of something hard hitting a desk and the Sandaime repeating the words "Baka, Baka, Baka" over and over again.

Naturally when those outside heard this they all had large sweat drops on the back of their heads and decided to leave well enough alone and leave the building.

-End Flashback-

As Konohamaru finished remembering he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and laughed nervously.

"Hehehe…eh yea, sorry about that nii-san, but still everything worked out in the end".

"Barely" muttered Naruto, "…but luckily for you, I don't believe in holding grudges for very long"

At this Konoahmaru smiled, "So will you play Ninja with us then?" the young boy asked.

"Like I said Konohamaru I can't, as I've important stuff to do today" replied Naruto.

At hearing this, the young Sarutobi heir moaned, but as he did he finally took notice of Sakura (who was next to Naruto), where a saucy grin appeared on his face.

"Oh I see you're a smooth operator boss…so she is your important business…if you just told us that from the start we understand that you want to spend so time with your…" said Konohamaru, as he held up his pinkie finger, indicating that she was Naruto's girlfriend.

"WHAT?" cried the Pink haired girl when she heard what Konohamaru said and saw his pinkie finger raised up.

Luckily though, before Sakura could scream out her denial of such an outlandish idea, Naruto spoke up.

"I'm afraid you're way off base there Konohamaru, as Sakura is not my girlfriend, she is just someone I work with now and again…nothing more, as I've no interested in anyone like her" stated Naruto calmly. As the idea of having someone like Sakura as a girlfriend was ridicules to him, not that Sakura was ugly or anything. It was just that she wasn't the type of girl he was interested in, he liked girls who were not only pretty, but who were kind, friendly and if they were a Kunoichi, that they were serious about their duties and were strong fighters, who spoke their minds and were unafraid to voice their opinions to him.

Sakura lacked many of these qualities, although she wasn't bad looking, she did not take her Shinobi duties seriously and was weak compared to other Kunoichi's like Hinata, or his female friends from Kumo Yugito, Karui and Samui. She also would flaunt over Sasuke and agree with anything he said like a loyal dog, something that of course greatly irked Naruto. As even Shion and Rurichiyo, who had no combat training were better than her in that way, as they at least would not at like this and would be unafraid to voice their own opinions. Even Ino, who was like Sakura in many ways showed more promise than Sakura right now, as she at least knew some Jutsu's outside the basics and could work well with her team and fight.

The only thing that Naruto saw going for Sakura, was her book smarts, her flawless Chakra control and the few small things that Kakashi taught her, which of course would not get her very far in the long run.

After hearing what Naruto said Sakura seemed pleased that Naruto denied that she was his girlfriend, as her heart would only belong to her true love Sasuke. But as she thought this, she suddenly realised what else Naruto said and grew slightly angry at the remark.

"Wait! What the hell do you mean by having no interested in a girl like me, what the hell is wrong with me" spoke the annoyed Pink haired girl.

Naruto of course would've answered this, but before he could Konohamaru suddenly spoke up.

"Yea I guess I can see why, you can do way better than her or at the very least a girl who doesn't have as wide a forehead as her".

Upon hearing this, Naruto could not help but sigh knowing what was going to happen next, especially seeing the dark aura that was now forming around Sakura. This was of course another reason why he didn't go for Sakura, as she reminded him "WAY" too much of his mother or at least in certain areas like temperament, since Sakura had a very short fuse, much like his mother.

"_Whoa boy, Konohamaru you seriously must have a death wish_" thought the young Senju heir.

As Naruto saw the dark aura around Sakura grow, he turned to his young friend, who remained oblivious to the danger he was now in. "Konohamaru, if I were you right now I would run"

"What do you mean boss?" asked Konohamaru.

His question was of course quickly answered, when he heard the sound of cracking knuckles (which Naruto remarked was similar in the way he and his mother would do, when they were about to lay a beat down on someone). When Konohamaru turned to Sakura he saw that the pink haired girl was glaring daggers at him, while she cracked her knuckles.

Knowing that he was in trouble, and deciding to take Naruto's advice, Konohamaru instantly turned around and ran a full speed down the street way.

Not letting her pray get away, Sakura quickly sped after Konohamaru with speed that Naruto had to admit was rather impressive.

Seeing that Konohamaru was in trouble Moegi quickly turned to Naruto, "Boss you gotta save Konohamaru, she might actually kill him!"

At this Naruto only sighed again, although he knew Sakura wouldn't actually kill the young Sarutobi, he would be fairly bruised up. But even still he really didn't want to go and explain to the Sandaime why he'd let Konohamaru get beaten up, as he was in enough trouble as it is with the Sandaime.

"_Sigh, I really don't have time for all this shit_" thought Naruto,"Fine lets go, if we're lucky by the time we get there Konohamaru will only have a few lumps on his head" said Naruto as he, Moegi and Udon went after Sakura and the fleeing Konohamaru.

As Konohamaru continued to run from the monster know as Sakura, he quickly made a sharp turn to the left and entered a different street way. After which he then looked backed to see if Sakura was following him, but as he did, he didn't notice the two people that were walking in that street way, one of whom he crashed into.

After crashing into the person, Konohamaru suddenly found himself being pulled up by his scarf.

"That hurt you little punk" sneered the boy as he held Konohamaru up.

"Put him down Kankuro or you know you pay for it later" stated the blonde haired girl to the boy named Kankuro.

"Hey I'm sorry the whole thing was my fault, he only ran into because of me" spoke Sakura, hoping to get Konohamaru out of the situation as she knew this was her fault. Although at the same time she wondered who the boy and girl were.

Ignoring Sakura, Kankuro quickly turned to the girl next to him, "Hey Temari, we got a few minutes before he arrives let's mess with these punks".

"Let go of me you jerk!" cried Konohamaru as he began try to kick Kankuro and get him to let him go.

"Oh your feisty, but not for long" said Kankuro with a grin, as he gripped tighter onto Konohamaru's scarf, slowly choking the boy.

"I suggest you do what he says and let him go" spoke Naruto cold tone as he walked forward with Moegi and Udon behind him.

"Huh another punk" stated Kankuro unafraid of Naruto.

At the same time the blonde haired girl named Temari raised her eyebrow with interest, when she saw Naruto, "_Hhhmmm, he's not bad looking_".

"I told you to let him go" said Naruto as he narrowed his eyes, as if there was one thing he couldn't stand it was bullies who picked on his friends.

"Tsk, your annoying, as I don't like any runts or scrawny weaklings like you lot, especially when you start shouting out your mouths, trying to look tough. For whenever they do, I just want to snap them all in two" spoke Kankuro with an evil like grin.

"Huh, fine do what you want, but I'm not getting involved in any of this, as it's all on you" spoke Temari not caring what her younger brother did.

"Tsk, don't worry sis this won't take long, first I going to take care of this one, then I take care of the rest of them" said Kankuro, as he raised his fist to hit Konohamaru.

Seeing this, Naruto was about to make his move, but before he could, he suddenly saw a small pebble fly through the air out of the corner of his eye and hit Kankuro's wrist.

After being hit, Kankuro almost immediately dropped Konohamaru, as he held his wrist in pain from being hit so suddenly and hard.

When everyone looked to where the pebble came from, they saw Sasuke sitting up on the thick branch of a nearby tree.

"You're a long way from home and way out of your league" said Sasuke as he stared at Kankuro, who looked pissed at Sasuke stopping him.

"SSSaaasssssuuukkkke-kun" cried Sakura with joy at seeing her crush arriving to the rescue.

Even Naruto looked slightly pleased at Sasuke arrival, as thanks to him, Konohamaru (who was now standing behind Naruto) was able to get away from Kankuro.

"_I hate to admit, but nice going there Sasuke_" thought the blonde boy, as he glanced at his part time team-mate.

"_Well, Well another local hottie, it seems Konoha as quite a few cute boys in it_" thought Temari as she glance at Sasuke.

"Tsk another punk to piss me off" muttered Kankuro as he held his wrist and glared at the young Uchiha.

"I suggest that you get lost" spoke Sasuke with a cold stare, where he then crushed the small pebble that he was holding in his hand.

"SSSSooo ccccooooollllll" tried both Sakura and Meogi, with heart shape eyes.

Ignoring the girls ogling at Sasuke, Naruto stared at the two siblings, "For once I agree with the teme over there… so get lost"

"Tsk, punks like you two really tick me off, you're all talk and have nothing to back it up with, that's why the Shinobi of this village are so weak", said Kankuro with a sneer.

"Is that so?" spoke Naruto, gaining everyone's attention, "Because if that's the case, then what does that make you lot, as everyone knows that out of all the five great Shinobi nations…Suna is the weakest. Although if you ask me, that's giving you lot too much credit, since if the Shinobi's of Suna have taken up bullying little kids to make themselves feel big, then they aren't worth even being called third rate Shinobi's".

At hearing this Kankuro became furious, as he was a proud Shinobi and wouldn't stand for some smartass "punk" insulting him or his village.

"_**Why you**_…" growled Kankuro, where he decided that he was going to "teach" Naruto a lesson, where he took off the large bandaged object that he was carrying on his back and slammed it onto the ground.

"What?...you're going to use the crow for this?" cried a worried Temari, when she saw what her younger brother was going to do.

Seeing that things were going to escalate and not wanting a fight to start in the street way, where Konohamaru and the other kids would get caught up in, Naruto decided to act.

Doing some quick one-handed hand-seals, without anyone noticing, (as they were too busy staring at Kankuro and the object he took off his back), Naruto quickly prepared to end the battle before it could begin.

After finishing the hand-seals, his fingerless gloves and his boots began to glow a soft white, telling Naruto that the seals on them were deactivated. These seals, which were on his gloves and his boots, were put on my Jiraiya so to help Naruto's training. These seals were for a special jutsu called the **Fūinjutsu: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru** (Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal), which increased the weight of the objects exponentially, weighing down the target's limbs. Normally these seals were placed on prayer beads, which would be wrapped around the user's ankles and wrists, but Jiraiya had improved on this technique, where he could place the seals on article of clothing.

Jiraiya had also later on taught Naruto how to do the Jutsu, so that he could increase the weight on his gloves and boot's once he got use to the weight or when he wanted to deactivate the seals.

Once the seals were deactivated, Naruto immediately acted, where he disappeared right in front of everyone's eyes, but before anyone could react to Naruto disappearing. He reappeared right behind Kankuro, kicking the back of his legs and forcing the Suna Genin down on his knees and then holding his Katana (which he had drawn) in a reverse sword grip against Kankuro's neck.

"What the?" cried Kankuro in surprise, as he couldn't understand what had just happened, as Naruto had been right in front of him one second and the next second he (Kankuro) was on his knees with a Katana at his throat.

"_So fast!_" thought Temari with shock, as she couldn't track him until he appeared behind her brother and forced him to his knees.

Even Sasuke, Sakura and the kids were surprised at Naruto's sudden show of speed; Sasuke was especially surprised, since even his keen eyes weren't able to keep up with Naruto's speed.

Quickly enough though, Temari recovered from her surprise of Naruto's speed and went for her fan that she carried on her back. But before she could lift her fan off her back, she suddenly found a Kunai blade pointed at her jugular. As Naruto had seen what she was going to do out of the corner of his eye and had quickly taken out a Kunai.

"Don't!" spoke Naruto coldly, without even looking at her.

"Way ago Nii-san…you're awsome!" cried Konohamaru, as he cheered his older brother figure on, along with both Moegi and Udon.

Naruto of course smirked at the younger kids cheers, but quickly became serious, "Now then, if you and your sister know what is best for you, the two of you'll apologise to my friend there and then get lost and not cause any more trouble".

At hearing this, Kankuro gritted his teeth in anger and growled at little, "Damn you punk, if I could, I woul-".

But before he could finish speaking, another voice suddenly spoke up out of no-where.

"Kankuro…that's enough…you're an embarrassment to our village".

Upon hearing this voice, everyone was of course shocked as no-one had even sensed another person's presence.

It was after hearing this person, everyone immediately started looking around for the person and found him on the same tree that Sasuke was sitting on, standing upside-down on a different branch that was on the other side of Sasuke's tree-branch behind the tree-trunk.

The person in question was a redheaded young boy, who looked to be about their age with a tattoo of love on his forehead, above his left eye and carried a large gourd on his back.

Both Sasuke and Naruto were especially surprised that neither of them had the boy as they'd both had their Shinobi senses on high alert.

"_How did he get there? He never made a sound, without any of us hearing him, only Jonin at Kakashi's level are that smoothed_" thought Sasuke with a calculating looking.

"_Whoever the hell this guy is, he's dangerous…_" thought Naruto, as he stared at the new arrival, _"…as his stealth skills are better than mine, I never even sensed him until he spoke, and by just looking at him, I know he gonna be trouble_".

Seeing the redhead boy, Kankuro quickly became very nervous, knowing that he was in trouble, "H-H-He-Hey Gaara"

Ignoring his elder brother, Gaara looked at Naruto "Excuses them you guys, as they're fools… can you please release both of them".

At first Naruto was unsure to comply or not, but soon decided to let both Kankuro and Temari go, as he didn't want to escalate the situation any further than it did. Especially at how Gaara appeared out of no-where without anyone noticing him, since if they did fight him, Konohamaru and kids would certainly get caught in the fight.

Nodding in agreement, Naruto removed his Katana from Kankuro's throat and placed the blade back in its sheath on his back again, along with removing his foot from the back of Kankuro's leg, so to allow Kankuro to stand back up. At the same time Naruto also removed his Kunai from Temari's throat, after which he then **Shunshin** (Body-flicker) back to his original position with Konohamaru, Sakura and the others.

Seeing this, Gaara's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, before he then turned back to stare at his brother.

"You know why we've come all this way to Konoha, so why are you causing all this trouble?" asked Gaara with an emotionless tone.

"Listen Gaara…" spoke the nervous Kankuro, who was sweating up a storm, fearing what his younger brother would do "…these guys started it an-"

"Shut up" spoke Gaara coldly, "I kill you, if you keep giving me your pitiful excuses".

Hearing this Kankuro became ever more fearful and gulped, "You're right, I was at fault…I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry".

"_He has unpleasant eyes_" thought Sasuke as he stared at Gaara.

"_This guy gives me the creeps, as he has a sort of dark aura around him_" thought Naruto, as he was liking Gaara, less and less by the minute.

As the two boys stared at Gaara, the red head stared back at them with a cold calculating look. "_He hit Kankuro's hand with a pebble so easily and forced him to drop that kid,_" thought Gaara as he looked at Sasuke, before he turned Naruto, "_And he took down both Kankuro and Temari in just a few seconds_"

"_Both of them_ _are good_" thought the young redhead, after which he then used a **Suna-**** Shunshin** (Sand Body flicker) from the branch he was on, to his two siblings.

"Let's go, we didn't come here to fool around" ordered Gaara, when he looked at Temari and Kankuro.

"I know" spoke Kankuro, with a little relief that Gaara wasn't going to kill him.

As the three Suna Genin were walking away, Sakura suddenly came forward and spoke up, "Wait!"

"What is it?" asked Gaara, not even looking back at Sakura.

"Both Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country) are allied with each other, but there is a treaty that prevents the ninja's of the two countries from entering either country without permission…so explain why you are here?"

"According to your reason's we will…" spoke Temari, as she and her younger brothers turned around to answer, "What you're looking for is closer than you think".

"Huh?" asked a confused Sakura, not understanding what the older blonde meant.

"You don't know anything, do you?" asked the Temari, where she then took out a small slip of paper with her photo on it and held it up.

"This is a traffic pass, which allows us to enter your country and village…we're here to participate in the Chunin exam"

"_The Chunin exam …Is it that time already?_" thought Naruto with some surprise.

"Now that we've answered your questions, we'll go" spoke Gaara, as he and his siblings started to walk away again, but before they could, Sasuke suddenly jumped down from the tree that he was sitting on.

"Hey, you there", spoke the young Uchiha, "What's your name?"

Hearing this Temari turned around with a smile, "Me?"

"No, the one next to you with the gourd"

Naturally Temari was disappointed at this, while turned Gaara simply replied "Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall), and you? What is your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke"

Gaara of course just nodded at this, before he turned to look at Naruto, who was staring silently at him, "I am also interested in learning your name as well "

"Senju Naruto" replied Naruto calmly.

After hearing Naruto's name, the three Suna siblings were naturally surprised.

"_Shit! this is the guy that Sensei warned us about_" thought Kankuro as he looked at Naruto.

"_So this is the heir of the Senju Clan…figures Kankuro would pick a fight, with the very person that Baki-sensei told us to avoid as much as possible_" thought Temari, as she stared at Naruto with interest.

"I see" said Gaara, "I've heard of you…you're the son of Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade), member of the Densetsu no Sannin (The Legendary Three Ninja's)."

Naruto of course frowned at little at this, as he was getting pretty tired of everyone always saying he was his mother son. Not that he was ashamed of his mother or anything; it was just that he wanted to be recognised for himself, not for being the son of the Namekuji Tsunade-hime or the decedent of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages.

"Will you be entering the Chunin exam as well?" asked Gaara with some interest.

"Maybe" replied Naruto emotionlessly.

Hearing this Gaara smirked slightly, "Good, I look forward to meeting you in the exam", after which he and his siblings jumped away.

"_Things are certainly getting interesting_" thought both Sasuke and Naruto at the same time, after Gaara and his brother and sister left.

"Way ago boss! You were awesome!" cried Konohamaru, as he pumped his fist into the air, along with Moegi and Udon.

Naruto of course just smiled at this, but his smile quickly turned to worry when he realised the time and knew he was late for his meeting with his Sensei's.

"_Shit! I'm late, Yamato-sensei is going to kill me_" thought Naruto, as he realized how long he had been held up with Konohamaru and the Suna team.

"Listen guys I gotta go, as I'm late for a meeting with Yamato-sensei and Kushina-sensei" said Naruto hastily, as he was about to **Shunshin **away, but before he could he saw a glimmer of light out of the corner of his eye.

Acting quickly Naruto drew his Katana out from his back, as he turned around and skilfully deflected the shurikens with his Katana. While at the same time, making sure that the shurikens he deflected did not hit Sasuke, Sakura or the kids.

After deflecting all the shurikens, Naruto's Shinobi senses kicked in warning him of an incoming attack.

Listening to his Shinobi senses, Naruto immediately spun around and avoided a sword stab from behind from his attacker.

As he spun around, Naruto quickly smacked away the person's hand with the side of his blade, as the person trusted forward, making the person drop their Katana. At the same as he was smacking the Katana out of the person's hand, he kicked the person's from behind their legs, causing the person to fall backwards onto the ground hard. Upon which Naruto then immediately placed his foot on the person's throat, keeping the person on the ground and from moving.

After dealing with the unknown attacker, Naruto suddenly saw two more flashes of light on either side of him indicating two more attackers coming at him from both sides.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Naruto swiftly took out a Kunai and raised it, blocking the first attacker's Katana with it, while at the same time blocking the second attacker's Katana with his own Katana.

All of this of course happened in the space of only a few seconds, where to the observers, one moment Naruto walking away from them and the next, he was being attacked by shuriken and unknown assailants.

Naturally after seeing this, Sasuke immediately took out and Kunai and was about to intervene, but before he could, the second assailants a young blonde haired girl with a long pony like tail that reached down her lower back spoke. "It seems that you have gotten stronger since we last met Naruto".

When Naruto heard this and got a better look at the second assailant, he instantly recognised the person.

"Yugito?" cried the surprised Senju heir, where the female blonde just nodded in affirmation, where she pulled her Katana away from Naruto's and placed it back on her back.

Yugito had grown up quite a bit, although she was still the same in many other ways, she was now taller than she was before, where she was about half a head taller than Naruto. Naruto also couldn't help but notice, that not only had she grown taller but also developed a more curvaceous build than she had before. Yugito wore a tight black and white shirt and standard black shinobi style pants and her kunai holster was tied to her right thigh. Yugito also wore purple fingerless gloves with bandages wound tight around her arms and had long string of seemingly plain red beads wound around her left arm. Along with a red sash tied around her waist and carried her long Katana on her back. (2)

Seeing that one of his attackers was Yugito, Naruto turned to his first attacker, who turned out to be Samui. Who like Yugito, pulled her Katana back and placed it back in her sheath and nodded to Naruto in acknowledgement, when he turned to her and spoke her name.

Samui had also grown up quite a bit from when Naruto last saw her, where like Yugito she had developed a more curvaceous build not to mention her bust had gone from an A-cup to a C-cup. She wore a very low cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, high boots and a short of girdle that helped highlight her cleavage, which worked given the small out of blood that leaked from Konohamaru and Udon noses. She also had her tantō strapped horizontally to her lower back, like before.

Once the girls pulled away their swords, Naruto then looked at his original attack, who was struggling to get Naruto of her throat.

When Naruto looked down, he saw that his original attacker was none other than Karui, upon seeing this; Naruto quickly lifted his foot off the girl's throat and allowed her up, where she preceded to glare angrily at Naruto.

Karui hadn't changed much, although had grown taller, but hadn't developed as curvaceous as Yugito or Samui had. She wore a long short sleeved dress as her ninja attire, complete with purple stockings, boots with white soles, and wore her forehead protector like a bandanna. Like most of her team she also carried her long sword on her back.

"Ok guys, what the hell was that just now? Why did you just attack me just now?" asked Naruto.

"It was a test…Yugito wanted to see if you if you had gotten any stronger since we last met and given how well you handled yourself there, it seems you have" spoke another person, who appeared in front of Naruto.

"Omoi!" said Naruto with a smile, when he saw his friend.

"Good to see you Naruto" spoke Omoi with his one smile, as he sucked on his lollipop.

Omoi hadn't changed much at all with the exception of growing a bit taller; he wore a dark outfit consisting of an overlong shirt with a hood, with red bandage hand guards and shin guards and carried a long sword on his back.

As this was going on, Sasuke, Sakura and the kids all got confused looks on their faces, as none of this was making any sense to them. As one minute the four unknown Shinobi's were attacking Naruto and the next he was acting like he was meeting old friends.

"Naruto who the hell are these people?" asked Sasuke, as he still held his Kunai in his hand, unsure what to think of them.

Seeing that Sasuke had a Kunai out and fearing that things would get out of hand like they did with Gaara and his team, Naruto quickly responded.

"Easy Sasuke, these guys aren't at threat, they are from Kumo and they are old friends of mine, who I met during my travels with my Kaa-chan."

"Friends would be a stretched given how you lied to us Naruto-san" spoke Samui coolly as she stared at Naruto rather harshly, causing that young Senju to cringe a little knowing he was in trouble with friends.

"So I guess you guys know abou-"

"About you being the son of Tsunade of the Sannin and being the heir to the Senju Clan" spoke Yugito with a look that clearly told Naruto that he wasn't on her list of favourite people right now.

"Eh yea… I guess you kind found out found about that, hehehe" said Naruto as he laughed nervously at Yugito and the others stared at him.

"Kind of hard not to, as did you really think that we wouldn't find out for ourselves?" said Yugito.

At this Naruto just sighed, as he knew that it was naïve of him to think that he could inform his friends himself as to who he really was. He never wanted to lie to them, but he had no choice, as he had to think about his family, for if he told his friends, he knew that as loyal shinobi they would be obligated to inform their leader, who would then hut him and his family down.

Tired of not knowing what was fully going on, Sasuke decided to speak up, "Senju, why don't you introduce us to you friends here and why they're here".

"Oh right…sorry, this is Yugito, Omoi, Samui and Karui and like I said they're from Kumo" said Naruto as he introduce each of his friends. "Guys this Uchiha Sasuke and Haruna Sakura and the kids with them are Academy students, who I'm friends with; they're Sarutobi Konohamaru and his friends Moegi and Udon.

"Are these your team-mates Naruto?" asked Omoi, after Naruto introduced Sasuke and the others to them.

"Sort off, I work with them from time to, but I'm not on an official team, as I am under an apprenticeship with another Jonin-sensei" replied Naruto, where Omoi just nodded as that confirmed what the Raikage had told them.

"_So this is the Uchiha Clan heir_" thought Yugito as she studied one of her assigned targets.

"_Hhhhmmmm, he's even better looking in person than in his photo_" thought Karui with a slight blush.

After Naruto and introduced his friends from Kumo to him, Sasuke gave them each a calculating look, as trying to measure them up. Karin and Omoi did not seem all that dangerous of threating to him, but knew that they were still skilled Shinobi's, given how they walked around and how they attacked Naruto (3).

But the people that caught Sasuke attention the most were Samui and Yugito. Samui stood out to Sasuke was because of the calm cool emotionless look she kept on her face, while she stared back at him. The way she looked at him of course reminded him of the same kind of look that his brother Itachi would sometimes look at him.

Yugito on the other hand stood out to him, due to the similar sort of feeling he had when he was around Gaara, where unlike the Suna-nin. Yugito did not have a crazed dark look around her that Gaara had, but had the same kind of powerful look in her, but more control than Gaara.

When Sakura saw Sasuke starring at Yugito and Samui, she immediately took it up the wrong way, believing that he was attracted to the two blonde girls.

"_Oh no, Sasuke-kun is eyeing those girls, is he interested in them? Does he prefer blondes or does he prefer girls with big chest?_" thought the worried pink haired girl, where the sinking feeling of being inadequate began to sink in. When she compared her chest size to Samui and Yugito, who although was not a big as the other blonde, was still more developed than Sakura was.

"_**I say we kick their butts and show them whose boss!**_" cried Inner Sakura, where normally in such situations like this, Sakura would agree with her inner personality. But fortunately (for her) her more logical side told her that there was a better way to stop the girls from "stealing" Sasuke from "her".

Deciding the gain the Kumo-nins attention and away from "her" Sasuke-kun, Sakura spoke up and asked them a question "So are you guys here for the Chunin exam as well?"

"Yes we're" replied Yugito, as she turned to the pink haired girl, before she then turned to Naruto. "I assume that you'll be entering the exam as well Naruto?"

"Maybe" answered Naruto, as he was unsure if his Sensei would recommend him for the exam, although he did believe that he was more than ready for it.

"So where is Killer Bee, I'd like to see him again" asked Naruto, as despite Bee being a bit weird, Naruto still liked them man, as he was the one who first taught him how to fight with a sword.

"Sensei is at your admission office to official sign us in the Chunin exam" answered Yugito, where Naruto just nodded in understanding and was about to ask him another question, but before he could Samui suddenly spoke.

"Although I'm sure you have many questions for us Naruto-san, we also have some questions for you as well" spoke the blonde haired girl rather coolly, with a serious look that told Naruto that she wanted answers.

Naruto also saw this look in Yugito and the others as well and knew that he had a lot to explain to his friends and they did deserve to know the truth. But even still, this wasn't the place where he wanted to tell them, especially in front of Sasuke and the others.

"Fine" Naruto said, "But not here, I explain everything back at my apartment".

Hearing this, Yugito and the others just nodded, where Naruto quickly bid Konohamaru and the others goodbye, and then jumped away with Yugito and her team. Leaving Sasuke, Konohamaru and all the others in the street way, before any of them could stop them or ask them where they were going.

-In a nearby Tree-

Sitting on a large tree that overlooked the street way where Naruto and the others were, three Shinobi's with the symbol of the Otogakure (Hidden Sound) watch the events between Gaara and the Konoha-nins, as well as the events the preceded after it.

Once Naruto left with Yugito and her team, the three Oto Genin watched Sasuke and Sakura head off together to meet with their sensei, while Konohamaru and his gang went off in their own directions.

When everyone had left, one of the two male members of the team spoke to the other male member.

"So that's the son of Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime and the Uchiha Clan heir? What do you think of them the Dosu.

"The Blonde haired boy has some skill, I'd admit that and the Blacked haired kid isn't too bad either. But we also must keep an eye on the red head with the gourd as well" spoke the bandage wearing boy named Dosu, after which he and his team then left.

-On a rooftop-

Hidden atop a rooftop of a nearby building, Sai waited patiently for his ink bird to return to him, which had been preached in a tree nearby and had been listening in to the two incidents involving his team-mates and Naruto.

Once the bird returned to him, it merged with a blank scroll, after which a written account of the two separate incidents involving the Kumo Genin and the Suna Genin appeared, where it mentioned everything that happened and what was spoken.

When Sai red over the account his left eyebrow rose with interest when he read the account between Naruto and the Kumo genin.

"Interesting…Danzo-sama will want to know this" thought the young ROOT agent, where he planned to inform Danzo of this, after he met with Kakashi and his team, since he didn't want to raise suspicion with his team by missing their meeting at the bridge. After which he used his **Sumigasumi no Jutsu** (Ink Mist Technique) to disappear from the rooftop.

-Naruto's Apartment-

After about ten minutes of traveling across the rooftops of the buildings of Konoha, Naruto, Yugito and her team arrived at Naruto apartment.

Naruto apartment was spacious enough, but not too big either, he had a small kitchen, which was the first thing people would see when entering the apartment. There was a large living room that had a large couch that was big enough to let three people sit together along with the regular armchairs. To the left there was three doors two of them lead to small bedrooms, one of which was Naruto's and another was a spare. The third and final door lead to a small bathroom, with a shower, sink and toilet, all in the entire apartment was simply yet it had everything Naruto could really need and the rent was cheap enough.

"Hhhhmmm, Nice place you have here Naruto" spoke Omoi as he and the others entered the apartment and looked around it.

"Thanks" replied Naruto, where he lead the Kumo genin into the living room, where Samui, Omoi and Karui all sat on the large couch, while Yugito sat on the arm chair and Naruto sat on the other remaining one.

"I guess that I should explain myself now" said Naruto once he and the other sat down.

"Yes you should" stated Yugito simply.

"Look guys, it's not like I wanted to lie to you it just that I had no choice but to, since if I told you who I really was then I would've put my family in danger" said Naruto, where he then heard a scoff coming from Karui.

"What? Don't believe me Karui?" asked Naruto, not being surprised that Karui didn't believe him, as she had never trusted him.

"No I don't" replied the girl

"Well, it's the truth"

"Please! You actually want us to believe that you had no choice but to lie to us?"

"Yes because it is the truth" answered the young blonde boy.

Karui of course would've remarked on this, but before she could Omoi interrupted her. "Hold on Karui, I think Naruto is telling the truth."

"Oh please that's what you said last time, and look how that ended" retorted the annoyed Karui.

"Well this time I'm certain", replied Omoi, which gained everyone's attention.

"Think about it, no-one knew that Naruto was Tsunade-sama's son, let alone he even existed until recently. No-one had ever seen or heard anything about Tsunade of the Sannin in twelve years, meaning that she was in hiding with Naruto, when she was raising him. Since given how he would be the heir of the Senju Clan and her son, a lot of people would be interested in him and go after him."

At hearing this Naruto smiled, as he was glad that Omoi understood, as he really didn't want to lose his friendships with Yugito and the others.

"Hhhmmm, although that is true, he still could've trusted us enough to keep his secret, since we never reported him to the Raikage" spoke Samui.

Upon hearing this, Naruto was of course surprised, as turned to Yugito, "Is that true?"

"Yes" replied Yugito, along with a nod, "Killer Bee-sensei, believed it best to keep our first meeting with you a secret from the Raikage. As he believed that if the Raikage heard that there was a young boy capable of defeating me when I use the Nibi power, and who possessed four nature affinities naturally. Then the Raikage would send out Shinobi's to track you down and either capture you or kill you, so to prevent you becoming a threat to our village."

At hearing this Naruto was of course surprised, as he didn't think that Yugito and the others would actually lie to their leader to protect him from their village. Hearing this of course made the young Senju heir feel even worse for lying to his friends, as he never thought they go so far for him.

"Guys look I do feel bad for lying to you and I am grateful for sticking you necks out like you did, but I couldn't take the chance that you would inform the Raikage about me. As I didn't want to put you in the situation where you would've to choose being loyal to your village or your friendship with me. Since if you guys knew who I really was at the time, would you've really kept my true identity from the Raikage?"

At this, neither Yugito nor the others had any answer, since they all knew what Naruto said was true, as if they knew who Naruto really was at the time. They would be obligated, as loyal Shinobi's of their village to inform their leader of Naruto existence.

But even after hearing this, Karui was of course not as understanding as her team-mates were, as she still held a slight chip on her shoulder when involving Naruto, where when Naruto finish explaining, she of course scoffed.

When Naruto heard Karui scoff, he of course frowned as he knew that Karui probably still held some kind of grudge against him, as she never fully trusted him, like the others did.

"Is there a problem Karui?" asked Naruto.

"Yea there is, as I still don't believe you…you may have gotten the others here to believe your sob story here, but I still don't trust you nor do I believe your little story, as after all you are dog of Konoha" replied the girl a little spitefully.

At hearing this, Naruto of course frowned and stood up in anger, as even though, he was an easy enough going person, there was still several things he would not stand for. One of these things being, that he would not stand for anyone insulting his village, since to Naruto, if someone insulted his village. Then they were insulting his Clan along with his father the Yondaime and disgracing the sacrifices they made to protect Konoha. He also would not stand for anyone calling him a dog.

"Look Karui, I get that you never really liked or trusted me all that much, but I suggest that you get over your petty little grudge over me beating you. As I won't stand for you or anyone else insulting my village," said Naruto angrily.

At hearing this Karui, also became angry, where she then stood up and glared at Naruto, "The fact that I never trusted you, proves that I was right all along, as you did lie to us, as you were with another village just like I said" retorted the dark skin girl. As she didn't want to admit to the others that still held a slight grudge against Naruto over him humiliating her, both at the time of their first meeting and what happen earlier on when they met Naruto again in the street.

"If you expect me to be sorry for lying to you and the others Karui, then I'm afraid to disappoint you, because I'm not, as I did what I had to protect my family. Since you all know just as well I as I do, that if I had told you the truth, then you obligated to tell the Raikage and he would've then hunted both my family and me down. Also for you information, I was not with Konoha when I met you guys, as I only joined Konoha and started living here six months ago, as I was traveling with my mother for most of my life. Who doesn't even know about us either, as I haven't told anyone about meeting you guys either" responded Naruto.

After Naruto said this, an intense staring match began between him and Karui, where the two Genin glare angrily at one another.

Seeing how things were starting to heat up between Karui and Naruto, Omoi immediately became concerned. "_Oh man, this is getting out of hand, what if a fight breaks out between Naruto and Karui? What if me and the others get caught up in the fight? What if I have to fight Naruto, I don't want to fight a friend_."

"Ok guys I think you both should step back and calm down as there no need for things to go overboard…especially you Karui as we're not here to start a fight" spoke Omoi as he stood between his team-mate and his friend.

"Stay out of this Omoi, this is between me and him" spoke Karui as she continued to glare angrily at Naruto, where she clicked her Katana open, ready to draw it out and fight.

Seeing this, Naruto frowned and prepared to draw his own Katana, "I suggest that you think carefully about what you about to do Karui and not do something stupid, because if you do I won't hold back like last time."

Before Karui could respond to this comment or before Yugito and the others could stop Karui from attacking Naruto, a new voice, which was clearly female, suddenly spoke up.

"I suggest that you do what he says girly."

Upon hearing this new voice, the five Genin suddenly saw two blurs coming through the open window on their right hand side. After which two new figures appeared right next to Naruto, these two new figures were none other than Naruto two sensei's Yamato and Kushina.

Naturally upon seeing the two Jonin sensei's, the four Kumo Genin became concerned, especially upon seeing that Kushina. Who was well known for not only being a powerful and skilled Kunoichi, but was also well known for her strong dislike of their village.

"_Buraddi Shinku no Ikari_ (Bloody Crimson Fury)" thought Samui with some worry, as he recognised Kushina from the picture she had seen of her in Kumo's Bingo book.

"_Shit!_" thought Karui, as she knew she was in trouble.

"_Crap, nice going Karui_" thought Omoi, "_Man…what are we going to do? Should we try to make a break for it or should we give up? And if we do are they going to take us away and interrogate us and make us talk or will they kick us out of the village and stop us from entering the Chunin exam?_"

"_This is not good_" thought Yugito, where she silently cursed her luck, as they didn't need to cause a situation right before the Chunin exam, where they could be denied entry into the exam for starting trouble in the village.

"Kushina-sensei, Yamato-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto, when he saw his two sensei's.

"We came here looking for you, as you were suppose to meet us at the training ground half an hour ago" answered Kushina, making Naruto silently curse. Since he'd completely forgotten about his meeting with his sensei's, after his meeting with Gaara, Yugito and the others.

"Indeed and I'm sure that you can also imagine our surprise when we saw you here with a group of Kumo Genin, where you were about to get into a fight with one of them," Yamato stated as he stared at the Kumo Genin.

"Care to tell us what is happening Naruto?" asked Kushina, with a look that told Naruto that he better come clean or else.

"_Crap!_" moaned Naruto inside his mind, as he knew he was in trouble but had no other choice but to tell the truth.

For the next half hour Naruto explained how he knew Yugito and the others, where when he finished both Kushina and Yamato had slight frowns on their faces.

"Naruto you know you should not have hidden this from us" berated Yamato, where he then stared at the four Kumo Genin.

"I sorry Sensei, but if I had told any of you, you would've told Jiji and he would have told Kaa-chan, where she would've blown the whole thing out of proportion. Since I never told any of them who I really was and they only recently found out for themselves," said Naruto.

"Is this true?" asked Yamato as he stared at Yugito and the others, where they all nodded.

"Well if this is indeed true, and if you are all such good friends, then why is it, that you look ready to attack Naruto?" spoke Kushina with a serious tone and look, as she stared at Karui, since she had been the one that Kushina and Yamato saw ready to attack Naruto.

Before Karui could reply to Kushina's question, Yugito quickly stepped forward, "I apologise for my team-mates response to Naruto-san…when we met Naruto-san we only wanted to talk to him and have him explain his reasons for lying to us when we first met him. Unfortunately though, things got out of hand, as Karui had some unresolved issues when it concerns Naruto-san."

"And do the rest of you've any these unresolved issues concerning Naruto?" asked Kushina.

"No we have no issues with Naruto-san" replied Yugito truthfully, where both Samui and Omoi nodded in support, since after hearing Naruto side of the story, they understood why Naruto lied to them.

"Good, now if you don't mind, we would like to talk to our student in private" said Kushina with an emotionless tone, as she still did not trust the Kumo Genin.

Knowing that it was time to go, Yugito signalled her team to leave, where they all got up and began to walk out of the apartment, but before they could leave, they suddenly heard Naruto call out to them just as they were opening the door.

"Guys wait!"

"What is it Naruto-san?" asked Samui coolly without a hit of emotion.

"Look I know that lying to you guys about who I really was is not the best way to start a friendship, but I still I was hoping we could still be friends."

At this Karui scoffed, but before she could make a comment, Yugito spoke up "Perhaps, after the exam has ended, but until then we're your enemies, so I suggest that when we face each other again, you not hold back, as we'll not."

At this Naruto nodded in understanding and smiled a little, "Well I look forward to when we face each other" spoke Naruto; where Yugito just nodded and opened the door and walked out with her team.

"Seeya around Naruto" said Omoi, before he followed his team out and closed the door behind him.

Once Yugito and the others left the apartment, Naruto turned around to face his Sensei' who were less than pleased. Not that they were angry that Naruto was friends with people outside their village, the reason they were displeased with him was that he kept this from them and risked his safety when he was in hiding with his mother.

After discussing the matter with him for a few minutes, they told him that they would have to inform the Hokage of this, since he needed to know.

Naruto of course understood this and sighed, as he knew that when his mother returned to Konoha, she would blow a gasket after hearing how he met with foreign shinobi's and didn't tell her.

After the matter was settled, Naruto decided to ask his sensei's why exactly they wanted him, "So why exactly did you want to talk to me?"

"The reason we called you is because we wanted to give you this" spoke Yamato as he handed Naruto an application for entering the Chunin exam.

When Naruto saw this, he smiled with excitement at having a chance at becoming Chunin as well as the opportunity of finally proving himself to everyone that he was more than just the son of Tsunade the Slug Princess.

But as he was getting excited over entering the Chunin exam, a realization suddenly hit him. "But wait Sensei! How can I enter the Chunin exam, I need to be on a team don't I?"

"Yes you do, but you'll be placed on a team and work with them" replied Kushina

"Which team will that be?"

"Well given how well you and team seven handled yourselves during the mission in Nami no Kuni, you'll be working with them during the exam"

Upon hearing this Naruto groaned a little, as he'd hoped he be would work with someone else this time, like team eight or team ten, as at least he got on better with the members of those teams.

Soon enough Naruto got over his annoyance and signed the application, which Yamato took and then told Naruto that in three days' time, he would met the rest of team seven at the academy, where the first part of the exam would be held.

Nodding in understanding, Naruto then asked his Sensei's if he could do some extra training with them before the exam. As after meeting Gaara and seeing Yugito again (who he was certain was much stronger than she was when he last met her), he knew that he needed to be as strong as possible, if he wanted to win in the exam.

Naturally both Kushina and Yamato agreed, where the three of them headed off to training ground four.

-The Next day in a nearby Training ground-

Currently standing in training ground twelve, two young Genins were training hard in preparations for the Chunin exam which their Sensei had entered them into this year.

One of them was a tall young boy with dark bowel shape hair and very distinctive bushy eyebrows and wore green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and wore his red forehead protector as a belt.

The other Genin was another young boy, who was clearly from the Hyuga Clan, given his eyes, this boy was also fairly tail with long, dark brown hair that reach the middle of his back, which was tied back a few inches above the end. While two straps attached to a smaller headband underneath his ninja forehead protector frame the sides of his face. He wore a khaki shirt and dark brown shorts and had bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg.

Both boys were training hard in their own individual Taijutsu's styles, knowing that they need to be at top form to pass the exam. As they were training they soon heard a female voice crying out their names to gain their attention.

"Hey Neji, Lee!"

When the boy turned around to where the voice was coming from, they saw their other team-mate running towards them, with an excited look on her face.

The person in question was a tall young girl with brown hair that was tied up in Chinese-style buns; the girl wore a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants and wore her headband around her forehead, underneath her fringe.

"Yosh Tenten! The flames of youth are truly burning brightly in you today, what has made you so excited today" asked the young boy named Lee.

"For once I agree with Lee, what is the matter Tenten?" asked Neji, as he too was generally curious about what had gotten his team-mate so excited.

Panting slightly the from running so much, the young girl named Tenten spoke, "Phant, Phant…I just overheard some of the Jonin talking in the Dango bar, where they said that several rookie Genin teams are entering the Chunin exam this year."

After hearing this Neji raised his left eyebrow at the news, "Although that is interesting news, I still do not see why it has gotten you so excited."

"Well there is more to it…you know that young Uchiha kid named Sasuke that people talk about sometimes?" asked the young girl, which got a nod from her team-mates.

"Well his team is entering the exam this yet, but that's not the best news of all, I also overheard the two Jonin say that Tsunade-sama son, Senju Naruto is also entering the exam!" spoke Tenten. Who was giddy with excitement at the possible chance of meeting and talking with the son of her idol.

"Yosh! The same Senju Naruto, who Gai-sensei says defeated his enteral Hatake Kakashi during his team test, which no-one has ever passed before," cried Lee.

"Do not be a fool Lee, that is just a rumour, there is no possible way for a Genin to defeat a veteran Shinobi," scoffed Neji, as he had heard the same rumours as well and refused to believe them.

"I gotta agree with Neji as well Lee, I think Gai-sensei was just over stating things when he said that, as there's no way a Genin fresh out of the academy can defeat a fully trained Jonin, even if he is Tsunade-sama's son", spoke Tenten. "But still I don't think we should underestimate him either, as the rumours do say that he was trained by Tsunade-sama herself."

At this Neji nodded, as that was indeed very likely, since it made sense for Tsunade to train her own son.

"Yosh! Then that only means that I'll have to train twice as hard to defeat such strong opponents as Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto," cried Lee, where he ran off to train even more.

Upon seeing the antics of their other team-mate, both Tenten and Neji sighed in embarrassment, where Neji muttered "fool" and Tenten just shook her head. But even still both Genin knew there team-mate had the right idea, as they still needed to train more for the exam.

As Tenten walked over to the target posts, the bun haired girl thoughts were full on a certain a certain blonde hair boy and began to think up ways in how she could introduce herself to said boy, where at some later point she could ask him to introduce her to his mother.

Neji on the other hand just focus his full attention on improving his Jūken (Gentle Fist) fighting style, as he believed this was all according to fates plan for him and that it was his destiny to enter and succeed in the Chunin exam.

N/A

(1). For those of you who think that this rank is ridiculous for a Jutsu like this, it is actually a fact, as the Harem Jutsu is indeed ranked as an A rank Jutsu, check Naruto wiki if you don't believe me.

(2). For those of you who are interested Yugito and her team are now fourteen at this point.

(3). Just to state, you can tell if a person is skilled in martial arts or not, by how they move around and stand and also to for clarification Omoi was the one who threw the Shuriken.

Well another Chapter bites the dust; hope you all enjoyed the Naruto meeting Gaara and his siblings, along with his meeting Yugito and the others.

Now in the next Chapter, the Chunin exam will officially begin, where Naruto will do both the written exam and meet some more old faces and new ones.

Next thing before you all ask me to update the next Chapter, I will do my best and I will update this again as soon as possible, but I must first update White Fire Prince and Brothers Bond.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

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Also as for my grammer and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got


	18. Chapter 18

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Eighteen: ****Chunin Exams****.**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu"**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

-Konoha Academy-

After meeting up with team seven outside the Konoha Academy Naruto and the rest of team seven entered the building and headed for the room where the exam would be held.

As they walked up the flight of stairs to the floor where the exam was going to be held, they saw a large crowd gathered outside the room on the second floor, where the exam was said to be held. As they got closer they saw a boy in a green outfit being pushed back by two tall looking Genin, who were blocking the way into the room.

"You're actually trying to take the Chunin exam at your level?" mocked one of the Genin.

"You kids should quiet while you still can, as you won't last in the exam" said the other Genin.

"Please just let us through" spoke Tenten as she helped Lee back up and then tried to walk though, only to be pushed back by one of the two boys.

"Hey there no need to do that!" spoke another Genin in the waiting crowed.

"Huh! We're doing you all a favour by keeping from doing the exam, as it is extremely difficult and we've seen people get seriously injured in it, since they weren't ready for it" spoke one of the two boys who had two bandages on his cheeks.

"He's right, as a Chunin is a leader of the squad and it's his job to make sure that his subordinates come back alive from a mission, so what's wrong with weeding out the weaklings, as they aren't going to pass anyway if they can't get by us" said the other boy.

"That's a pretty sound argument, but I'll pass" spoke Sasuke as he stepped forward, "Also undo this field that you created by using Genjutsu, as I want to go to the third floor where the exam is being held."

At hearing this many people in the crowd grew confused, not understanding what Sasuke was talking about.

"Oh so you notice?" spoke the boy with the bandages on his face.

"Yea, you guys also noticed earlier?" said Sasuke where he looked back at Naruto and Sakura, "As both of you've have the best analysing skills and Genjutsu know how on our squad."

Naruto of just nodded, as he had indeed notice upon coming to the second floor. While Sakura, who hadn't really notice at all just pretended to have and take any praise she could get from Sasuke. Sai had also notice the weak Genjutsu, but like Naruto had said nothing, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"You're pretty good, but just being able to detect isn't enough" spoke the boy with the bandages on his face, he quickly flipped forward to kick Sasuke, who saw it coming and prepared to block the kick with a kick of his own.

But just as the two were about to hit each other, Lee suddenly appeared between them and caught both their legs.

"_He's fast_" thought Naruto with some surprise, as he only noticed Lee right when he appeared between Sasuke at the other Genin, "_He's a completely different person, that he was a moment ago…he must have been only letting those guys push him around so to keep his real skill level from everyone else so they would underestimate him._"

"_He stopped by kick_" thought Sasuke with some surprise and annoyance at how easily Lee had caught his kick.

Soon after Lee let go of both Sasuke and the other boy, where when he did, his team-mates walked up to him.

"You broke our promise" spoke Neji, when he a Tenten came up to Lee. "You're the one who didn't want to gain people's attention, by doing something to stand out."

"I'm sorry" spoke Lee, where the then turned to look at Sakura and blush a little.

Upon seeing this Neji scoffed as he figured Lee had done what he did to impress Sakura.

After being scolded by Neji, Lee then walked up to Sakura, "My name is Rock Lee, Let's go out together! I'll protect you till the day I die!" spoke Lee, where he then did his nice guy pose.

Upon hearing this, Naruto had to bite down hard on his own lip to keep from laughing at the look on horror on Sakura's face, after hearing Lee. But even still he could not help but let a few snickers out.

"_I guess it's true was Nee-san said…there is always someone out there for someone else_" thought the young blonde with a slight chuckle.

Even the emotionless Sai found the situation funny, where a slight smile appeared on his face at the sight of Sakura and Lee.

Thankfully though Sakura let Lee down easily, stating that he was too unique for her tastes, which of course made the young green wearing youth fanatic depress, but it was still better than how Naruto thought Sakura would do it.

"Hey, you there" spoke Neji as he walked towards team seven and looked at Sasuke, "Identify yourself".

"You're supposed to introduce yourself first, before asking for someone's name" replied Sasuke coolly, as he stared back at the young male Hyuga.

Neji of course frowned at little at Sasuke's remark,

"You're a rookie aren't you? What age are you?"

"I'm not obligated to answers that" answered the young Uchiha.

Tenten of course giggled at this, as it wasn't every day that someone would act so definitely towards Neji.

"_He's cute_" thought the bun haired girl, as he looked at Sasuke.

Angered by Sasuke's blatant disrespect towards him, Neji quickly moved forward towards Sasuke, but before he could take more than a single step forward. He was blocked by Naruto who stepped forward between Sasuke and Neji, stopping what he knew could turn into a fight.

"Easy there wide eyes, no need to start something that gets us all in trouble"

"And who are you?" asked Neji as he stared at Naruto.

"He's team-mate, as well as the person who knows that none of us really have much time to play around, especially if we want to enter the exam room before the exam starts" said the blonde boy.

At hearing this Neji frowned a little with annoyance, but knew that Naruto was right. Knowing that they did not have much, Neji just huffed with annoyance, where he just stepped back.

"Come on guys let's go" spoke Naruto, where he lead Sasuke and the others to the stairs so to reach the third floor.

As they headed for the stairs, Sasuke looked to Naruto "You didn't need to interfere Naruto, I could've handled him."

"Well better safe than sorry teme, besides like I said we don't have much time to waste before the exam," replied Naruto, where the young Uchiha just nodded.

As Naruto and team seven made their way to the third floor, the two Genin boys, who had been fighting with Sasuke and Lee, watched the members of team seven head up to the next floor.

"Those older kids must be the students of Gai and the blonde and raven haired kids must be the Uchiha and Senju Clan heirs that everyone has been talking about" spoke the bandage wearing boy.

"Yeah, and I guess they all pass the application turn-in phase" replied the other boy.

"Oh yeah" replied the bandage wearing boy, where he and his partner, quickly turned into two more older forms of themselves and revealing that they were both actually Chunin examiners.

"Looks like we can enjoy ourselves with the candidates this year, Kotetsu" said one of the two Chunin's to his partner.

"That we can Izumo," replied Kotetsu, where he and his partner then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

As Sasuke and the others walked down the hallway, Neji notice the Uchiha Clan symbol on Sasuke's back and quickly realized who he was, "_Uchiha…Uchiha Sasuke_"

Neji was of course not the only one who notice the symbol on Sasuke's back, as Lee also noticed it as well.

"He interests you?" asked Tenten,

Neji of course did not respond to Tenten question and simply walked away.

"Come on Lee lets go" spoke Tenten, as she turned to her team-mate, as she planned to follow after Neji.

"You guys go ahead, I have something I want to check out…I'll catch up with you later" spoke the boy, as he turned to the direction that Naruto and team seven went.

"What's all that about?" asked Tenten as she turned to Neji.

"Tsk, how would I know" scoffed Neji, not really caring, where he just continued on, with Tenten following closely behind.

As Naruto and team seven headed to the exam room, they entered a large hallway, where Lee caught up to them and called out to them.

"Hey you with the sharp eyes"

Upon hearing Lee's call them, Naruto and the others turned around and saw that Lee was the one who had called Sasuke.

"What is it?" asked Sasuke

"Will you fight me here and now?" asked the green jumpsuit wearing boy.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke raised his eyebrow, unsure whether to accept Lee's request or not, although as he stared at Lee, he remembered how easily he had caught his kick earlier.

"Fine I accept" said Sasuke with a smirk, as he was eager to have another go at Lee.

"Don't Sasuke, remember we don't have time for stuff like this" said Naruto

"Don't worry Naruto, this won't take long" replied Sasuke confidently, where he then charged straight at Lee, who waited for Sasuke to come to him.

"_I'm sorry Gai-sensei, but I fear I must break my promise and use "that" move_" thought Lee, as he saw Sasuke charging at him.

As Sasuke neared Lee, he quickly brought his right fist forward and went to hit him, but just as he did, Lee disappeared right before his eyes, much to his shock.

The next thing Sasuke knew, Lee appeared in mid-air behind him and cried out "**Konoha Senpū** (Leaf Whirlwind)!" as he did a spinning mid-air kick.

Sasuke although quickly ducked under the kick, but as he did, Lee came around again with another spinning kick.

Knowing he couldn't avoid the second kick, Sasuke quickly brought up his right arm to block it, but somehow Lee was able to pass through Sasuke's guard and hit Sasuke dead on the side of the face, sending him flying.

Naturally Naruto, Sakura and even Sai were surprised by this, as they had seen Sasuke bring his guard up.

"_Damn, whoever this guy is, he's good!_" thought Naruto, as he couldn't tell how Lee did it.

"_What the hell was that? Did he use some kind of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to get by my guard?_" thought Sasuke he slowly picked himself up.

"_Impressive, even after I delivered a direct hit, he is still able to stand up, but I expected this none the less_" thought Lee as he watched Sasuke pick himself up.

"Hmph! I guess this is a good a time as any to use to my "things"" stated Sasuke, where he then channelled Chakra to his eyes and activated his Sharingan.

"_Sharingan!_" thought Sakura when she saw Sasuke eyes.

"_So Sasuke has finally learned how to activate his Sharingan at will?_" thought Naruto when he saw Sasuke's eyes.

"_Intriguing_, _Danzo-sama will be interested to know this_", thought Sai, as he knew that his master would be interested to know that Sasuke had learned to activate his Sharingan at will now.

"_So those are the famed Sharingan, I've heard about_" thought Lee as he got ready, as he knew what to do next.

"_Yes Sasuke-kun can win now, as with the Sharingan he can see through whatever technique that bushy eyebrow guy is using, just like Kakashi-sensei_" thought Sakura, "_You're amazing Sasuke-kun_."

"_Now I will know your secret!_" thought Sasuke as he readied his eyes and charged at Lee again.

But just as he neared Lee, the bushy eyebrow boy disappeared right before his eyes again. After which he reappeared directly underneath Sasuke and cried out "**Konoha Shōfū** (Leaf Rising Wind)!", where he kicked his leg upward and set Sasuke flying up into the air, much to the horror of Sakura and surprise of Naruto and Sai.

"_His moves…I couldn't detect them with my Sharingan_" thought Sasuke, as he floated in mid-air before landing back on the ground. After which Lee then charged at Lee, where he engaged Sasuke in a fierce Taijutsu fight, where he was forced on the defensive, since Lee avoid every strike that Sasuke tried to hit him with.

After a minute or so of fighting Lee quickly ducked under another punch from Sasuke, where he then delivered a power elbow to the stomach, causing the young Uchih to stumble back a bit and hold his stomach in pain.

"As you can see, my moves are solely hand to hand" spoke Lee, where he once again disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke, who spun around and tried to hit him, but missed again, as Lee jumped back to avoid the punch.

"I' am well aware of the abilities of your Sharingan, where it can see through, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, but unlike the first two, Taijutsu is a little different. As unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, there is no requirement for forming seals or kneading Chakra."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sasuke, who had gotten over the shock of Lee knowing some much about his Sharingan.

"What I mean, is that although your Sharingan allows you to see my movements, your body does not have the speed to keep up with my moves, which is why you cannot beat me" spoke Lee confidently, which of course angered Sasuke.

Naruto on the other hand found this little bit of information, very interesting, as he was unaware of this limitation involving the Sharingan, this of course also made him wonder even more who Lee was.

Infuriated at how Lee was beating him with little to no trouble, Sasuke charged at Lee, swinging wildly in the hopes of hitting the older boy.

But each time Lee easily evaded Sasuke's attacks, "Your Sharingan and my superior hand to hand fighting skills are a bad combination", spoke Lee as he avoided more of Sasuke's punches. After which he moved forward to attack Sasuke, who tried to block, but was too slow and once again and was kicked into the air.

After which Lee then used his **Kage Buyō** (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) to appear right behind Sasuke. "Now I shall prove to you with this move, that hard worker such as myself, can surpass natural geniuses like you" spoke Lee, where he then loosed his bandages around his arms.

"I win" stated Lee, where just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he notice an object at the corner of his eye, flying through the air a great speed, where it pierced the ends of Lee's bandages and pinned them to the wall, stopping Lee from doing his final move.

When the object pinned the bandages to the wall, those watching the fight saw that the object was a paper windmill. After which a person suddenly yelled out "Stop right there, Lee!" where when everyone turned they saw a large red Turtle with a Konoha headband around its neck.

Seeing the turtle, Lee quickly moved away from Sasuke and quickly reappeared on his knees in front of the turtle.

At the same time, Sakura quickly jumped forward and caught Sasuke, who had been falling to the ground, after Lee moved away from him. Sakura of course asked Sasuke if he was alright, but the Uchiha did not acknowledge her question and just continued to stare at Lee who was still kneeling in front of the large red turtle.

Looking at Sasuke, Naruto could tell that he was still in shock over what just had happened, something that Naruto couldn't fault him for. Since Lee had utterly overwhelmed Sasuke with his superior speed and combat skill. Even Naruto had to admit that Lee was an extremely dangerous person to fight, where he was unsure if he could beat Lee without going all out, given what he just seen.

Quickly turning back to Lee, Naruto saw the large red turtle scolding Lee over using the move that he was about to do. Saying how it was forbidden, this of course made Naruto all the more curious as to what the move was.

At the same time, that the turtle was scolding Lee, Sasuke was glaring daggers at the back of Lee's head, as he couldn't believe that he got beaten by a weird guy like Lee.

After scolding Lee the red turtle then said "Gai-sensei please take care of the rest", after which a large puff of smoke appeared on top of the turtles shell. Once the smoke dissipated an adult like version of Lee appeared on top of the turtle, doing a ridiculous looking pose, one that not even Naruto's Godfather Jiraiya would do.

"You guys are in the springtime of your life, aren't you?" cried the man named Gai when he appeared.

Naturally upon seeing Gai, all the members of team seven (including Sai) were completely freaked out by the man.

"This guy is an even bigger weirdo than that other guy" stated Sai, where for once Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were in complete agreement with him.

"Hey don't make fun of Gai-sensei!" cried Lee angrily, as he turned around for look Naruto and the others.

"Kind of hard not to, with all these weirdoes around" replied Sai with his normal emotionless tone.

"What did you say…?" cried Lee out angrily, as Sai had a real knack for pissing people off.

"Lee, cut it out" said Gai, not really caring what Sai had said, where once Lee had turned around he slugged the you boy right in the face, calling him an idiot and sending him across the room, which freaked the members of squad seven even more at what Gai had done.

After punching Lee, Gai then went over to his student, where out of no-where a sunset background appeared out of no-where.

-Enter Naruto Sexy theme-

"Sensei…I…I" said Lee who was crying anime tears of sorrow.

"It's okay, Lee, don't say any more" spoke Gai as he knelt down next to Lee.

"Sensei!" cried Lee as he jumped into his Sensei arms.

"Lee!" cried Gai as he hugged his student, after which a giant wave appeared in the background.

Naturally upon seeing this sight the members of Team seven were horrified beyond words.

"Aaaggghhh! What the hell is this thing, it has to be some kinds of Genjusti" cried the horrified Naruto, as he tried to cancel the cursed thing, but found he could not.

I take back what I said, those two aren't weirdoes, they're full blown freaks" spoke an equally horrified Sai, who found this sight more horrible than his own training in ROOT.

"Someone stop it, please for the love of Kami, stop it!" cried Sakura.

"_I can't believe I actually lost this this guy_" thought Sasuke as he watched the horror show that he was witnessing right now.

"Yes this is Youth" spoke a crying Gai as he continued to hug Lee, which made Naruto begin to wonder if this was crossing student sensei relationship.

"Sensei!"

After a minute or so, Gai let go of Lee and stood up, "It's okay Lee, it's normal to make mistakes when you're young."

"You're too kind Sensei."

"Now, run one hundred laps at the training ground in the sunset!" said Gai a still crying Gai, as he pointed to the doors outside, where somehow the sunset background appeared again.

"Hai Sensei!" replied a still crying Lee.

"Let's go!" spoke Gai

"Yes sir"

-End Naruto Sexy theme-

"Wait! You can't go, the Chunin exams are about to start, if you leave now, you'll miss it!" cried Naruto.

"What? Oh yeah…" said Gai as he scratched his head out of embarrassment, as he had forgotten about the exam.

Turning back to Lee, Gai spoke to his student, "Lee, I going to punish you for fighting and for breaking a promise after the exams, Okay?"

"Hai!" replied Lee, where he saluted his Sensei.

"_They're idiots_" thought all four member of squad seven at the exact same time.

Soon after though Gai turned to the four Genins and finally took notice of them, "_Hhhhmmmm, They must be Kakashi's…but the blonde boy, could he be?_" thought Gai.

"_Crap he's looking our way_" thought Sakura with worry.

"You young boy" spoke Gai as he pointed at Naruto, "Are you by chance Senju Naruto?"

"Yeah that's me" replied Naruto, which of course got a surprise gasp from Lee, who had been unaware of whom Naruto was, as he had never bother to ask.

"Yosh! I am honour to meet the son of the Slug Princess Tsunade-sama" cried Gai as he walked towards Naruto and took his hand and shook it. "I've also heard a great deal of your exploits, especially your defeat of Kakashi and passing his test, along with your team-mates here."

"Eh trust me Gai-sensei, most of the stories about me defeating Kakashi are a bit exaggerated, as Kakashi-sensei didn't go all out on me and I had a few aces in the hole that he didn't know about, I only beat him because I got lucky", replied Naruto.

Upon hearing this Gai smiled, where his teeth gleamed brightly, making the members of team seven wonder if he bleached his teeth. "Yosh! I can see that you're indeed in the springtime of your youth, given how humble you're, for I' am well aware that Kakashi, would not have fought you seriously in his test. But even still to defeat him is no small feat."

"Eh excuse me Gai-sensei, but do you know Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"I don't just know him…People call us eternal rivals."

Upon hearing this, all four Genin gave Gai as weird look, not believe that in the least, as it sounded completely fake.

"_These guys are complete idiots_" thought Sai.

Naturally seeing the sceptically looks on the four Genin's faces, Gai decided to prove himself, where within the blink of an eye, Gai disappeared and appeared directly behind them. But none of the Genin knew this until Gai spoke from behind them, making all four of them jump slightly.

"Currently now the record stands with fifty wins and forty-nine loses" spoke Gai when he reappeared behind team seven.

Naturally after hearing Gai's voice from behind and turning around to see, all four Genin's were shocked, as none of them had sensed him until he spoke up.

"_But when did he….?_" thought Sakura.

"_What...? He's fast…_" thought Sasuke.

"_Shit this guy is fast_" thought Naruto.

"_As expected from the famed Maito Gai_" thought Sai as he had heard of Gai from his master.

"Also let me tell you all that I'm stronger than Kakashi" stated Gai.

"_Stronger than Kakashi?_" thought Sasuke, who was unsure whether to believe Gai or not, "_Well his speed is definitely better than Kakashi…damnit there's no way he can be bluffing, especially after what he just did?_"

"_Damn I need to gather some Intel on this Gai character, as I've never even heard of him, but he's clearly a powerful Shinobi and not someone to take lightly. Especially given what he just did and given how strong Lee is as well_" thought Naruto, as he planned to do some Intel gather later on after the exam.

"Lee caused you all some trouble, but please forgive him, as he meant no real harm" said Gai as he looked at Naruto and the others, who just nodded. After which he then freed Lee's bandages from the paper windmill that he pierced it with, so to allow Lee to rebandaged his hands. As he did, Naruto notice the many bruises and cuts that were underneath Lee bandages, showing how hard Lee must have trained.

Once Lee was rebandaged, Gai then told them that both Lee and them should hurry to the exam or else they miss it. After which both Gai and the large red turtle puffed away in a puff of smoke.

"Sasuke-kun before we part ways let me say this, to be honest, the only reason I wanted to fight you, was to test my skills. You should also know that there is some else on my team, who is stronger than me and you've met him earlier."

"You're referring to that guy from earlier?" asked Sasuke, where Lee just nodded.

"I entered this Exam to defeat him, but you're also one of my targets, as are you Naruto-kun" spoke Lee, where he then looked Naruto when he mentioned his name, who just nodded, while Sasuke narrowed his eyes and greet his teeth in anger, as his defeat at Lee hands was still fresh on his mind.

"I suggest that you both prepare yourselves for the Exam!" finished Lee before he jumped away and ran to where his team-mates would be waiting for him.

"Well I guess that the Uchiha Clan isn't all that great after all" spoke Sai suddenly with his traditional fake smile.

"Sai!" cried Sakura angrily, where she was about to try and hit Sai for his remark but before she could Sasuke suddenly spoke up.

"Shut up… the next time I face him, I'll slaughter him"

"If you believe that, then I can assure you will he beat you into the ground, worse than he did a few minutes ago", spoke Naruto, which of course infuriated Sasuke even more.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura, as she couldn't believe how both Sai and Naruto were both putting Sasuke down.

"It's the truth, as I saw his hands, before he rebandaged them, they were covered in bruises and cuts from training, many of which were old ones by the look of them."

This revelation of course surprised both Sasuke and Sakura, as neither of them had paid attention to Lee's hands.

"Given that, this Lee guy has clearly been training more than you, and a lot more intensely, probably every single day to have all those injuries, it's that simple", stated Naruto.

At first, Sasuke did not take what Naruto had to say well, but soon realized that Naruto was right, after which he just smirked. "Well that's just fine, as this just makes things more interesting."

Naruto of course just smirked back, as he knew that his lose to Lee had made Sasuke all the more determined to do well in the Chunin Exam.

After a few minutes Naruto and the other final made it to where the room where the Chunin Exam was happening. But as the neared the doorway, they saw Kakashi along with Yamato and Kushina, waiting for them at the doorway.

"Ah so you all came, that's good, now you can all do the Exam" said Kakashi.

"What do you mean by that Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, not understanding what Kakashi meant.

"Well you see the Chunin exam can only be taken in teams of three or more, where if you do not come together as a team then you can't enter. Given your past disagreements with one another, we were unsure if you could move past them and come together as a team, which we're pleased to see, since you came here together", spoke Yamato.

"So what would've happened if Naruto had come here without us, or if we had come here without him", asked Sakura.

"We would've stopped you here, and prohibited you from doing the exam" answered Kushina seriously, after which she then smiled, "But since that isn't the case, you can do the exam, so good look to all of you and kick some ass!"

At this Naruto and the others smiled and nodded, where they then went through the double doors of the room.

When they entered the room they found it to be full of other Genin from various Shinobi villages, who were staring at them as they enter the room.

Upon seeing so many different Genins that look strong, Sakura quickly became nervous and unsure of herself, fortunately though a distraction came in the form of a Blonde haired Girl.

"Naruto-kun, you're late!" cried the person, where a blonde blur quickly jumped up on top of Naruto on his right, making it hard for the blonde boy to keep his balance and keep standing.

When Sakura and the others looked they saw that the person was none other than Ino, who had her arms wrapped around Naruto and was hugging him tightly.

"I've been eagerly waiting for you Naruto-kun, ever since I heard about the Chunin exams. As I knew you be in it for certain, as I haven't seen you in ages", said Ino has she hugged Naruto tighter.

"But Ino, it's only been a fortnight since I last saw you" replied a slightly annoyed Naruto, since he didn't appreciate Ino jumping on top of him and nearly making him fall.

"But that's still a long time Naruto-kun" replied Ino affectingly, pressing herself closer to her crush.

"Ino get off Naruto, as he on our team and I won't stand for your sabotaging our team, you can cuddle up to him after the exam!" cried Sakura.

"Huh! As if I would do anything to Naruto-kun, you're just jealous that I'm closer to Naruto-kun than you am with Sasuke. No to mention, that Naruto-kun is way cuter than Sasuke is" said Ino as she let go of Naruto and got off him.

"No way, Sasuke-kun is a hundred times cuter than Naruto is" retorted Sakura, where the two girls got into an argument over who was cuter, much to the annoyance of said boys.

"Don't tell me that you guys are also going to take this troublesome exam, too?" asked an annoyed Shikamaru, as he and Choji walked up to Naruto and the others.

"Hey Shikamaru, hey Choji, you guys are all doing the exam as well?" greeted Naruto when he saw the two boys, who both greeted Naruto in response and acknowledged that they were indeed doing the exam.

"Huh so you guys are all doing the exam as well" spoke a new voice, where when everyone looked they saw Kiba, Shino and Hinata walking towards them.

Upon seeing Hinata, Naruto of course greeted the young Hyuga heiress with a friendly smile a wave, like he always would. This of course made you young girl blush bright red and stutter out a nervous hello, (while doing that thing she does with her fingers).

"Are you doing the exam as well?" asked Shikamaru in his usual board tone.

"Yeah, it seems that we're all going to do the exam together" replied Kiba, where he then finally took notice of Sai.

"And who are you, I don't know you?"

"This is Sai, he was the one who took Naruto's place on our team when he left it" said Sakura as she introduced Sai to everyone.

"Hello, nice to meet you all" replied Sai with a seemly friendly greeting and wave, which Naruto and the rest of team seven knew was fake, just like the fake smile he had on.

"_Hmph, he's not bad looking and he's kinds of looks like Sasuke a bit, but still he's no-where as near as cute as "my" Naruto-kun is_" thought Ino. As she then wrapped her arms around Naruto's right arm, which made said boy roll his eyes at her antics.

"Hmph, you don't look like much" scoffed Kiba, as he wasn't impressed with Sai.

"That's funny I thinking the same thing, especially with the flea bag on your head" spoke Sai, who still had his fake smile on.

"WHAT?" cried Kiba and he took a step forward and looked ready to attack, while Akamaru growled angrily at Sai at being called a flea bag.

Luckily though before things could get out of hand, Naruto intervened and stepped between Kiba and Sai.

"Whoa, easy there Kiba, I admit Sai is a real jerk, but just let it go, as this isn't really the best place to start a fight."

"Naruto-san is correct Kiba" spoke Shino suddenly as he placed his hand on Kiba's shoulder. "We cannot afford to start an incident here that would prevent from doing the exam."

At this Kiba relented, but still glared angrily at Sai, who just smiled and ignored Kiba's glares.

"It is good to see you again Naruto-san, I assume that you are ready for the exam" spoke Shino, as he turned to Naruto.

"Yep, I'm as ready as can be, are you?" replied Naruto.

"Of course we are!" stated Kiba, "As we've been training like hell, especially when you weren't working with us and we won't lose to you."

"Good, because I hate to have trained so hard recently, for a first round knockout", stated Naruto with a smirk.

"So would that mean that you've become even stronger now Naruto-kun?" spoke a new voice, that sounded familiar to Naruto and the members of team seven. When everyone turned around, they saw three Kiri Genins walking towards them, one of whom Naruto and team seven immediately recognized.

"Haku?" spoke Naruto in surprise when he saw the apprentice of Zabuza, who just nodded when she heard her name.

Haku of course hadn't really changed much since Naruto and the others last saw her, the only real change was her outfit, (although her hairstyle remained the same). Instead of wearing the same uniform that she had at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). Haku now wore an outfit that showed her feminine figure, she wore simple sandals and kneepads along with a short skirt, which just stopped below her hips. She also wore a loose shoulderless top, with a fishnet shirt underneath it and had a long black scarf around her neck, which fell down to her lower back. On her arms she also wore a pair of armbands, elbow pads and fingerless gloves. (1)

"It is good to see you again Naruto-kun…all of you" spoke Haku with a smile.

"_Holy crap she Hot!_" thought Kiba as he eyed Haku up and down.

"Are you entering the Chunin exam as well Haku?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, both my team and I are participating in the Chunin exam" spoke Haku where she then introduced them to her two team-mates Chōjūrō and Saito.

Chōjūrō had short tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He wore square, black-rimmed glasses connected to what appear to be headphones, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. Also, he wore his forehead protector on the front of his holster which he uses to carry Hiramekarei. The sword itself is wrapped in bandages leaving only the double hilt visible. He also has shuriken holsters strapped onto each of his legs.

Saito had short spiky black hair, and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless dark blue coat and black long sleeved shirt underneath it and carried a medium length chokutō blade on his back. He wore a paring of black gloves on his hands and wore his forehead protector around his waist, along with a long sash with the symbol of Kiri. He also wore a simple black shinobi pants and a pair of simple shinobi sandals.

Saito of course greeted Naruto and team seven, with respect, but studied Sai, Sasuke and Naruto closely, as he had heard how skilled they were from his sensei Zabuza and his team-mate Haku. (2)

Chōjūrō also greeted Naruto and the members of team seven nervously, as like Saito he had heard much about Sai, Sasuke and Naruto from Haku and Zabuza. He was especially worried he would've to face them in the exam at some point, since he was unsure if he could stand up to any of them. Especially Naruto, as he had heard from both his Sensei and Haku that out of the four Genin, Naruto was the strongest among them. As he was able to use the superhuman strength of his mother Tsunade to a great degree, and could use the sword fighting style of his sensei, the famed Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury).

"Naruto-kun who exactly are these people?" asked Ino as she held tightly onto Naruto's arm and narrowed her eyes when she saw Haku and heard her use the "kun" suffix and although Ino wouldn't admit it. She was also slightly threatened by Haku, especially given her beauty, which rivalled her own.

Even Hinata who was a few feet away became concerned, as she already doubted herself in trying to get closer to Naruto, since Ino was also after Naruto. The reason why Hinata doubted herself when compared to Ino was because she did not think she could compete with someone like Ino. Who was attractive, popular and confident, everything that she (Hinata) wasn't. But now with Haku, Hinata fears of losing her chance with Naruto only grew, as Haku was extremely beautiful and by the way she held herself, Hinata could tell that Haku was both a confident and strong Kunoichi.

"Oh yea, everyone this is Haku, we met during our first mission outside the village, where we fought each other", explained Naruto.

"So you guys were enemies" stated Choji, as he munched on some crisps he was eating.

"Yea, that is until Haku and her Sensei were betrayed by their employer who tried to have them killed along with us. Obviously he failed and after he was dealt with, we called a truce and came to an understanding and we became friends, and later on Haku and her Sensei returned to their village."

After hearing this many of the others had curious looks and looked to Sakura, and Sasuke to see if it was true, where the two just nodded confirming what Naruto had said.

Once the others knew the story behind Haku and team seven, Naruto decided to ask Haku something he had been wondering.

"So Haku-chan, if you're here, am I right in assuming that Zabuza is your team sensei?" asked Naruto. As he highly doubted that Zabuza would allow anyone other than himself to train Haku, and Haku would only recognise Zabuza has her sensei.

"Hai, Zabuza-sama is our team sensei", replied Haku, after which Naruto nodded and then introduce Haku to the rest of the rookie Genin and got to talking with her.

-With Yugito and her team-

As Naruto continued to talk with Haku and her team, Yugito and the rest of her team watched them from the other end of the room.

As they watched them Omoi spoke up, "Man Naruto certainly popular with the girls here."

"How so?" asked Karui

"Well look at how that Kiri girl is chatting him up, and that Hyuga girl staring at him, not to mention that hot blonde girl who literally jumped him when he came in"

"Hmph! As if he be interested in a floozy like that blonde" scoffed Yugiro with a slight frown on her face.

"Agreed" replied Samui, with her usually cold and emotionless tone.

At this Omoi smirked a little, "How would you two know what Naruto's type is?"

"We would not, but given Naruto personality it seems unlikely he would be interested in girls like her" responded Samui.

At this Omoi just smirked more "If I didn't know better, I would think that you two were jealous."

At this comment Yugito and Samui both snapped there her heads to turn to Omoi,

"Jealous!...Us!" spoke the Yugito in surprise, while Samui just stared emotionlessly at the dark skin boy.

"Well, it's just an observation, since before we found out the truth about Naruto, you Yugito often talked about him and how you liked to see him again and how you admire him."

"I only said that, as I wanted to fight him again and I admire his fighting skill, as he is the only person around our age that has ever really challenged me and the only person other than Bee-sensei to beat me" stated Yugito.

"Well I'm just saying that's how it looks…" replied Omoi.

"_**You know he has a point Kitten**_" spoke the Nibi inside Yugito's Mind, "_**The boy is strong, kind, loyal and has an essence of mystery about him, where I can still sense that familiar power from within him. Yet I still cannot place where I have felt it before, not to mention you've stated so yourself from time to time that he isn't bad looking**_."

"_Shut it Nibi, it's nothing like that, I just admire Naruto as a shinobi and a worthy rival, nothing more_" stated an annoyed Yugito in her mind.

"_**Hey I just saying kitten**_" replied the cat Biju.

"…Not to mention Naruto, is the only guy that was able to cop a feel of you Samui and not get beaten to near death for it. Hence it makes one wonder, why you let him go so easily", continued Omoi, where as soon as he was finish, he was met with an icy stare that made the young boy flinch.

"I suggest that you be careful what you say Omoi, as I warned you want would happen should you ever mention that incident again" spoke Samui in a cold and dangerous tone, which made you young boy shiver slightly. Especially when he remembered what Samui promise to do to him, should he ever tell anyone how Naruto groped her by accident when they first met.

Upon remembering the threat, Omoi decided to remain silent, after which the four of them waited patiently for the exam to start, while at the same time watching Naruto and his friends, since bother he and Sasuke where their assigned targets for the mission.

-With Neji, Lee and Tenten-

At the same time, as when the Kumo-nins were talking amongst themselves, Lee was finishing telling Neji and Tenten who Naruto really was, where upon learning the truth, both of them were naturally surprised.

"Ooohhh, I can't believe it, I had the perfect chance to talk to him and I let it slip right by" moaned a disappointed Tenten. Due to the missed the opportunity to talk to the son of her idol, especially after she planned so many different ways she would introduce herself to when she would meet him.

"I suggest you contain yourself Tenten, as regardless of his heritage, he is still only a person and just because he is related to famed and powerful Shinobi's. It does not necessarily mean that he will be as strong as them", replied Neji.

"But he is strong Neji-kun, as he even admitted that the story about him defeating Hatake Kakashi is true, although he did state that he got lucky and that Kakashi-san had not been serious when they fought", spoke Lee.

"Perhaps, but I still remain sceptical of the matter" replied Neji, although he did eye Naruto with a calculating look, as if trying to figure Naruto out.

"Well regardless, you've to admit, he is an interesting person" said Tenten.

"Indeed" replied the Hyuga prodigy.

-With Naruto and the others-

As Naruto and the others talked to Haku and her team, they suddenly heard, someone call out to them.

"Hey you guys!"

When the group turned they saw a tall silver haired young teen with glasses walk up to them.

"You guys should quieten down a bit and stop attracting attention to yourselves", spoke the silver haired youth.

"You lot are the Rookie ten that just graduated from the academy this year, correct?"

"Geez the way you're all yapping it up and chatting away without a care, you'd think you were on a field trip or something…and I can tell right here and now that if you think this exam is easy, your fooling yourselves", replied the boy.

"Who the hell do you think you're, to talk to us like that?" cried Ino, where she finally let go of Naruto's arm.

"I am Yakushi Kabuto, and just look around you…" spoke the boy named Kabuto.

When the Rookie Genin looked around they saw many of the other Genin in the room, staring at them with cold and serious looks.

"Everyone here is tense, since the exam is going to start soon", said Kabuto, where he then point to the left of the Rookie Genin and Kiri Genin. "Those Genin over there are all from Amegakure (Hidden Rain) and most of them have short tempers"

"The reason I warning you, is because I don't want any trouble to start before the exam" explained Kabuto. "Although I guess it can't be helped since you're all new here and don't know anything."

"So does that mean you have done this exam before?" Sakura asked when she turned to look at Kabuto.

"This is my seventh time doing the exam" replied the older boy, which of course surprised most of the group. "This exam takes place only twice a year and this is my fourth year doing the exam."

"So that would mean that you know a lot about what happens in this exam?" asked Sakura, where the boy just nodded.

"Yet, you haven't passed?" asked Haku, with a slight frown, as she found that there was something off about Kabuto.

"Eh yeah, that's true I'm afraid" replied the seemly embarrassed boy.

"Does that mean that the Chunin exams are that difficult?" asked Shikamaru.

"Pretty much" replied Kabuto, where the young Nara heir began to mutter how troublesome this all was.

"Well since you're all knew and all, and since I feel sorry for you I give you so tips, with these" spoke Kabuto, as he took out a deck of cards from his pouch.

"What are they?" asked Ino.

"They are my recognition card" answered Kabuto, where after seeing the confuse look on the Genin's faces, he went to explain further.

"In basic terms they're cards with information burnt into them using my Chakra. I've gathered information on this exam for the past four years. Meaning I've a lot of information on a lot of different people and places," stated Kabuto, where he then started to explain what the Chunin exam was all about.

Once Kabuto had finish explaining what the exam was about, Sasuke decided to ask a question.

"You say that you've information on a lot of different people, does that mean you've information on the combatants in this exam?"

"Yes I do, is there someone you're interested in?" asked the boy, with a ghost of a smirk, where Sasuke just nodded.

"Well the information I've on this year's examinees is not perfect, but I've burnt and saved them onto my cards, which includes all of you", stated Kabuto, where at hearing this, both Haku, her team and Naruto all frowned, as they did not like this.

"Now tell me what you can about these people you're interest in and I look them up for you" said Kabuto.

"Gaara of Sunagakure (Hidden Sand), Rock Lee of Konohagkure (Hidden Leaf), Nii Yugito of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) and Samui of Kumogakure" spoke Sasuke.

At hearing this Naruto looked at Sasuke with a bit of surprise, since he could understand why he was interested in Gaara, given their meeting, as well as Lee, since he had beaten Sasuke. But Naruto had not expected Sasuke to ask about Yugito and Samui, since he did not have any kind of confrontation with the girls.

Naruto's only guess as to why Sasuke was asking about them was because, they girls had left some sort of impression on Sasuke, after the Kumo Genin, "attacked" him (Naruto).

"Oh so you know their names, then this will be easy" replied Kabuto, where he took out four cards from his deck and then channelled Chakra into it. After which a small puff of smoke came from the card, where a profile and picture of Lee appeared on the card.

"Let's start with Rock Lee" said Kabuto, "Now he is one year older than you, he has done twenty D rank missions and eleven C rank mission. He's team sensei in Maito Gai, he has extremely high hand to hand combat skills, but all his other skills are terrible. He gained a lot of attention last year, as a highly skilled rookie Genin, but didn't take the Chunin exam. Like you this is his first time taking the exam, his team-mates are last year's top Kunoichi Tenten and last year's rookie of the year Hyuga Neji, who is rumoured to be a highly gifted prodigy like yourself"

At the mention of Neji's name a worried look appeared of Hinata's face, although no-one noticed it, due to everyone listening to what Kabuto was saying.

"Next Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall), spoke Kabuto and he got another card and channelled Chakra into it. "Now he is the same age as you and has done eight C rank missions and…this is amazing he has done a B rank mission as a Genin…" said a surprise Kabuto.

Naturally after hearing this, the entire rookie Genin along with Haku and her team, became very concerned.

"…He is a foreign Shinobi, as you know and like all of you this is his first time doing the exam, hence I've no other information about him," continued Kabuto. "But there is one thing, he has returned from every single one of his mission, without as much as a scratch."

After hearing this everyone's concern about the red headed boy grew.

"He did a B rank mission as a Genin and came back from it unharmed?" spoke Shikamaru with surprise, as he had trouble believing what he'd heard.

"_Crap, I knew this guy would be trouble, but not this much_" thought Naruto with frown, where he was not alone, as many of the others like Haku and Sasuke also had frowns.

"Now the Kumo-nins", continued Kabuto as he channelled more Chakra into the card, where a profile and picture of Yugito appeared. "Nii Yugito, she is about two years older than you and like Gaara, Lee and the rest of you, this is her first time doing the exam. She gained quite a bit of attention for herself, two years ago, when she first became a Genin, where she graduated top of her class as rookie of the year and top Kunoichi. Her skill level is unknown but is believed to be very high. She is on one of only two four man teams, the other being you", explained Kabuto, where he looked at the members of team seven. "Her team-mates are Karui, Omoi and Samui and they have done seven D rank missions, twenty C rank missions and…oh my god" stated Kabuto with surprise again and gaining everyone's full attention.

"She and has done five B rank missions and two A rank missions."

At hearing this there were several more gasps of shock heard from the rookie Genin, as they were naturally all shocked.

"_She could be trouble_" thought Haku, as she looked at Yugito's picture on Kabuto's card

"_Damn I knew Yugito-chan and the others had gotten stronger since we last met, but I didn't think she had become this strong, to be able to do two A rank missions?_" thought Naruto with surprise.

Sasuke of course frowned even more, when he heard this, as it was quite possible that Yugito was even stronger than Gaara.

"This is getting ridiculous, what kind of Monsters are in this exam?" muttered Shikamaru.

After finishing, with Yugito, Kabuto then went channelled Chakra to his last card which had Samui's profile, which didn't tell much about her or her skill level. As like with Gaara and Yugito, the information was fairly limited, although it did state that Samui was highly skilled, where in her class she was second only to Yugito. The only other thing worth mentioning was that she did the same number missions as Yugito, which was of no surprise since they were on the same team. But it still proved that she was a highly skilled shinobi, since she did accomplish them with Yugito, along with the others.

Once Kabuto had finish telling about Samui, Kiba decided to speak up and ask Kabuto something, "What have you got on Senju Naruto?"

At the mention of Naruto's name the entire room went dead silent, where every eye was on the rookie ten and the three Kiri-nins.

"_Damn you Kiba_" thought Naruto as he curse Kiba for attracting so much attention on him, since he could feel all eyes were on him.

"Well let's see" said Kabuto as he took out another card and channelled Chakra into it, showing a profile and picture of Naruto on it. "Senju Naruto, son of the famed Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime (Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade), who is also a member of the Densetsu no Sannin (The Legendary Three Ninja's). Also is the direct descendant of the Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage and sole heir to the Senju Clan. He has done twenty-two D rank missions and two C rank missions; he is the apprentice of Uzumaki Kushina better well known as Buraddi Shinku no Ikari and another Jonin sensei, whose identity is classified. But even though he is not on an official team he has been allowed, to work on joint missions with teams, seven eight and ten. His skill level and ability are also classified by ordered of the Sandaime Hokage himself, hence are unknown. He is rumoured though to be highly skilled in Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu. He is also rumoured to…oh my...! t-t-to h-hav-have been trained by both his mother Tsunade and her former team-mate Jiraiya the Gama Sennin (Toad Sage)".

Upon Kabuto saying this, the entire room, was so quiet that a person could hear a pin drop, where all eyes were on Naruto.

Many of course were not surprised that Naruto was trained by Tsunade, as she was his mother after all. But the fact that he was also trained by Jiraiya the famed Gama Sennin, the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin, was shocking to say the least. Since it meant that Naruto was trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.

Sasuke, Sakura and Sai were of course not surprised by this revelation, as they already knew this, as did Yugito and her team, everyone else though was shocked at the news.

"Naruto-kun is this true…were you also trained by Jiraiya the Toad Sage", asked Haku, as like everyone else she was stunned by the news. Her team-mate Chōjūrō took the news especially bad, since he was seriously doubting his chances of beating someone who was trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.

Sighing heavily with frustration, Naruto knew this would put a large target on his head, where he silently glared at Kabuto, (who Naruto could've swore he saw smirking for a split second), and Kiba, (who was wide eye in shock at the news). After which he replied to Haku's question with a simply nod confirming the news, "Hai, he is training me, since he is also my Godfather".

"_Shit, we're in serious trouble_" thought Kankuro, where he began to understand why Naruto was so strong.

"_Not good!_" thought Temari, where her worries only grew when she saw a sadistic grin appear on her younger brother's face.

"_Yes mother, his blood will be excellent…he will prove worthy prey and prove my existence to the world_" thought Gaara. Since he could barely contain his sadistic joy of having the chance to face and kill someone that has being trained by two members of the Densetsu no Sannin.

"_It seems he may indeed prove worthy after all_" thought Neji and he continued to look at Naruto with his cold calculating stare.

"_Yes! This proves that "my" Naruto-kun is better than your Sasuke, Sakura!_" cried Ino inside her mind.

-With the Ame-nins-

Not far away from the Rookie Genin, three Ame Genin, who separated themselves from the other Genin from Ame stared silently at the Rookie Genin or to be more precise, they were staring at Naruto.

"So that is Senju Naruto" spoke the leader of the group, who wore a hooded cloak, just like the other two members of the team, covering their appearance, where only their lower faces could be seen.

"Do you believe we should take him out?" asked one of Ame Genin.

"Not yet" replied the leader of the group.

"Why not? You heard what that Konoha Genin said, he has been trained by two members of the Sannin, surely that makes him a threat and Hanzo-sama's orders are t-" spoke the other Ame Genin, but was interrupted by the leader before he could finish.

"Do not speak to me on what his orders are!" rounded the group leader in a harsh whisper, so not to attract attention. "I am well aware of them, as it was I who was given the mission of eliminating Senju Naruto should he be a threat on our village."

"So why not eliminate him now, when we have the chance, since given what we've heard he is clearly a threat or at the very least could become one very soon" said the first Ame Genin.

"Because the exam has not started yet, where if we attack him now, his team-mates may come to his aid. Not to mention if we did indeed succeed in killing him now, Konoha will know that our village specifically targeted him, and could declare war on us for doing so", explained the team leader. "No, it is better to wait until the time is right, besides I want to know what his abilities are, so that we know what he's capable of and what we're up against when we do attack him."

At this the other two Ame's just nodded and continued to observe Naruto and the other Rookie Genin.

-With Naruto and the others-

After everyone had gotten over the shock that Naruto had been trained by both his mother and Jiraiya, Kabuto then went on to explain how the top Genin from Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Getsu and a small recently new Shinobi village Oto were here.

After hearing this, some of the others like Hinata, were beginning to doubt their chances in the exam.

Seeing that Hinata was losing confidence in herself, Naruto placed his hand on the young girl's shoulder, "Hey don't worry Hinata-chan, you do great in this exam, I know it."

Upon hearing this and how Naruto was touching her, the young Hyuga girl blushed brightly and thanked Naruto for his kind words and for believing in her.

But it was after Hinata thanked him, that Naruto noticed several blurs out of the corner of his eye, which were heading for them.

Discreetly taking out several senbon needles, Naruto readied himself on the chance that they were coming after him.

He was of course not the only one, as Haku had also seen the blurs coming and like Naruto she discreetly took out several senbon needles and prepared to defend herself

Although those beliefs quickly diminished, where one of the attackers, a young boy with spikey black hair, jumped up into the air and threw two Kunai at his real target…Kabuto, who quickly jumped backwards to avoid them.

After seeing that the attackers target was Kabuto, both Haku and Naruto quickly placed their senbon needles away.

Normally Naruto would've helped a fellow Konoha-nin, when he was being attacked by someone, but the fact was that Naruto did not like Kabuto, especially since he made him (Naruto) a target to everyone in the room. But even still that would normally not be enough for Naruto to not help him. The other reasons why Naruto didn't intervene was because he didn't want to draw any more attention on himself than there was already on him. There was also the fact that there was something off about Kabuto, he didn't know what it was, it was just a gut feeling, which told him not to trust Kabuto.

After Kabuto avoided the first attack, another of the attackers appeared right in front of Kabuto. This attacker was another young boy, who had gauze covering most of his face, except for his left eye, when the boy appeared those watching immediately realized that the ones that were attacking Kabuto were from Otogakure (Hidden Sound).

When the gauze wearing boy appeared in front of Kabuto, he swung his fist to hit Kabuto, who took a step back to avoid the punch.

But after Kabuto avoided the punch his glasses suddenly shattered into pieces.

"What's going on? You definitely avoided that punch, why did you glasses break?" spoke Sasuke as he stood forward, with an annoyed and confused expression on his face.

This question was of course shared by many of the others, who were watching the incident.

But just when everyone thought that was it, Kabuto fell to his knees and threw up, which received many more worried and confused looks from all the different Genin's.

"It seems that you're not as good as I thought you would be, given that you are a veteran of the Chunin exam" spoke the gauze wearing boy named Dosu, who stood in front of Kabuto with the rest of his team.

"Write this in your card…the three from Otogakure will definitely make Chunin" spoke the black spiky haired boy named Zaku.

As Zaku said this, many of the others in the room stared at Dosu and his team-mates, with some curiosity over how Dosu took Kabuto out, after he dodged Dosu's punch.

"_Baka's_", thought Naruto, as she simply stared at Dosu. "_They're clearly amateurs trying to make names for themselves. They should've left well enough alone and let people underestimate them, since it gives them an extra advantage. But instead, like fools, they draw attention to themselves by attacking someone and then showed off one of their techniques in front of everyone, just because of a simple comment. Now people will be on the watch for them, especially that guy in the bandages and that trick he use to take Kabuto down_."

It was after Naruto thought this, that a large puff of smoke appeared in the front of the room, where a male voice shouted out "Quiet it down! You punks!"

Once the smoke appeared an intimidating man wearing a long black trench coat appeared with a large group of Konoha examiners behind him.

"My name in Morine Ibiki and I'll be your first examiner in this test of the Chunin exam, so I suggest you all shut up and listen", spoke the man named Ibiki.

-The Jonin waiting lounge-

After seeing off their teams to the Chunin exam, Jonin-sensei's Sarutobi Asuma and Yūh iKurenai went off to have lunch together, after which they then went to the Jonin waiting lounge

When they entered the room, they saw several Jonin sensei's many of them they knew, others they did not, as they were from various different villages. After looking around, they saw Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato together, where the two of them decided to go to them.

As they got closer, they saw that Kakashi was reading his Icha, Icha book as normal, Yamato was also reading a book, but unlike Kakashi, his book was "The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja", which both Naruto and Kushina had recommend to Yamato to read. Kushina on the other hand was silently staring at something at the other end of the room.

"Hey guys, been a while" greeted Asuma, as he and Kurenai walked up the three and sat next to them.

"Yoh!" greeted Kakashi with a wave, as he looked up at them, before going back to read his book.

Yamato of course greeted them both respectfully, after which he went back to reading his book, Kushina replied with a simple "hey" before going back to staring at the other end of the room.

Deciding to see what Kushina was looking at, both of them turned to see who Kushina was staring at. When they turned, they saw that Kushina was staring at a tall dark skin muscular man, with a Kumo forehead protector, sunglasses and seven sword swords on his back. The person in question was seemingly writing on a notepad book and muttering out rhymes.

Upon seeing who Kushina was staring at, both Jonin-sensei's raised their eyebrows.

"Excuse me Kushina-san, but why are you staring at that man?" asked Kurenai curiously.

"Yea Kushina, don't tell me you're actually into that guy?" mocked Asuma.

At this remark, Kushina scoffed, "Please, I do have certain standards; beside I would never think of dating a Kumo-nin."

At this Asuma just nodded, while Kureani had a confuse look on his face, until Asuma explained how back when she was younger, Kushina was kidnaped by Kumo. Who kidnaped her so to use her unique Chakra abilities that allow her to subdue Biju.

After hearing this, Kurenai nodded in understanding, before she then turned back to Kushina. "But that still does not explain why you're staring solely at him, as there are several other Kumo Shinobi's here."

"The reason why I'm watching him is because he is no ordinary Jonin. His name is Killer Bee and he is the adopted younger brother of the Yondaime Raikage as well as the jinchūriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū (Eight-tailed Giant Ox)."

"You're kidding?" Asuma asked in shock, while Kurenai gasped.

"I'm afraid it's true" spoke Yamato as he looked up from his book. "Not only that but, he is also considered by many as the perfect jinchūriki, as unlike most, he has complete and utter control over his Biju."

"Man who would've thought that Kumo would've let one of their jinchūriki come here with his Genin to take the Chunin exam. They're usually paranoid when it comes to one of their jinchūriki's, normally they've them stay nearby their village as much as possible" stated Asuma.

"I'm afraid it's much worse than that" spoke Kakashi, as he looked up from his book.

"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai.

"He means that there is a rumour we heard from our intelligence, they say that the jinchūriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū is also training the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat). Meaning that one of Killer Bee's students is the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko" said Kushina with unusual seriousness in her voice.

"Ah hell", mutter Asuma, "Does the Hokage know about this?"

"He does" replied Yamato.

"But why would Kumo risk sending both their jinchūriki's into the Chunin exam?" spoke Kurenai, as having more than one jinchūriki in the Chunin exam was just inviting a disaster to happen.

"My only guess is that it's about Naruto" replied Kushina.

"Do you mean that they know that Naruto has the Kyuubi or he has Mokuton ability?" asked Kurenai.

"Neither, since besides us, only the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Shizune, Tsuande and Naruto himself know about Naruto being the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-tailed Demon Fox). I also do not believe that they know about Naruto having Mokuton, as none of us have mentioned it to anyone. The Sandaime has also made certain that the council has kept quiet about it, so I don't think we've to worry about them", said Kushina.

"So then why are they sending one of their jinchūriki's into the Chunin exam?" asked Asuma.

"My best guess is that they sending the Nibi jinchūriki to take Naruto out, as they fear that he may one day become as strong as Tsunade-sama or the Shodaime Hokage or the Nidaime Hokage, if not stronger than them. Hence they want to take him out before that happens", explained Kushina.

"But they can't if they do that they could start a war!" said Kurenai.

"That would be unlikely, as remember Kurenai, killing is not forbidden in the exam, so they could easily kill Naruto in the Forest of Death without incident or during the finals. As if they did kill him, they could easily just say it was an accident, where there would be nothing we could" stated Kakashi. As he had to hand it to the Raikage, this was probably the perfect way to eliminate someone like Naruto, without starting a war between Kumo and Konoha.

"We have to do something!" stated Kurenai, as she had no wish of seeing Naruto being killed, as she had grown quite found of the young Senju boy and found him to be a kind and caring young man.

"There is nothing we can do Kurenai-san" said Yamato, who understood where Kurenai was coming from. "As we cannot remove Naruto from the exam when it has already begun, at least not without good reason, like having a serious injury or something, as if we took him out of the exam, it would be a great embarrassment to Konoha."

"Damn…things look pretty bad for the kid" said Asuma as he puffed smoke out from his cigarette, as like Kurenai and the others he was worried about Naruto, as he had started to like the young blonde as well. Especially since Naruto started teaching him his **Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash)!

"Well I'm afraid it only gets worse" spoke Kushina, causing Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai to look at her.

"How so Kushina-san?" asked Kurenai.

"Well it seems that Naruto knows Killer Bee and his Genin team or to be more precise, he is friends with them", explained Kushina. After which she then told Kakashi and the others about Naruto's meeting with Killer Bee and his team. She then further went on to explain her fears that the Kumo Genin, may use their "friendship" with Naruto to get close to him and get him to let his guard down and kill him.

At hearing this, the three Jonin-sensei's frowned, as they knew that what Kushina said was indeed possible and it would not beyond Kumo to try something like that. As they had done something very similar nine years ago, when they used the peace treaty between Kumo and Konoha to have their head Shinobi enter the village and try to kidnap Hyuga Hinata. It was even more possible, given the fact that Naruto was a trusting person. A fact that Naruto proved at Nami no Kuni, when he attacked Kakashi to save Zabuza's apprentice/partner Haku, who Naruto had befriended earlier on.

"Man and I thought the kids had it tough before" commented Asuma.

"What do you mean Asuma-san?" asked Yamato.

"Well I heard that this year the first examiner is Morine Ibiki."

At this Kakashi frowned, "That Sadist…? Well it seems things will indeed be difficult for the kids."

"Sadist, what do you mean? Who is Ibiki?" asked Kurenai as she had not heard of the man.

"I'm not surprised that you have not heard of him Kurenai, since you are a rookie Jonin after all" commented Asuma. "Ibiki is an expert in the Human psyche, where he can easily find you smallest weakness and get inside your head and break you and make up give up. He is also the head of the Torture and Interrogation division, making him good at what he does."

At hearing this Kurenai became worried for her student and frowned slightly at the news, "So what should we do?" she asked.

"The only thing we can do…" spoke Kushina, "…wait and believe that we've trained them well enough and that they can get through this test."

-With Naruto had the others-

After Ibiki and the other Chunin examiners arrived, they quickly took charged of the room, where they had everyone quickly take seats. When Naruto's name was called out, he found himself being seated next the Hinata, which of course he did not mind, although the young Hyuga girl did blush a bit at being seated next to Naruto.

After everyone was seated Ibiki began to explain the rules of the test to everyone, where much to everyone's surprise they found it to be a written exam. Ibiki also then went on to explain that cheating was strictly forbidden, where the other Chunin examiners would be watching them closely and if they were found cheating, three times, then they would be disqualified from the exam.

Once he had explained the rules, Ibiki then handed out the exam sheets and stated that they had one hour the do the paper, where upon hearing this, all the Genin immediately began writing.

When the exam started Naruto looked over the questions and found that there were very few questions that he could understand. As many of them the questions required advance mathematics to understand, while others could only be answered by senior Chunin and Jonin shinobi's.

Answering whatever questions he could, Naruto then looked around the room to see how everyone else was doing. It didn't take Naruto long to figure out that nearly everyone was cheating in the exam, as when he looked around he saw that Hinata was using her Byakugan to see through people and look at their answers. He also saw Haku, who was a few seats ahead of him; creating ice mirrors above herself and her team-mates and positioning them in angles that allowed them to see the answers of other people.

Seeing this, Naruto then realized that the only way he was going to pass this exam was to cheat and not get caught by the examiners.

After thinking for a few minutes, Naruto finally thought of a way for him to get the answers without getting caught, where he asked Ibiki to use the bathroom.

Ibiki of course nodded, but had one of the Chunin examiners accompany Naruto, so to make sure he didn't cheat. When he reached the bathroom, Naruto stated he needed to use one of the stalls. The Chunin of course checked the stall that Naruto was going to use, so to make sure that there were no communication devises or sheets with answers in the stall.

Once the Chunin had finish checking the stall, Naruto went into it and locked the stall door behind him, where he then pretended to go be in the toilet. After a few minutes, Naruto then silently created a wood clone of himself, where he then had the wood clone quickly merge with the wooden wall of the bathroom.

After the clone had merged with the wall, Naruto then pretended to finish up and leave the stall, where after washing his hands he and the examiner returned to the exam room.

For the next few minutes Naruto pretended to do the written exam, all the while silently waiting for his clone to return to him, which was merged with the ceiling of the room and looking down on the examinees and their answers.

Once the clone had gathered all the needed answers, the wood clone then fully merged with the ceiling. After which it then re-emerged from the floor underneath Naruto's desks and touched his leg, where Naruto reabsorbed the wood clone and received all the information it had gathered.

When he received all of the clone's information, Naruto immediately began to write down all the answers to the questions. As he did this, he silently thanked his Sensei Yamato for telling him about the unique abilities of the **Moku Bunshin no Jutsu** (Wood Clone Technique).

After finishing writing down that answer Naruto then patiently waited for the tenth and final question which was left blank, as Ibiki had explained that it would not be answered until the last few minutes of the exam.

As Naruto waited, he watched several other teams being caught by Ibiki and the Chunin examiners, where they were automatically failed and sent out of the room. By the time of the last five minutes of the exam, about a third of the room had been emptied.

When the time had come for the final question had come, Ibiki spoke, "Well now it seems that it time for the final question, although I've to say there are more of you than I thought there would be. But still there is one thing, that I did not mention earlier when I explained the rules of the test to you, that rule being that you can choose to take the tenth a final question or not."

Upon hearing this, the examinees were of course surprised and slightly confused at what Ibiki was saying.

"Choose, what the hell do you mean by that?" asked Temari.

"It's simple really if you choose not to take the exam your points from this exam will be reduced to zero, where both you and your team-mates will automatically fail the test", explained Ibiki.

"Then what's the point of giving us the choice, of course we're going to take the question" stated a Genin from Kusa.

"Well you see there is actually more to this rule", replied Ibiki, which made the examinees more nervous. "For if you do the tenth question and you get it wrong, you'll not only just fail the exam. But you'll also lose your privilege for taking the Chunin exam forever."

"What the hell kind of dumb as rule is that", cried Kiba as he stood up and pointed accusingly at Ibiki. "There should be those here who have taken the Chunin exam in the past!"

At this Ibiki just chuckled darkly, making many of the Genin nervous.

"You I' am afraid were unlucky, as this year I'm the one making the rules, which is why I am giving you all the option of quitting", replied Ibiki and then continued.

"Those of you who're not confident in answering the final question can quite now and take the exam next year and the year after that", stated Ibiki, before chuckling darkly again.

For the next few minutes, the room was filled with an intense, atmosphere, caused by what Ibiki had said, where the doubts of many of the Genin started to creep into them slowly.

Soon enough several Genin who could no longer take the pressure raised their hands and stated that they were giving up, where they were then joined by their team-mates.

One by one, more and more Genin teams left, where after a little while the number participants of the Chunin exam had been cut down in half.

Seeing that the number had now been cut in half, Ibiki decided to add just a bit more pressure to see if there were any more to be weeded out before giving out the tenth question.

"This is your final warning now! If any of you have any doubts in correctly answering the tenth question, I suggest you leave now. For if you don't leave and you fail to get the tenth question you will never enter this exam again!"

At this, the weight and pressure of the decision that they had to make began to weigh more and more on the remaining Chunin hopefuls, who were doubting themselves more and more as they watched other participants give up.

This pressure became especially hard on Hinata, who was already insecure and doubtful of herself to begin with, where after another few minutes; she could no longer take it and slowly raised her hand.

"_I'm sorry, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Naruto-kun…I'm just not strong enough_" thought the young Hyuga girl as she raised her hand up.

Seeing what Hinata was going to do, Naruto quickly grabbed hold of Hinata's hand…stopping it before it could fully go up, while at the same time lifting his up, but then suddenly smacked his hand down onto the desk and stood up.

"Screw you! I'm not gonna run away like some coward!" cried the young blonde. "I'm taking this question and even if I fail and remain a Genin, it won't stop me from achieving my dream in become Hokage one day. So just give us the stupid question, as none of us are afraid!"

"Are you certain about? As this question can affect your entire life, you still have the option to give up no?" asked Ibiki.

"I told you I've no intention of giving up and once I say something, I'll do it no matter what!" replied Naruto.

After hearing this, Ibiki looked around the room since after Narurto's little speech, the frighten and uncertain looks that were on many of the faces turned to looks of confidence and determination, the direct opposite of what they were a moment ago.

Even Hinata, who had been ready to give up a moment ago, drew confidence from what Naruto had said and gained the courage to take the final.

Upon seeing how the atmosphere had been completely changed by Naruto speech's the Konoha interrogator couldn't help but smirk. "_So that's the Senju brat that everyone has been talking about recently…pretty interesting kid, he completely wiped out everyone's uncertainty._"

"Eighty Genin, eh? More than I expect…but still, since you all seem ready to take the question, I've only one thing to say… you all pass!"

After hearing this, the Genin were of course surprised and confused at what Ibiki had said.

After getting over her surprise, Sakura imminently took up and spoke, "Wait, what do you mean by we passed? What about the tenth question?"

At this Ibiki smiled, "The choice to take the question was the tenth question, as there was no actually question to begin with."

"So what were all those other questions, were they all just a waste?" asked Temari, with annoyance, at how they had been all duped.

"No, they had a purpose as well, they were all to test you information gathering skills" explained Ibiki, where after seeing the slight confuse look on some of the Genin's faces. He went on to explain the objective and goals of the first test, and how they were all tested and how the test involved skills needed to be a successful Chunin.

During the explanation, Ibiki even removed his bandana to reveal all the scars on his head that he received from being tortured, showing what you've to go through, to keep the secret of your village from its enemies.

Once the explanations were finished a round object suddenly burst though one of the windows, after which a large banner with the words "Second examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here!" appeared in front of Ibiki along with a tall violet haired woman. Who wore a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs along with a dark orange mini-skirt.

Upon her arrival the woman named Anko cried out "I' am the second examiner Mitarashi Anko…Now let's go to the next exam!" after which Anko then pumped up her fist into the air and shouted out "Follow me!"

At this everyone in the room just stared at her, with looks of disbelief.

"You really need to learn to grasp the atmosphere, Anko" stated Ibiki as he stepped out from behind the banner, with a dull look on his face, where the violet haired woman blushed in embarrassment.

Naruto of course could not believe it when he saw Anko, as the way the woman had introduced herself, with crashing through the window with the banner behind her, would be just like something a certain Sannin he knew would do. Not to mention the way she was dressed, made Naruto wonder if she had modelled herself after one of Jiraya's female characters in his Icha Icha books, as it was definitely skimpy enough to be.

At this same time, Naruto also had a nagging thought at the back of his mind, as the name Mitarashi Anko had rang a bell with him, since he was certain he had heard the name somewhere before.

After getting over her embarrassment, Anko counted the number of remaining Genin, where she found that there were eight Genin left. "Ibiki you let twenty-six teams pass? Your test must have been too soft"

"Or that there were quite a number of excellent Genin this year" replied the scared head man.

"Huh! Well it doesn't matter…" replied Anko, "…as I'm going to make more than half of these teams fail the next test."

Upon hearing this many of the Genin became nervous; especially give the sinister looking smirk that appeared on her face.

It was when this look appeared on Anko's face that Naruto suddenly remembered where he had heard Anko's name before.

"_Now I remember her! Ero-sennin, once told me about how that teme Orochimaru once had a female apprentice back before he was forced to flee Konoha, she Orochimaru's former student_."

"Now then tomorrow, we'll be going somewhere for the second exam, so ask your Jonin-sensei for the rallying point and time", spoke Anko in a serious tone. After which she then dismissed the Genin.

After being dismissed by Anko, the remaining Genin, began to walk out of the room to talk to their Jonin-sensei.

As Naruto was about get up from his seat, Hinata suddenly speak.

"A-A-Ar-rigato Naruto-kun"

Upon hearing this Naruto just nodded and smiled, after which he left with Sasuke and the others and met up with their sensei's to find out about the next round of the Chunin exam and prepare for it.

N/A

(1). Go to profile for link of image of Haku's outfit

(2). Go to profile for link of image of what Saito looks like

Well that's the first round of the Chunin exam done, hoped you all enjoyed it. Now as you can guess the next round will involve Naruto and everyone being in the Forest of Death. Not to mention Naruto finally meeting Orochimaru, which is something I know that many of you are all looking forward to.

Now before you all go asking me, to hurry up with the next update, all I can say is that I update as soon as I can, no longer and no later. Since I really need to update my other stories, where the next story I'll be updating will be my Brother Bonds story, after which I will then update my White fire Prince story.

Also as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.


	19. Chapter 19

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Nineteen: Meeting the Snake**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

-The Forest of Death-

After the events of the first test, Naruto and the gang met up with their Sensei's and informed them that they had passed and was waiting to pass the next test.

The three Jonin-sensei were pleased to hear this, especially given who was doing the exam. Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato informed them that next exam would be held on training ground forty-four, which was better known as the Forest of Death, and that they would have to meet Anko there at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning.

The following morning the four Genin met up again and arrived at the rendezvous point a few minutes before eight.

When they arrived they found that all the other Genin had arrived and were waiting for Anko's arrival.

As they waited they looked at the Forest of Death, figuring that this would be where their next exam would be.

"This place is creepy" said Sakura nervously, as she looked at the dark forest.

Soon enough though, Anko appeared in front of everyone in a puff of smoke and then called them together to listen to what she had to say.

There Anko informed the group of Genin that they would be spending the next five days in the forest.

Upon hearing this many of the Genin became nervous over having to enter the creepy forest, Naruto of course was not intimidated by the forest and just scoffed. Since he had been terrified by the best, hence it would take a lot more than this to scare him.

Hearing Naruto scoff and seeing that he was unafraid of what she had said, Anko decided to have a little fun with the young Senju. Upon which a Kunai suddenly appeared out from her sleeve and into her hand, where she threw it at Naruto with frightening speed.

Seeing the glint of Anko's Kunai Naruto quickly moved his head slightly to avoid the Kunai, although was unable to do it fully, where he received a shallow cut on his cheeks, which bled a little.

When Naruto avoided the Kunai, Anko then suddenly appeared right behind him, "Ohhhhhh, I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Anko asked almost child like, where she pressed her ample chest onto Naruto's back and wrapped her arms around Naruto.

At this Naruto just smirked, "Sadly yes, as I find such intimidating tactics rather dull and would like to get on with the exam."

"Ohhh, confident are we? …well you need more than just confidence to survive this exam. Since overconfident ones like you are normally the first to die, and I do so love to see nice red blood being spill all over the place," Anko said as she leaned forward to lick the blood off Naruto's cheek, but before she could, she suddenly felt the sharp point of a Kunai blade poking into her left armpit.

"Well if you like blood so much, then I'm certain you like this!" Naruto stated with a smile and pressed his Kunai a little harder into her armpit.

"There's a vein just here that goes straight to the heart. If cut, it would bleed so fast that you wouldn't live long enough to decide how to curse me. So if you would…could you let go of me, as there are rules about examiners molesting the examinees."

Naruto was gratified with the sight of the former Saninn's apprentice eyes widen in surprise, before she grinned. She was impressed with Naruto.

"Hmph! not bad brat…but you only wish I was molesting you." Anko replied with a saucy smirk, when she let go of Naruto.

Although when she did, her Shinobi senses suddenly warned her of danger from behind, where she immediately let go of Naruto, and another Kunai appeared out of her sleeve into her hand. But before she could fully turn around she saw a Kusa Genin was behind her and that he was holding her Kunai with his long tongue, which Naruto found disgusting.

"I believe this is yours" the Kusa Genin said as he gave Anko. back her Kunai.

"Why thank you…but you shouldn't sneak up on me from behind like that" Anko said with a cheery grin. "That is, if you don't want to die young."

"I apologize" the Kusa Genin replied though she sound anything but sorry, as she retracted his tongue and smiled, after Anko took her Kunai. "It's just that I get excited when I see blood. Also, my precious hair was cut, so I got a little bit more excited."

"_What's with that guy?_" Naruto thought, as he got a bad feeling off the Kusa Genin.

"Well now, it seems that we have quite a few lively Genin today" Anko commented, as she walked back in front of the group of Genin.

"Now before we start the second test you need to sign all these" Anko explained as she held up a large bunch of forms in her hand.

"What are they?" a Genin from Suna asked.

"These are consent forms, which you must sign to participate in the second test" Anko replied.

"But why?" asked Ino.

"Simple, in this test people will die; therefore, we need your consent before we can continue, otherwise I'd be held responsible", Anko answered, where she then laughed, as if the whole thing was funny.

Naturally, no-one found it funny and many people became nervous at hearing how people would die in this exam.

Soon enough though, everyone signed the sheets and handed Anko back the forms, once the forms were signed, Anko went onto explain how the second test was going to work. She explained that they would be all be given a scroll, where one half would be given a scroll with Heaven on it and the other with Earth on it. She also explained that to pass they would all have to make it to the tower in the centre of the forest, and could only enter it when they'd both have an Earth and Heaven scroll and were with their entire team.

Anko then went on to explain that the only way they could pass this exam, was to get an opposite scroll to the one they had in five days, which was the time limit to the exam. She even explained that if they fail to get the scroll in the time allowed, lost a team-mate or open the scrolls before entering the tower, they would automatically fail the exam.

After finishing explaining the rules of the exam, Anko then spoke up again, "Also there is one final thing, which is for the Genin of Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Kushina, Yamato and Killer Bee of Kumo."

Upon hearing this Yugito, her team, along with Naruto and team seven listened up.

"Due to the fact, that your two squads each have four members in it and in the interest of fairness to the other teams, who all only have three members. Your squads will have to gather twice the number of scrolls and in the same amount of time as everyone else."

"WHAT!" cried Karui, "But that's not fair!"

"Well tough, as the Hokage decided that it was the only fair thing to do, since you each have one extra member on your squad, and if we didn't do this. Then the other squads would be complaining that it was unfair to them", Anko explained.

After hearing this Naruto frowned, for although he understood why the Sandaime did this, he still didn't like it. As now regardless of what scroll they got, he and his team would have to gather three others scrolls.

Meaning they needed two Heaven and two Earth scrolls to pass the exam, while everyone, (minus Yugito's team), just needed one of each.

Once all explanations were done, the Genin teams were all secretly given their own scrolls; Naruto and team seven were given the Heaven scroll, (which was given to Sasuke to keep). After which they were assigned to gate twelve from which to enter the forest.

At exactly half two, the signal was given and the Genin teams entered the forest.

-Three Hours Later-

Currently a young Kusa Kunoichi with red hair and glasses was trapped with a large tree behind her and a large bear in front of her, which was ready to attack her.

Said girl had been separated from the rest of her team and had been chased by the large bear for several minutes before being cornered by it.

Seeing that she was trapped, the girl called out to her team-mates for help, but received no answer. As the bear readied to pounce on her, the young girl ducked underneath it and tried to run away. But as she ran, she tripped over a large root and fell to the ground and hit her head temporarily knocking her out.

The bear quickly turned around and right when it was about to kill the young girl, Sasuke suddenly appeared and delivered several powerful kicks to the bears head.

After which several Ink Snakes appeared and wrapped themselves around the bear and tied it up.

Once the bear was subdued Sasuke propped the girl up against a nearby tree and searched her for any scroll.

"So does she have any scrolls?" Sai asked as he walked up to the Uchiha.

"No" Sasuke replied.

"Too bad, let's head back to Senju and the Hag, maybe they had better luck" Sai responded, where Sasuke just nodded.

As the two boys walked away, the young girl slowly woke up and saw two blurry figures walking away from her. Grabbing her glasses quickly, (which Sasuke left next to her), the girl put them on, where just as she did, she saw the two boys jump up to the trees and jump away. But before they disappeared into the tree, the girl saw Sasuke turn back to her and smile for a brief moment, after which he and Sai left.

Soon after saving the young redheaded Kusa Kunoichi, Sai and Sasuke regrouped with Naruto and Sakura.

The group had broken up into pairs not long after entering the forest, after Naruto had used his **Chakura no Parusu **(Chakra Pulse) to locate some of other the teams.

"So did you guys have any luck?" Sasuke asked, after he and Sai re-joined with Naruto and Sakura.

"Yea, we found the two teams; they were fighting each other when we got there. So we waited until one of them defeated the other and then took care of the team that won, when they were worn out. Both of them had Earth scrolls, so now we only need one Heaven scroll, how about you?" Naruto replied.

"No luck, we only found one member of the team you located, but she didn't have a scroll on her", Sasuke answered.

At this Naruto only nodded, as it wasn't a big deal, since they already had gotten two scrolls and only needed one more to enter the tower.

Deciding to take a quick break, the team rested for about fifteen minutes, after which they decided to move on deeper into the forest, so increase their chances on meeting another team who would have a Heaven scroll.

Suddenly, a sudden massive gust of wind appeared out of no-where, scattering the team from one another.

-With Anko-

Currently happily munching on some dango and soda, the second examiner Anko was finishing off her lunch, where she then planned to head to the tower and wait for the Genin, who made it to the tower.

But just as she had finished eating, a Chunin examiner suddenly appeared in front of her, telling her that there was an emergency.

When Anko asked what the emergency was, the Chunin explained that they had found three bodies not too far away from the exam area and that there was something unusual about the bodies.

When Anko arrived at the scene with the Chunin, one of the two Chunin guarding the scene spoke.

"From their ID's that we found on them, we know that they were from Kusagakure (Hidden Grass) and they had signed up to be participating in the Chunin exam today. But as you can see…"

"Their faces are all gone!" Anko breated while reaching up to her neck to rub the curse seal. Possibilities running through her head.

"It's as if their faces were melted off" the Chunin replied.

"_There's no doubt…This Technique is…__**his**__…But why is __**he**__ at the Chunin exam?_" Anko thought, as her fears solidified, knowing exactly who was responsible for this.

"Show me a picture of these Kusa-nins! As there should be one with their application" Anko demanded, with clear urgency in her voice.

Nodding quickly, the Chunin with the applications quickly handed her the photos of the Kusa-nins.

When Anko saw what the Genin look like before they loss their faces, she immediately recognized one of the dead Genin. As the Kusa Genin who snuck up on her earlier on, when she was explaining the rules of the second exam to the Genin.

Realizing the serious of the situation, Anko quickly turned around to the three Chunin.

"Quickly, you three inform the Hokage of what has happened here, and tell him we need as at least two ANBU squads mobilize and sent into the Forest of Death", said a concern Anko. After which she then stated that she would enter the forest and try and track the intruders herself.

Nodding in understanding the three Chunin disappeared, where they went to inform the Sandaime.

"_**He's**__…returned to the village_" Anko thought with a serious look on her face, after she disappeared from the scene and headed for the Forest of Death.

-With Naruto-

After being blow away by the massive Wind, Naruto found himself alone in the small clearing in the forest.

"Uhhhhh, what the hell" Naruto groaned, as he woke up in the clearing and held his head in pain, as he guessed he hit his head when he had been blown away by the gust of Wind and it knocked him out for a short while.

After a little time, Naruto eventually regained himself, which was none too soon, for as soon as he did, his Shinobi senses kicked in and told him to move, where a massive Snake appeared right above him and tried to eat him.

"_Shit! That was close!_" Naruto thought, as he landed on the ground a few feet away from the Giant Snake.

Seeing that it had missed its prey the Giant Snake lifted its head and eyed Naruto with hungry eyes, where it hissed loudly and showed its long fork like tongue.

Seeing the Snake looking at him, Naruto quickly realized what the massive serpent was thinking and readied himself.

After a moment or two the Giant Snake struck and charged at Naruto.

Seeing the Snake coming at him, Naruto quickly raced forward and ducked under the Snake's mouth. After which he then jumped upward and used his enhance strength to punch the Snake right in the chin, sending its head flying upward.

Naruto then followed his punch, with a powerful kick, which sent the Giant Snake backwards into a nearby tree.

After hitting the tree, the Snake tried to hit the still mid-air Naruto with its tail from the side.

Seeing the Snake's tail coming at him from the side, Naruto immediately created a clone and had the clone throw him away, allowing him to avoid the incoming tail, which hit the clone and destroyed it.

After Naruto avoided its tail, the Snake then charged forward at him in another attempt to eat him.

Seeing this, Naruto decided that he had enough of the Giant Snake, where he took out his Katana from his sheath on his back, and then started to channel his Wind Chakra into the tip of his blade.

"_I better get this right, as I won't get another shot_", Naruto thought, as channelled a massive amount of Chakra into his sword and waited from the right moment to strike.

Right when the Snake was on top of him, Naruto swung his Katana and cried out "**'Idaina Surasshu-fū **(Great Wind Slash)!" (A)

After which a massive crescent shape blade of Wind easily twice the size of Naruto's standard **Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash) erupted from his Katana and cut the Giant Snake in two with no trouble, just as it was about to eat him.

After cutting the Giant Snake in two, the blade of Wind continued on and cut about halfway through one of the massive tree trunks behind the Snake before finally dissipating.

At the same time after the blade of Wind cut the Giant Snake, the Snake's body puffed away revealing that it was a summons.

Once the Giant Snake's body puffed away, Naruto was left panting heavily. He was still not use to doing this technique, as it took a lot out of him.

Naruto had created the technique during his training sessions with Asuma. Who suggested that in the event of Naruto went up against something that required more power than a regular **Surasshu-fū**. He should have something to give him that extra boost.

After a few minutes Naruto regained himself, where he then sheathed his Katana.

"_That was no ordinary Snake, it was a summon_" the blonde thought, as he looked at the spot, where the two halves of the giant Snake were a moment ago.

"_But what was one of them doing here? Could that Anko woman have summoned it? Since she was "__**his**__" student after all... No! There would be no point, since there are plenty of wild and dangerous creatures here already. So why is there a Snake summon here? Since the only other person that could summon the Snakes is…OH NO!_" Naruto thought, upon realizing who had summoned the giant Snake. Along with who had created the large gust of Wind that blew him away from the rest of his team.

After realizing who might be here, Naruto quickly used his **Chakura no Parusu **to try and locate his team-mates before "_**he**_" showed up.

Unfortunately, Naruto's worst fears came to pass, where when he located Sai, Sasuke and Sakura. He also located a massive Chakra source, which was easily at the level of his Mother and Godfather and was currently battling his team-mates.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Naruto quickly started to head to where his team-mates were in an attempt to try and save them. But even as he raced towards them, Naruto had a gut feeling that told him that things weren't going to end well.

-With Sasuke, Sai and Sakura-

After the large gust of Wind scattered his team, Sasuke spent several minutes trying to find them. After a while Sasuke regrouped with both Sai and Sakura, but just when they were about to look for Naruto. They were intercepted by three Kusa Genin, two of whom left on the order of their leader, who faced Sasuke and the others, by himself.

For the first few minutes Sasuke and the others fought the Kusa Genin fiercely, but all their attacks were beaten back effortlessly, as if the Kusa Genin wasn't even trying. As the fight went on doubt and fear grew in Sasuke, it unnerved him at how easily the Kusa Genin was beating them back, as if he wasn't even trying.

As the fight went on, the Kusa Genin let lose a powerful burst of Killing Intent, which froze the three Genin. Thankfully though, Sai was able to break free of the paralyzing effects of the Killing Intent, thanks to his training from Danzo. At the same time Sasuke freed himself by stabbing himself in the leg with a Kunai; where together the two boys grabbed hold of Sakura, and pulled her away to avoid the Kusa Genin's attack.

Seeing how overwhelmed they were, Sasuke quickly offered up their three scrolls stating that Kusa Genin could have whatever one he wanted, as long as he just left them alone.

When the Kusa Genin heard this he had a disappointed look on his face, he then took all three scrolls, where to the surprise of the three Genin…he ate them. After which he stated how disappointed he was with them, and said he had no more use for them.

At hearing this Sasuke stated that they should runaway, since they stood no chance against the Kusa Genin. Sai on the other hand ignored Sasuke advice and used his **ChōjūGiga **(Super Beasts Imitation Picture) and created several Ink lions to attack the Kusa Genin.

The Kusa Genin of course easily dispatched, the Ink lions, where Sai then prepared to engage the Kusa Genin with his Tanto. But before he went to engage the Kusa Genin he turned to Sasuke and said, "I always thought you were useless and dickless Uchiha, but I never thought you were ball-less as well."

Sasuke of course tried deny what Sai had said, but the point was driven even further, when even Sakura, backed what Sai had said, saying that Sasuke was acting like a coward, upon which she then went to help Sai.

For the next few minutes Sasuke watched as Sakura and Sai fought the Kusa Genin, but like before they were no match for the Kusa Genin, who toyed with them for a short while.

Sakura was the first to be taken out, where the Kusa Genin sent her slamming into a nearby tree.

Sai on the other hand lasted a bit longer, and put up a good fight, but was eventually overpowered and sent flying into another tree. But not before receiving four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and several other bruises for his trouble.

After dealing with Sai and Sakura, the Kusa Genin jumped next to Sasuke and mocked him, where he asked him if he was going to abandon his team-mates and run like a coward and keep his precious life.

Upon hearing this, the young Uchiha had a flashback of the night that his Clan his was killed, where he met his brother and said, "Foolish little brother, run, run and cling to your precious life."

After remembering this, he then remembered what both Sai and Sakura said to him.

Upon remembering all of this Sasuke realized he had indeed been acting like a coward, where he then decided wasn't going to run anymore, he then activated his Sharingan and prepared to fight.

When the Kusa Genin saw this, he smiled and decided to have a little "_fun_" with Sasuke and test his abilities.

For a moment or two, the two of them just stared off at one another, but once the moment ended Sasuke charged head on and engaged the Kusa Genin. (1)

For several minutes the two fought fiercely, and despite putting up a fight worthy of praise from anyone. The fight came to an abrupt end for Sasuke, where after capturing the Kusa Genin with Ninja wire and pinning him against a tree. Sasuke used his **Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu **(Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique) in attempt to kill the Kusa Genin.

Sadly though when the fire died down the Kusa Genin broke free of Sasuke's Ninja wire, and used a strange technique to paralyze Sasuke, along with Sakura and Sai, so to make sure that they couldn't interfere. After which he walked forward a bit, revealing his face, showing it had all but melted from the flames, although a slight opening in his left eye, showing that there was another face underneath. As if the face on the surface was just a mask and the Kusa Genin true face was underneath.

When Sasuke looked into the opening in the melted face he saw amber eyes with slits as pupils and purple markings around the eyes. Also as well the Kusa Genin forehead protector changed from the symbol of Kusagakure to Otogakure (Hidden Sound).

"Such mastery of the Sharingan at so young an age, you're a true Uchiha after all!" the mysterious Genin stated, where his voice changed to a different and much older persons. "Yes…you may do nicely after all."

As the mysterious Oto Genin watched Sasuke try and break free of his paralyzing technique, he smirked in amusement. "You're indeed _his _brother, if anything your eyes are even keener than your brother Itachi's."

"Who the hell are you? How do you know Itachi? What do you want?" Sasuke asked angrily, as he glared at the mysterious Genin in anger.

"Who I am is unimportant…and as to what I want, well that'll have to wait until we met again, which won't happen unless you finish this exam with one of the top scores. But still you must first pass another test; you must defeat the Genin of Otogakure, who are under my command."

"I don't care what kind of twisted game you're playing, but I've no interest in being part of it!" Sasuke yelled angrily and he continued to try and break free.

"Oh you will eventually Sasuke-kun, I promise you that." the disguised Oto Genin replied. After which his neck extended to an inhuman length and flew towards Sasuke and bit him right on the left side of his neck.

"Sasuke-kun, No!" cried Sakura, as she saw the disguised Shinobi bite Sasuke like some kind of vampire, where she tried to go over to him and help, but couldn't move.

After a moment or two the mysterious Shinobi let go of Sasuke and retracted his neck, after which three tomoes appeared on Sasuke's neck, near where the mysterious Shinobi bit him. As soon as the Tomoes appeared on Sasuke's neck, the young Uchiha held his neck in pain.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, as she saw her team-mate fall to his knees in pain.

"Oh, I just gave him a little parting gift, as a reward for doing so well against me" the mysterious Genin replied. "Very soon Sasuke-kun will seek me out and desire my power…but for now I will take my leave, as I've another appointment with another member of your team."

"You mean Naruto!" Sai stated, where the mysterious Genin, just smiled and nodded.

"Correct, as like Sasuke-kun, I' am also interested in Naruto-kun, so if you do not mind I will…" the disguised Oto-nin said, but before he could finish, he heard the sound of something hard hitting wood.

When he looked down, he saw a Kunai stuck onto the large branch he was standing on. At the same time he also notice that there was an exploding note tied to the end of it, where it lit up and explode.

After the note exploded, there was a large cloud of smoke, where the mysterious Genin jumped out of, revealing that he was unharmed. But as soon as he did, he was suddenly sent flying down to the ground…hard, after a sudden kick to the face.

It was after this happened, that Sai and Sakura found that they could move again, where they then looked up to the person who had attacked their mysterious enemy.

When they looked, they saw that the person was standing on a large branch on another large tree, looking down at the bush covered area, which he sent the mysterious assailant into.

"_Naruto!_" Sakura thought when she saw him.

"_Senju!_" the injured Sai thought at the same time.

"If you want me so bad, then here I am and you better be ready for a major beat down, as I'm in a bad mood right now", Naruto said angrily, with a seriousness that neither Sai nor Sakura had seen or heard from him before.

"Sakura, Sai are you guys ok?" Naruto asked, as he turned to Sakura and then looked at the injured Sai and Sasuke who fell unconscious, after the mysterious Shinobi bit him.

"I'm fine but Sai is hurt and that guy did something to Sasuke-kun" Sakura answered, where she looked over to her injured crush.

Upon hearing this, Naruto looked at the unconscious Sasuke and frowned, not liking what he heard.

"Sakura, Sai, listen to me, you guys take Sasuke and get out of here, while I hold this guy off."

"Naruto you can't be serious! Look at what he did to us! You don't stand chance by yourself", spoke Sakura.

"Maybe not, but as of right now my chances of surviving alone are better than with you guys being here. Since you're both too injured to fight or defend yourselves, where that guy could use you as shields or as hostages", Naruto replied. Although when Naruto said this, he and the others suddenly heard the dark chuckling of the mysterious Shinobi echo throughout the forest. After which the mysterious Shinobi emerged out of the tree in front of Naruto.

"KuKuKuKuKu, so kind of you to come and meet me here Naruto-kun, you saved me the trouble of having to go look for you. Although I must say, I am surprised to see you; I thought my little pet would've kept you _occupied_ for a little longer."

"I'm afraid he had to "_split_", not long after I met up with him" Naruto replied. "But still let's cut the charade and show your real face _Orochimaru_."

At hearing this, the mysterious Genin smiled, after which he pulled off the melted face, revealing his real face. "KuKuKuKuKu, very good Naruto-kun, but how did you know it me?"

"The Giant Snake was kind of a giveaway, since you're only one of two people, that have the ability to summon Snakes and you're clearly not the other", Naruto retorted.

At hearing this Orochimaru just smiled in amusement again, "Very good Naruto-kun, so I assume that your mother has told you all about me."

"Unfortunately so"

As Naruto and Orochimaru talked amongst themselves, both Sakura and Sai, were reeling from the shock that the mysterious Shinobi that they had been fighting, was the infamous Orochimaru. One of Konoha's most notorious and feared Nuke-nins and was formally of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja's), just like Naruto's mother Tsunade and his Godfather Jiraiya.

"_He's Orochimaru?_" Sakura thought with fear, as she finally realized what they were up against and why they had been so easily defeated.

"_This is not good, we stand no chance against someone like him, we need to leave and Danzo-sama needs to be informed of this_" Sai thought, as he looked from Naruto and Orochimaru to the unconscious Sasuke. After which he then slammed his dislocated shoulder into the trunk of the tree, which pushed his arm back into its socket.

As soon as his arm was back in place, Sai grunted in pain from doing it and then jumped over to Sakura.

"KuKuKuKuKuKu, I must say Naruto-kun it so wonderful to meet you again, as you've no idea how long I've wanted to meet you, face to face" Orochimaru said, with sinister glee.

"What do you mean by again?" a confused Naruto asked, as he would obviously remember meeting Orochimaru.

It was then, as he tried to understand what Orochimaru was talking about, that it suddenly hit him.

"You were the master that Kajika was talking about! You were the one that sent him and his team after me, and took over his body after I defeated him!" Naruto accused. As he remembered the foul dark Chakra that he was sensing from Orochimaru, as well as his narrow yellow eyes.

Upon hearing this Sakura grew confused as she wondered what Naruto was talking about; Sai on the other hand frowned slightly. He knew what Naruto was talking about, since he had heard from Danzo about that mission, where Naruto was attacked, by a group of unknown Shinobi. Who were under the command of an unknown master, who was after Naruto.

"_So it was Orochimaru who sent those Shinobi after Senju_", the ROOT agent thought, as things were starting to make sense now.

"I'm pleased that you remember me Naruto-kun, kukuku" the chuckling Snake Sennin replied.

At this Naruto just narrowed his eyes further, he knew that he stood little to no chance in beating Orochimaru, but he knew that he had no choice but to fight him, seeing as he was after him, for some reason.

"Sakura, Sai, take Sasuke and get out of here!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto you can't be serious, you can't beat him, he's one of the Sannin, he's too strong even for you!" cried Sakura.

"I know I can't beat him, but I can at least hold him off long enough to buy you guys some time to escape, now get out of here!" Naruto said forcefully. As he didn't know how long more it would be before Orochimaru decided to attack. Nor did he know whether Orochimaru would attack his team-mates or not. The only thing he knew for certain was that the Snake Sannin was after him and if tried to run with Sakura and the others, Orochimaru would chase after them.

"Haruno you heard what he said, we need to leave…Now!" spoke Sai.

"But what abou…" spoke Sakura, but was stopped by Sai.

"Senju should be fine, you know how strong he is, beside Orochimaru doesn't want us dead, since if he did, we would already be dead. He clearly wants Senju for something, but if we stay here, we'll distract him from focusing on the fight, which is something he can't afford when going against one of the Sannin. Also if we stay here, we'll just get caught in the crossfire" stated Sai.

When Sai finished Sakura could not think of any argument, as she knew what Sai was saying was true. But even still, that did not mean she liked it, for although Naruto and her did not get along, it didn't mean that she wanted him to die.

After a moment or two, Sakura then steeled herself, where together with Sai the two of them jumped over to where Sasuke lay and then quickly picked him up.

But before they jumped off, Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto and cried out to him. "Don't die Naruto! We still need you to pass the exam!"

At this Naruto just smirked, knowing what Sakura really meant, "Don't worry Sakura, I've no plans on dying anytime soon. Besides if I did die, Kaa-chan would never forgive me."

At this Sakura just nodded, after which she and Sai jumped away, while carrying Sasuke.

After seeing Sai and Sakura jump away with Sasuke, Orochimaru, smirked with amusement, "How noble, sacrificing yourself to save your comrades, it seems that Sarutobi-sensei's teaching have been passed on to you."

"Cut the crap Orochimaru, I am in no mood for chit chat, are you here to fight me or not?" Naruto retorted.

Orochimaru of course just smirked at this, "My, my, it seems that you're just as impatient as your mother…But still, you're correct, as I think it is indeed time that we get started and I suggest that you not hold back. For if you disappoint me, I'll have to kill you and that would indeed be a shame."

Naruto of course did not respond this, although he did frown slightly, as he knew that he couldn't hold back against Orochimaru and would have to give him everything he had, if he wanted to survive.

-Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents-

For a few moments Naruto and Orochimaru just stared at one another. Soon after though, Naruto drew his Katana from his back and took a Kenjutsu fighting stance.

Orochimaru of course responded by taking up his own fighting stance, all the while maintaining his smirk, as if this was nothing more than a game to him.

After staring at one another for another moment or two, Orochimaru spoke, "Come Naruto-kun; show me how much you've learned from my former team-mates."

"With pleasure" replied Naruto with a slight growl, after which he charged straight at Orochimaru, who in turn raced towards Naruto.

Within just a few seconds Orochimaru and Naruto crossed the distance between them, and began their battle.

For the first few minutes of the battle, Naruto tried to slash at Orochimaru with his Katana but each and every time he tried to cut him. Orochimaru would avoid the blonde's slashes by mere inches with such ease, that it was as if Naruto movements were slow to him.

"Come now, Naruto, I know that he can do much better than this" mocked Orochimaru, as he continued to avoid Naruto's attacks.

Upon hearing this, Naruto frowned slightly with anger, but quickly focused himself and decided to change tactics, where he jumped back a bit and then channelled his Wind Chakra into his Katana and swung it, as he cried out "**Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash)!"

Seeing the crescent shape of Wind coming at him, Orochimaru quickly jumped out of the way of the fast moving attack, where it made a large and deep slash mark on the large tree behind him. But when Orochimaru jumped away to avoid Naruto's **Surasshu-fū**, he immediately found Naruto directly above, falling down towards him with his Katana, (which was enhanced with the **Hien no jutsu **(Flying Swallow technique) swinging downward and splitting Orochimaru's head in two.

But just when Naruto thought he had won, Orochimaru turned into mud, revealing that the elder man had replaced himself with a **Doton Kage Bunshin **(Earth Style: Shadow Clone).

"My, my, that was certainly close, I cannot afford to take you too lightly, now can I Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said from an unknown location, with a slight chuckle.

Upon hearing this Naruto silently cursed himself for thinking he could kill Orochimaru so easily.

"Although I must say, I' am surprised at how skilled you are at using your Wind affinity. Not many Shinobi your age can use an advanced Chakra flow technique like the **Hien no Jutsu**. Let alone use the Wind technique that you just used against me", continued Orochimaru from his hidden location.

"Well if you like that, I've got plenty more", Naruto replied, as he kept his guard up, waiting for Orochimaru's next attack.

"I would be disappointed with anything less, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said, where he suddenly appeared right behind Naruto, surprising the young Senju. Who quickly spun around to face the Snake Sennin, but was punched in the stomach just as he spun half way around, causing him to double over and drop his Katana, which fell to the ground below.

The punch was followed by a strong kick to Naruto's side, which sent the young blonde falling to the ground.

Naruto quickly recovered from his hit, where he took out a Kunai with some Ninja wire tied to it and threw it towards a thick tree branch nearby, where the Kunai and wire wrapped themselves around the branch and allowed Naruto to swing safely over to another tree nearby.

After landing on the branch of the tree that he swung to, Naruto did several quick hand seals and activated his **Chakura no Mesu **(Chakra Scalpels).

Seeing where Naruto had landed, Orochimaru quickly jumped over to the branch where Naruto was, who then charged towards the former Sannin, and tried to strike at him with his **Chakura no Mesu**.

Naturally Orochimaru avoided the strike, as well as the others that followed it. But after avoiding another one of Naruto's strikes with his **Chakura no Mesu**. Orochimaru found himself on the defensive, as Naruto did a mid-air spin kick and attempted to kick the Sannin in the side of the head, forcing the Sannin to raise his left arm up to block the kick.

This was of course what Naruto wanted, as the moment that Orochimaru raised his arm up, to block his kick. Naruto grabbed the arm and severed the tendons on it, making the arm worthless. After which Naruto brought his other leg up and this time kicked the former Konoha-nin on the side of the head, making him fall off the branch.

Orochimaru of course quickly recovered and he did a mid-air flip, where he landed on another nearby branch. But when he did, Naruto immediately fired his Wrist-Mounted Senbon Launcher on his left arm.

Seeing the Senbon needles coming at him, Orochimaru quickly sidestepped most of the needles, but just when the last was about to hit him straight in the head, he caught the needle. After which he then brought the needle up to his nose and smelled it.

"Ahhh, Poison...it seems that your mother has indeed trained you well", Orochimaru said with a sinister smile. "_The boy is indeed skilled, I don't think I've seen anyone other than Kabuto use __**Chakura no Mesu **__in combat as well as he can. And given a few more years, I'm sure he could even rival Kabuto's skill. But still, I'm certain Naruto hasn't shown me everything that he can do_."

After catching the needle, Orochimaru threw it away and then started to move his left arm, as thanks to the altercations that he had done to his body he could easily recover from such injuries.

After seeing Orochimaru avoid his needles and recover from his earlier attack. Naruto released the **Fūinjutsu: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru **(Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal) on his clothing.

When Orochimaru saw this, he got an interesting look, as he was intrigued that Naruto had weighing seals on his clothing.

Upon deactivating the seals on his clothing, Naruto got into a loose fighting stance and charged at the Snake Sennin intending to take on him on in a Taijutsu battle. Seeing what Naruto was doing, Orochimaru smirked again, as the idea of fighting Naruto with Taijutsu, interested him.

When Naruto charged at Orochimaru, he brought up his right arm in attempt deliver a sharp strike to the side of Orochimaru's head. Orochimaru of course quickly brought up his right hand and caught Naruto's elbow.

Not to be deterred, Naruto immediately brought up his left knee and delivered a sharp strike to Orochimaru's chin, which caught the Snake Sennin by surprise and caused him to fall backwards a bit. But he stayed on his feet and quickly regained his balance, and was just able to raise his right arm up in time to block a powerful spinning back kick from Naruto, who cried out "**Uzuhandō **(Whirling kick)!"

But what caught Orochimaru of guard was the speed and strength of the kick, as he had barely been able to block the kick and it had been so strong that it forced him off the tree branch and down to the ground. Even then when he landed back on the ground his arm was still a slightly numb from the strength of kick, but despite the numbness he quickly brushed it off and smiled, as if he was having the time of his life.

Naruto quickly followed after Orochimaru and re-engaged him, for the next few minutes Orochimaru remained of the defensive, blocking and avoiding Naruto's attack. This was not because Orochimaru was having a hard time with Naruto. But because he was intrigued with whatever fighting style Naruto was using and was interested in how well he could use it. As he had not seen a style like this before, since not only did it use speed and power and agility, but as used other parts of Naruto body, where he use not just kicks and punches, but also elbow strike and knee kicks.

Soon enough though, Orochimaru had seen enough and could tell that whatever style Naruto was using he was still developing it. He then blocked a left elbow strike and kicked Naruto in the side, which sent the young Senju heir back a bit.

Naruto of course recovered quickly and charged at Orochimaru and tried to deliver a left punch to the side, which Orochimaru easily avoided by moving his head. After which Orochimaru tried to deliver his own punch to Naruto with his right fist, which Naruto luckily ducked under, where he then tried a leg sweep and cause the former Sannin to fall on his back.

Sadly Orochimaru avoided the leg sweep by jumping up into the air and flipping over Naruto. Who spun around to face the Snake Sannin, only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying.

"Come now, Naruto-kun don't disappoint me, as I know you can do much more than just this" spoke Orochimaru, as he saw Naruto struggle to get up. But when Orochimaru started to walk over, he found it difficult to move his right leg (the leg he kicked Naruto with). When he looked down, he noticed a small sticky note on his foot and on the note was a weight seal, much like the ones Naruto had on his clothes for training. When he saw the seal, Orochimaru quickly realized that Naruto must have placed the note on his foot when he kicked him.

At the same time, when Orochimaru noticed the seal, Naruto quickly got back on his feet, and charged straight at Orochimaru, as he'd been faking having trouble getting up and was waiting for the right moment to strike.

Within seconds of getting back up on his feet, Naruto crossed the distance between him and the Snake Sennin and raised his fist, while at the same time channelling a large about of Chakra to his fist, which he slammed right into Orochimaru's face. Who could not avoid the punch in time, due to the weight seal on his leg slowing him down.

After being punched in the face by Naruto, Orochimaru was sent flying all the way across the large clearing that they were fighting in, and smashed right into a large tree, creating a large dent in it.

-End Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents-

"So how was that…bastard?" replied Naruto, as he panted slightly, as was certain he had done some major damage to Orochimaru, since he had put as much power as he could in the punch.

But before Naruto could enjoy his "victory" any longer he suddenly heard a familiar chuckle from the cloud of dust that formed after Orochimaru smashed into the large tree.

"Kukukukuku…very well done Naruto-kun, well done indeed, you're clearly your mother's son and she has obviously been teaching you not only her Medical Ninjutsu. But also how to use her monstrous strength" said Orochimaru, as he stepped out of the dust cloud, with two dislocated shoulders and his head bent sideways in a unnatural way.

When Naruto saw this, he was of course freaked out at the sight; he became even more freaked out when he saw Orochimaru fix his arms back into place and then fixed his head back into position.

"_This guy isn't human…I hit him right in the face with everything I got and he doesn't have a mark on him!_"

"Your strength is indeed impressive Naruto-kun, but you're not yet at the level of your mother", the former Sannin said, with his usual smirk, which greatly irritated Naruto, where he then charged again at the former Sannin.

For the next few minutes Orochimaru spent his time avoiding Naruto punches and kicks, as he knew that although Naruto's strength was great. It counted for nothing if he couldn't hit his target.

After several minutes of Orochimaru avoiding Naruto attacks, much of the clearing that they were fighting in was destroyed, where it was filled with small craters and large chunks of the nearby trees smashed to bits.

Seeing that he was getting no-where with this, Naruto decided to up the ante a bit, where he did a single hand seal, and cried out "**Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!" after which over a hundred Naruto clones appeared and surrounded Orochimaru.

Naturally the former Sannin was not the least bit worried when he saw all the clones and just smiled, as all this did was make the game more interesting.

After surrounding the Snake Sennin, Naruto and his clones unleashed a barrage of shuriken at Orochimaru from all sides, where in a feat of unbelievable skills and ability. Orochimaru dodged all the incoming Shuriken, but what Orochimaru didn't know was that several of the Shuriken had Ninja wire around them, which wrapped around the elder man. After which several of the Naruto clones attacked Orochimaru from multiple different directions.

But when the clones hit Orochimaru, he turned into a wooden log, revealing that Orochimaru had replaced himself with a wooden log that had an exploding note on it, which exploded and destroyed the clones when they hit it.

After seeing that Orochimaru had replaced himself, Naruto immediately used his **Chakura no Parusu **to locate his position.

Once he located his position, Naruto then had his clones fire a volley of Kunai towards the former Konoha-nin, who was hiding up in a nearby tree branch. Orochimaru was of course surprised that Naruto found him so fast. But quickly got over it and avoided the volley of Kunai by jumping away.

When he jumped away to avoid the Kunai and hung in mid-air, six Naruto clones jumped up into the air and did some quick hand-seals. Three of them cried out "**Suiton: Teppōdama **(Water Style: Gunshot)!" shooting out three large balls of water. While the other three cried out "**Doton: Dodan **(Earth Style: Mud Bomb)!" and shot out three large balls of mud.

Naturally after seeing Naruto's clones use an Earth Ninjutsu, Orochimaru was surprised that Naruto had three Elemental affinities. Knowing how exceedingly rare it was for someone without an elemental bloodline to have more than one affinity.

But as surprised as he was, Orochimaru quickly got over it and used his **Sen'eijashu **(Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to eject several snakes from his wrist and intercept the attacks. After which the snakes then continued flying on towards the six clones and bite them in the necks causing the clones to poof away.

After destroying the clones, Orochimaru landed back on the ground, where he immediately came under attack by several of Naruto's clones, who were using their super human strength.

For the next few minutes the Naruto clones fought Orochimaru in a fierce hand to hand battle, but despite their great numbers and their immense strength. Orochimaru was decimating the small clone army without too much trouble, thanks to his superior skill and fighting abilities.

As the battled continued on, one of Naruto's clones did some hand seals and cried out "**Doton: Retsudo Tenshō **(Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm)!" Upon which the surrounding ground around Orochimaru and the remaining Naruto clones that he was fighting against, began to spiral inward on itself. Drawing Orochimaru and the clones he was fighting against underground in an attempt to crush Orochimaru under the earth.

Unfortunately Orochimaru was able to avoid being crushed by jumping up into the air, before he could be drawn underground along with the clones he had been fighting against, causing them to disappear after being crushed.

When Orochimaru landed back on the ground, he quickly engaged the remaining Naruto clones and dispatched them without much trouble.

But upon destroying the last of Naruto clones, Orochimaru lost sight of the real Naruto. Who had disappeared when he was fighting with the clones

After realizing that Naruto was no-where in sight Orochimaru began to look around for the Blonde Senju.

"Come out, come out wherever you are Naruto-kun" Orochimaru said in a childlike tone, as he slowly walked around the trees, knowing that Naruto couldn't have gotten very far.

Orochimaru of course did not have to wait long, as Naruto suddenly appeared out from one of the trees with a Kunai in hand and attempted to stab Orochimaru with it.

Seeing this, Orochimaru stretched his hand out and used his **Sen'eijashu**, where several snakes ejected from his wrist and wrapped themselves around Naruto and held him in mid-air. But as soon as this happened, "Naruto" exploded into a shower of flower petals which flew into the air and began to cover Orochimaru's entire body in an attempt to smoother him. (B)

Realizing what was happening Orochimaru slowly moved his hands in an attempt to form a hand seal. But due to his body being covered in the flower petals he found it difficult. But despite the difficulty he had he was able to form a hand seals and cried out "Kai!" where the flower petals around his body faded away, revealing they were a Genjutsu.

"An admirable attempt Naruto-kun, but sadly such things won't work on me" spoke Orochimaru out loud, knowing that he was watching from somewhere.

"How about this then?" Naruto replied from unknown location, where the next thing Orochimaru knew, a tree appeared out of the ground behind Orochimaru and coiled around Orochimaru body, binding him and preventing him from moving. After which Naruto emerged out of the tree with a Kunai in hand and went to stab the Snake Sannin, but before Naruto could deliver the final blow. Orochimaru let lose a strong surge of Chakra to overpower and broke Naruto's **Magen: Jubaku Satsu **(Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death). After which Orochimaru spun around and hit Naruto in the side of the head, who then puffed away revealing that he was a shadow clone.

Seeing that the Naruto he hit was just another shadow clone, the amused Orochimaru then jumped up to a large tree and continued his search for Naruto.

As he searched for Naruto, Orochimaru found himself being wrapped up in vines that appeared out of the tree branches.

Despite being wrapped up in the vines Orochimaru remained perfectly calm, as he knew that it was just another Genjutsu and broke out of it without much difficulty. (C)

"Come now Naruto-kun, these Genjutsu are getting rather dull, surely you're not at your limit" Orochimaru mocked, as if he was disappointed and board. But when he said this, he felt that something was wrong and realized he was still under a Genjutsu and used the **Genjutsu: Kai **(Illusion Technique: Release) to free himself of the Genjutsu.

As soon as he freed himself from the illusion, Orochimaru found himself standing in the middle of a small clearing. He then realized that Naruto had used **Magen: Nijū Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **(Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique), where he used the binding vine Genjutsu as a distraction. While hiding **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **(Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique) underneath the first Genjustu, so to keep him discovering **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **until it was too late.

"_Very clever Naruto-kun… you have indeed been trained well in using Genjutsu, but what exactly are you up to?_" thought the Snake Sennin, as he looked around for Naruto. But when he tried to move his body, he could not, where when he looked around he saw several seals craved on the trees.

It was then that he realized that Naruto had placed him under the **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu **not to confuse him. But to lure him into the spot that the blonde boy wanted him to be in and hide what he was doing around the elder man until he was ready, which was now.

Since Naruto had caught Orochimaru in **Kekkai Kotei Fūin **(Four Corner Immobilization Seal), which prevented him from moving for the moment, which was all the young Senju needed. For not only was Orochimaru in the centre of a **Kekkai Kotei Fūin**, but he was also in the centre of an **Fūbaku Hōjin **(Sealed Bomb Square Release). As Naruto had planted all his remaining exploding notes on four nearby trees that surrounded the clearing that Orochimaru was in and activated them. Causing them to blow up and bring down the four trees down on top of Orochimaru, crushing him underneath them.

After the trees came down, Naruto appeared out from behind a nearby tree that he had been hiding behind and went over to exam his work.

Although he wasn't entirely sure if he had really killed Orochimaru, since the man was a former Sannin like Jiraiya and his mother. The fact that he had four massive trees fall down on top of him, would at least slow the nuke-nin down enough for him to get away and get help.

But before Naruto could leave the area, he suddenly heard the dark chuckling of Orochimaru all around. After which Orochimaru suddenly appeared out of the ground right in front of Naruto, without so much as a scratch on him, much to the horror and disbelief of Naruto.

"Kukukuku…very good Naruto-kun, it seems that my former-mates have indeed trained you well" Orochimaru said, as he began to slowly walk towards Naruto. Who took several small steps back in fear, before steading himself. After which he redrew his Katana from his back, (which he had found while Orochimaru was busy fighting with his clones).

When Orochimaru saw Naruto draw his Katana out again, the Snake Sennin just smirked as he was eager to see if Naruto had anymore tricks left up his sleeves.

He of course soon got his answer, where Naruto charged straight at Orochimaru with his Katana, and attempted to slash the former Sannin.

But as Orochimaru stepped back to avoid Naruto's slash, he realized that the slash was a faint, as when Naruto swung his hand it was empty. Upon which Orochimaru then saw small glint of light, indicating that Naruto's Katana was in his other hand.

Orochimaru of course immediately recognized the technique Naruto was using, which was a technique of the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) fighting style, created by Uzumaki Kushina.

The technique itself was called **Mizu no Atsuen **(Rolling Water), which involved the user switching his or her Katana from one hand to the other in mid-swing when slashing at a target. Who would try an avoid the first attack, thinking it was a regular slash, where in actuality it was a faint and the target would then be left exposed and open to the real attack.

When Orochimaru realized what Naruto was doing he immediately knew he didn't have much time to avoid the slash and quickly fell backwards to avoid Naruto's real slash. But even after avoiding the lethal slash, the Snake Sennin did receive a large diagonal cut on his shirt.

At the same time, when Orochimaru avoided Naruto's attack, the former Konoha-nin struck back at Naruto, where as he fell backwards, he kicked the young Senju hard in the chest, sending him back a few feet.

Naruto quickly recovered and countered with his **Surasshu-fū**, which Orochimaru quickly avoided. Although when he did, he realized the attack was just a distraction, when he saw Naruto charging at him at high speed with his Katana thrust forward and coated with Water to enhance the density and length of the blade.

Recognizing the **Tachioyogi **(Treading Water) (2) technique of the Arasuijin no Mai, Orochimaru immediately sidestepped Naruto, just when he was about to impale him with his Katana. After which Orochimaru then delivered a roundhouse kick to the unguarded side of Naruto and sent the boy flying.

Despite being kicked away by Orochimaru, Naruto quickly regained his footing, where he then saw the elder man using **Sen'eijashu **and sending several snakes at him.

Seeing the snakes coming at him, Naruto quickly started to gather some the moisture from the air and the grass underneath him and swung his sword along the ground in horizontal line to create a large wall of water in front of him.

When Orochimaru saw the large wall of water appear in front of Naruto, he was naturally shocked at how Naruto created such a large mass of water without a large source of water nearby. Due to his shock, he barely registered that his snakes went through the wall of water and right pass "Naruto" revealing that the "Naruto" behind the wall of water was an illusion created by the water. After which the real Naruto appeared right above him and swung his Katana down towards him.

But when Naruto's Katana sliced through Orochimaru's head, instead of there being blood, Orochimaru reverted into mud, revealing that the Snake Sennin had replaced himself with a mud clone.

"_Shit he replaced himself_" Naruto thought, when he saw Orochimaru revert into mud, and the real Orochimaru appear behind him and kicked him, causing the blonde boy to drop his Katana again.

After skidding across the ground and landing in a small heap, Naruto slowly picked himself up, due to still being hurt from the kick from behind. When he did, he looked up and saw Orochimaru slowly walking towards him with a sadistic smirk on his face.

"Kukukuku…you certainly are full of surprises Naruto-kun, I had no idea that you had inherited the Nidaime's high affinity for water or that you could use it to such an impressive level. Even though you're not quite at the Nidaime Hokage's level yet, to be able to summon so much water from just the moister of the plants and the air at your age is truly a remarkable. Not to mention you have a talent for Genjutsu just like your mother and your ancestor Senju Tōka…Kukukuku, it seems that the Senju Clan lives up to their reputation at having the strongest Shinobi" Orochimaru said in amusement, as the longer he fought with Naruto the more fascinating he became.

Seeing that Orochimaru was coming towards him, Naruto decide that it was time to reveal his final ace in the whole, where he did a ram hand seal and began to channel his Chakra into the ground.

When Orochimaru saw this, he stopped walking towards Naruto and began to wonder what Naruto was planning to do next.

His question was of course quickly answered where much to his utter astonishment and disbelief a large medium size tree appeared out of the ground right in front of Naruto.

When Orochimaru saw the large tree appear in front of Naruto, he was stunned, where the only thing he could think of at the time was "_Mokuton!_"

After seeing Naruto use Mokuton, it took Orochimaru a few minutes to get over his shock, since he had belived until now that only the Shodai Hokage possessed the ability. (3)

Taking advantage of Orochimaru's surprise Naruto quickly did some hand-seals and then yelled "**Konoha Kamisori **(Razor Leaves)!"(D). After which all the leaves from the tree that Naruto grew, flew out from tree branches and started to spin around at high speed much like shuriken and then flew towards Orochimaru and high speed.

Within seconds, the massive wave of spinning leaves converged in on Orochimaru and shredded him into pieces. Or at least that was what Naruto thought, after his **Konoha Kamisori **hit Orochimaru. As when the attack ended, all Naruto saw was the cut up pieces of a wooden long, revealing that once again Orochimaru had replaced himself, just before the attack made contact with him.

After seeing that his attack failed, Naruto immediately began to look around for where Orochimaru went and as he looked he suddenly heard Orochimaru voice cry out "**Sen'eijashu**!" from above him.

Knowing he didn't have much time Naruto quickly did three high speed hand seals and then cried out "**Mokuton: Mokujōheki **(Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)!" creating a large half dome around him, which protected him from Orochimaru's snakes, (which bit into the wooden barrier).

Seeing what Naruto had done, Orochimaru then quickly reeled himself in with his snakes, whom were still connected with him, where he then stood on the top edge of the barrier and kneeled down slightly to look down on Naruto, who stood behind the barrier, below Orochimaru.

"Magnificent, simply magnificent Naruto-kun…I would've never have guessed that you would inherit the Shodai Mokuton powers and reveal it as a true Bloodline, when everyone else in your clan, including your mother did not. It seems that the Senju blood runs true after all…" Orochimaru said, as he eyed Naruto with glee, like child who found his new favourite toy. "…Now show me what else you can do with your Bloodline."

"How about this then!" shouted Naruto as he charged his fist up with Chakra and jumped at Orochimaru, where he destroyed the top portion of the wood barrier with his fist.

Orochimaru of course quickly jumped off the wooden barrier, when Naruto smashed through it and landed a distance from the blonde. Who had jumped up on the remaining top part of the barrier and did several more hand seals. After which he then held out the palm of his hand and cried out "**Mokuton: Hiki no Toga **(Wood Release: Flying Wood Spikes)!" (E), where small sharp spikes ejected out of his hand and flew at the Snake Sannin at high speed. Who just dodged the wooden spikes, while smiling, as if he were having the time of his life.

Seeing how easily Orochimaru dodged his attack, Naruto quickly jumped onto the ground and did several more hand seals before yelling, "**Mokuton: Moku no Toga **(Wood Release: Wood Spikes)!" (F), and then slammed his hands onto the ground. After which, a wooden spike appeared out of the ground underneath Orochimaru, who narrowly avoided being impaled by the spike.

After Orochimaru avoided his wooden spike, Naruto began to create several more wooden spikes, which emerged from the ground wherever Orochimaru went, but each time Orochimaru avoided the spikes with ease.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this, Naruto decided to change tactics a little, where he created several different spikes around Orochimaru. This then forced Orochimaru to jump up into the air to avoid the spikes, which was of course what Naruto wanted.

As soon as Orochimaru was in mid-air, he held out his hand and cried out "**Banmuchi **(Vine Whip)!"(G). After which several vines sprung out from Naruto's arms and wrapped themselves around the elder man or at least what Naruto thought was him.

For as soon as Naruto forced Orochimaru into the air, the Snake Sennin realized what Naruto was attempting and immediately replaced himself with a log, as soon as Naruto created his vines.

Seeing that he failed to catch Orochimaru, Naruto let go of the wooden log and recalled the vines back into his arms, once he did this, Orochimaru fell from above and landed directly in front of Naruto.

"My, My Naruto-kun, I must say I'm very impressed with you…to be so skilled and yet be so young, you're an indeed a true Senju. You're proving to be far more entertaining than even Sasuke-kun. As you continue to surprise me with your unique skills, especially with that last attack you did…I dare say you may even surpass the Shodai Hokage one day. Clearly your Mokuton ability is more advanced than his", Orochimaru said with glee, as Naruto was surpassing even the Snake Sennin widest exceptions of him.

Naruto of course did not respond to Orochimaru praise, as he focused more on what he should do next, where when the former Sannin finished talking, he had come up with a new plan.

After coming up with his new strategy, Naruto immediately charged up his fist with a massive amount of Chakra and then released it all when he slammed his fist into the ground and cried out "**Chikakuhendō **(Earth Shaker Impact)!" Causing the ground to rise up all around him and scatter in to pieces causing massive damage all around the area.

The force of the punch was of course so strong that it forced Orochimaru to once again jump up into the air and land a distance away from Naruto.

This was of course what Naruto wanted, for when Orochimaru was forced up into the air. Naruto did several quick hand seals and cried "**Mokuton: Mōkushōku **(Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)!" and slammed his hands onto the ground. After which several wooden tentacles appeared underneath the nuke-nin, just as he landed on the ground, and wrapped themselves around the Snake Sannin holding him tightly.

Seeing that he had gotten Orochimaru this time for sure, Naruto quickly created seven new Shadow clones of himself and the sent the first three of them to the far right of Orochimaru. He then sent two of them to Orochimaru's far left and kept the remaining other two with him.

Once his clones were in position, Naruto then began some hand seals and gathered all the water he could from the air and the nearby plants. After which he then shouted out "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **(Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!"Creating a massive Water Dragon, where his first clone channelled its Lightning Chakra into the Water Dragon to increase it destructive power, whiles the second clone blew out a large amount of Wind into the Water Dragon to increase its power and speed.

Once the two other elements were combined with the Water Dragon, Naruto and his clones cried out the name of their combination attack.

"**Mizu-fū,Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki **(Water, Wind, and Lightning Combo: Supreme Electric Water Dragon)!"

At the same time, Naruto's three clones that were on Orochimaru's far right began their own attacks, where the first clone did some hand seals and yelled "**Suiton: Mizurappa **(Water Style: Violent Water Wave)!" and gushed out a large amount of water. As the first clone did this, the second clone, channelled his Wind Chakra and blew out a large burst of Wind into the water wave to increase its power and speed, while the third clone channelled his Lightning Chakra into the water wave to increase its power.

After the two clones combined their two elements, with the first clone's water attack, the three clones cried out the name of their new attack.

"**Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai:Raisuiha **(Water, Wind, and Lightning Combination: Electric Water Wave)!" (H)

Also at the same time the two Naruto clones on Orochimaru's far left began to do their own hands seals, where the first clone cried out "**Suiton: Teppōdama **(Water Style: Gunshot)!" After which second clone then channelled it's Lightning Chakra into the water bullets when the first Naruto clone fired.

After the two Naruto clones finished combining their attacks they then cried out the name of their new attack,"**Raisui Renkei: Raisui Bakudan **(Lightning Water Collaboration: Lightning Water Bombs)!"

As the three separate Combination attacks came towards him, the former Sannin was of course surprised to say the least. Not only because Naruto could do combination attacks, but also he revealed he had Lightning affinity, meaning that he had four nature affinities, something that Orochimaru thought would be impossible for a boy let alone anyone to have.

Within seconds of the three separate attacks being fired, they collided with their target, where a massive explosion of Wind, Water and Lightning erupted, forcing Naruto to cover his eyes with his arm from the shockwave of the explosion.

When the explosion ended, Naruto's clones puffed away, while Naruto fell to his knees, breathing heavily with some sweat failing from his forehead, as he was just about tapped out.

The battle itself had taken everything he had, he was just about out of Chakra, his body was aching from all the hits he took from Orochimaru and he was tried from fighting for so long and so hard.

When he looked over to where Orochimaru was, there was a small crater from the explosion and in the centre laid Orochimaru, face down in the ground unmoving.

Seeing this, a tired smile appeared on Naruto's face, he had done it, he had won, he'd beaten Orochimaru, the infamous Snake Sannin.

"Pah, Pah…you wanted to see what I could do Hebi-teme…Pah, Pah…well you got it…Pah, Pah… you made the mistake of underestimating me and you paid the price for it" said Naruto, as he looked at Orochimaru's body. After which he slowly picked himself up and was about to leave to regroup with his team-mates.

But before he could leave and re-join with his team, he suddenly heard a dark chuckle out of no-where.

"Kukukukuku…I would not be so sure of that Naruto-kun."

After Naruto heard this the next thing Naruto knew, Orochimaru sprung out of the ground from underneath him and wrapped his body around the blonde boy like a snake coiling around its caught prey.

Naruto of course tried to struggle free, but he was too tired from his long battle with the former Sannin to resist much and did not have enough Chakra to even try. Orochimaru had wrapped himself pretty tightly around the young Senju, squeezing him tightly and preventing him from moving.

"Kukuku…I afraid that you're the one who underestimated me Naruto-kun", the Snake Sennin said, as he looked Naruto directly in the face.

"B-B-But how?" Naruto hissed, as he struggled to breathe, where he looked to Orochimaru and then to the one that was lying on the ground.

"Tsk, Tsk… Naruto-kun you should know better" the former Sannin said, as if he was talking to an infant, where he then had Naruto look over at the "Orochimaru" in the small crater.

When Naruto turned around he saw that the "Orochimaru" in the crater was in fact a Shadow clone, which poof away in a puff of smoke.

When Naruto saw this he silently cursed himself for being duped so easily and falling for a trick that he himself would have played.

"If you're going to kill me, then get it over with, because there's not a chance in hell that I'm going beg for me life" Naruto said defiantly, as he glared angrily at the Snake Sennin, as he would rather die than give the man the pleasure of seeing him beg for his life.

When Orochimaru heard this, the elder man just smiled in amusement and said "Kill you? …Now why would I do such a foolish thing like that? It would be such a waste, to kill someone as skilled as you Naruto-kun. I dare say you've more potential than even Sasuke-kun has"

"Then what do you want with me? Why did you attack my team and me? And what the hell did you do to Sasuke?" Naruto demanded, as he glared at Orochimaru.

"To put it simply Naruto-kun, I came here to test Sasuke-kun and you and see how strong you both were, where if you passed, I would present you with a little gift, just like I did with Sasuke-kun. And given how well you fought me and what you showed me, I must confess you've surpassed even my wildest exceptions of you, which is why I will present you with my gift as well."

"You can keep your so-called gift, I want nothing from you!" Naruto spat out angrily.

"Oh come now Naruto-kun, I know you don't mean that, for I know what you truly crave deep down inside you", Orochimaru said.

"And what is that?" asked Naruto, not believing a word that the man said.

"I know that deep down you want to step out of your Mother's and your forefathers shadows. You want to be recognized for yourself and not as the son of Tsunade the Sannin or the descendant of the Nidaime and Shodai Hokages" Orochimaru answered.

"So what of it? That doesn't mean I will take anything from you" Naruto answered.

"Oh, but there is more, I also know that deep down, you fear that you can never live up to people's exceptions of you. Let alone match or surpass your mother and your ancestors and that the pressure of being their heir will break you. You fear that you'll always remain in their shadows and never step out of it. You fear that you will always be known as the son of Tsunade and nothing else, that is what I know, Naruto-kun" Orochimaru replied, where he was pleased to see Naruto's eyes widen in surprise, showing that he was indeed correct. At the same time Orochimaru silently planned to thank Kabuto, as thanks to him, he knew how to get to Naruto.

After seeing the surprise look on Naruto's face, Orochimaru knew he had hit his mark and decided to go in for the kill.

"But you need not worry Naruto-kun, for what I have to offer can help you finally achieve what you desire most and will help you to not only surpass your mother and your ancestors, but also become a Shinobi like none before. Then everyone will acknowledge your strength."

After hearing this for a moment, for one singular moment, Naruto was tempted in taking what Orochimaru had to offer. But then he remembered what Jiraiya once told him, that Orochimaru was a master manipulator. Who would promise you the sun, the sky and the world, if it meant getting you to do what he wanted you to do, or to get what he wanted.

"I told you before I don't want anything from you… as far as I care, you can take you gift and stuff it and go back to whatever hellhole you spawned from" Naruto answered.

Orochimaru of course of course was unaffected by Naruto insults and just smiled, "Ah so defiant, just like your mother, but I would expect nothing less from you. And regardless of your feelings Naruto-kun, I will give you it and you will eventually come looking for me and the power that I can give you, just like Sasuke-kun will" Orochimaru replied. After which he then bit down hard on the right side of Naruto's neck, just as he did with Sasuke earlier on.

When Orochimaru bit down on Naruto's neck, Naruto suddenly felt an intense amount of pain flood his entire body.

Naruto of course tried to resist screaming, but the pain became too much for him and he began to scream, which was music to the Snake Sennin. Soon after though Orochimaru released his teeth from Naruto and the let go of Naruto, who collapsed onto the ground and fought to keep from falling unconsciousness.

When Naruto fell to the ground Orochimaru saw his curse seal take form, where three slightly curved lines appeared on the side of Naruto's neck.

"Ah the Earth seal, how fitting, given your Mokuton ability and how Sasuke-kun now has the Heavens seal" Orochimaru commented, who was pleased with what happened, since in terms of power, the Earth seal was on even terms with Sasuke's Heaven seal.

"W-W-Wh-What are you planning t-t-t-to do to me now?" Naruto asked, as he struggled to stay awake.

"Nothing" Orochimaru replied, "I've already achieved what I planned out to do Naruto-kun, as I've tested both you and Sasuke-kun and given you both my seal. Now all that's left is for you and Sasuke-kun to survive and pass this exam. And I expect for you Naruto-kun, to achieve the highest score of all" Orochimaru said, and began to walk away. But after only taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back.

"Oh! Before I forget" the man said, where much to Naruto's disgust, Orochimaru regurgitated one of the Earth scrolls that he took from team seven earlier and placed it next to Naruto.

"Another gift from me, for providing a far more entertaining show than I ever expected" said Orochimaru, after which he began to sink into the ground. "We'll meet again very soon Naruto-kun… you will seek me out and join me, for what I can offer you."

After Orochimaru sank into the ground, Naruto finally lost his battle to stay awaken and fell into the sweet oblivion that was unconsciousness.

-With Tsunade and Shizune-

Currently in a small casino that was a few days away from Konoha, Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin was sitting down playing a slot machine, with her loyal apprentice Shizune and her pet pig Tonton standing next to her.

Although Tsunade had mainly given up on gambling after she gave birth to Naruto, she did play a little on the slot machines, with some spare change.

For the past six months Tsunade and Shizune had been Kiba no Kuni (Fang Country) treating a disease that had been spreading from a large town in the country. It had taken much longer than either women had expected, since the disease had been difficult to treat and was very contagious. But eventually, Tsunade once again proved why she was hailed as the world's greatest medic of her time and cured the people of the disease.

Once the disease was cured, Tsunade and Shizune began their journey to Konoha, seeing as Tsunade was eager to see her son again after so long. Even though Naruto had written to them once a week, she still wanted to see her son, especially since she had recently heard that Naruto would be entering the Chunin exam this year.

This was of course no big surprise to her, she knew that Naruto was more than ready to handle himself in the exam and was sort of eager he to see how well he would handle himself. She also knew that Konoha's Council most likely insisted that Naruto be part of the exam, since he was her son and was the new heir of the Senju Clan, which of course would bring about a lot of publicity for the village.

As she continued to play, she suddenly hit the casino jackpot where hundreds of coins started to spill out of the machine.

When Tsunade saw this she suddenly started to worry, as when it came to gambling she had the worst luck in the world and would always lose. That is unless something bad was going to happen, where Tsunade would win and the bigger the prize the worse the situation. Hence after winning the Casino big jackpot on just the slot machine, Tsunade knew something bad was going to happen or was happening now.

This fear of the worst only grew when she suddenly felt a pain in her chest, as if someone had stabbed her in the heart.

Tsunade only felt this pain once before in her life, which was during the incident of Oni no Kuni (Demon Country) when Naruto and Shion where being attacked by the Ame Shinobi.

After this pain appeared, Tsunade immediately knew something had happen to Naruto, whether it was mother's maternal instincts or something else. She didn't know or care, all she knew was something had happened to her son and he needed her.

At the same time, Shizune and Tonton became concerned at their mistress actions, like Tsunade they knew what would happen whenever Tsunade won at gambling. Their concerns only grew further when they saw Tsunade place her hand over her heart knowing that something was wrong.

"Tsunade-sensei, are you alright? Is something wrong?" the worried Shizune asked.

"No I'm not alright, something has happened to Naru-chan" the worried Tsunade replied.

"Naruto…but how?" asked Shizune, since she didn't understand how Tsunade knew such a thing.

"I don't know how, I just know that something has happened to him, I can feel it my heart" Tsunade answered, as she suddenly got up and told Shizune that they were leaving. After which, the two Kunoichi, start to race toward Konoha at top speed so to get to Naruto as soon as possible.

A/N

Well that it for another Chapter, hoped you all enjoyed Naruto battle with Orochimaru. Also sorry about the update being late, the reason for it was that the internet at my house went down, hence I couldn't upload this Chapter for the past five days, as typical of my luck, right when I had the Chapter ready, the internet went.

Now onto the next matter, now I know that some of you may have a problem with me having Orochimaru give Naruto his curse seal. But seriously think about it, after seeing what Naruto could do, do any of you really think that Orochimaru would simply let Naruto go and not place his mark on him so that he could try and get Naruto come with him. Beside I have another reason why to give Naruto the curse mark, the reason of course will be revealed in the Preliminary exam to sort out who goes to the finals.

Now as I sure you can guess the next Chapter will involve Naruto and Sasuke having the curse seal and how they deal with it. The next Chapter will also have them finishing the survival exam, so there is still plenty more to happen, so until next time…goodbye.

Also another thing I forgot to mention, for those of you interested, I' am working on the next Chapter of The White Fire Prince, hence I update that as soon as I'm finish writing it.

Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers.

Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Image the first battle with Sasuke against Orochimaru.

(2). For more information of these sword moves, go back to Chapter fourth-teen and scroll down to the bottom of it to find the information.

(3). Don't forget Orochimaru still thinks that Yamato is dead, as he fled Konoha before he could see if his experiment on Yamato and the other filthy-nine infants worked.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A).**Idaina Surasshu-fū **(Great Wind Slash): A more powerful version of the standard **Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash), where by adding increased amounts of Chakra. Naruto can increase the size and cutting power of the standard **Surasshu-fū**, where it can cut right through a large summon with little trouble, but it leaves Naruto exhausted.

(B).**Genjutsu: Chika **(Illusionary Technique: Scattered Flowers): A unique Genjutsu that Kurenai taught Naruto, where Naruto creates a clone illusion of himself, where when it explodes. It turns into a shower of flower petals, which covers the targets entire body and restricts their movements and their breathing causing them fall unconscious after a few minutes.

(C).**Magen: Hyoushiban **(Demonic Illusion: Binding Vines): Another unique Genjutsu that Kurenai taught Naruto, which allows Naruto to create the illusions of vines around an opponent. Thereby the victim will be tormented with the sensation being squeezed tightly by vines, while at the same time taking away their body's freedom.

(D).**Konoha Kamisori **(Razor Leaves): A unique Jutsu that Naruto created with the help of Yamato during their training in his Mokuton. The technique involves Naruto creating a large fully grown tree and the using his Chakra that created the tree, to control the leaves, which allows him to use them like shuriken, due his Chakra flowing in the leaves. Naruto can then enhance their cutting power with his Chakra when they start spinning, where they can become sharp enough to cut a person up with little trouble. The technique itself though is very to control, when launching a large number of leaves at once, hence it requires pinpoint control over ones Chakra and complete focus.

(E).**Mokuton: Hiki no Toga **(Wood Release: Flying Wood Spikes): A Technique that Yamato taught Naruto, where the user stretches his hand out with his palm forward and fire small multiple wooden spikes from his palm.

(F).**Mokuton: Moku no Toga **(Wood Release: Wood Spikes): Another Technique that Yamato taught Naruto, where a user creates large wooden spikes from the ground that can pierce the enemy. The user can also create multiple spikes in any point of the ground within a certain radius of the user, for as long as the user keeps sending Chakra into the ground.

(G).**Banmuchi **(Vine Whip): This technique is another technique that Naruto created with the help of Yamato, where Naruto uses his Chakra create vines out of his arm and wrap themselves around a target. This technique is an excellent for subduing and holding an enemy target.

(H).**Mizu-fū,Konbo Rakurai Raisuiha **(Water, Wing and Lightning Combination: Electric Water Wave): A powerful Combination technique that Naruto created, where he uses **Suiton: Mizurappa **(Water Style: Violent Water Wave) and has one clone use Wind Chakra to blow out a large burst of Wind and combine it with the Water attack to increase its speed and power. At the same time another clone would channel its Lightning Chakra with the water to increase its power and effect on a target.

(I).**Raisui Renkei: Raisui Bakudan **(Lightning, Water Collaboration: Lightning Water Bombs): A unique Technique that Naruto came up with, where he uses **Suiton: Teppōdama **(Water Style: Gunshot) and has his clones channel it's Lightning Chakra into the water bullets when Naruto fires them. By doing this, the destructive power of the water bullets would be greatly enhance, and can even paralyze the target for several minutes allowing Naruto to target the opponent down.


	20. Chapter 20

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty: ****Inner Darkness**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

**Pervious on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_As Tsunade continued to play, she suddenly hit the casino jackpot where hundreds of coins started to spill out of the machine._

_When Tsunade saw this she suddenly started to worry, as when it came to gambling she had the worst luck in the world and would always lose. That is unless something bad was going to happen, where Tsunade would win and the bigger the prize the worst the situation. Hence after winning the Casino big jackpot on just the slot machine, Tsunade knew something bad was going to happen or was happening now._

_This fear of the worst only grew when she suddenly felt a pain in her chest, as if someone had stabbed her in the heart. _

_Tsunade only felt this pain once before in her life, which was during the incident of Oni no Kuni (Demon Country) when Naruto and Shion where being attacked by the Kusa Shinobi._

_After this pain appeared, Tsunade immediately knew something had happen to Naruto, whether it was mother's maternal instincts or something else. She didn't know or care, all she knew was something had happened to her son and he needed her._

_At the same time, Shizune and Tonton became concern at their mistress actions, as like Tsunade they knew what would happen whenever Tsunade won at gambling. Their concerns only grew further when they saw Tsunade place her hand over her heart knowing that something was wrong._

"_Tsunade-sensei, are you alright? Is something wrong?" asked the worried Shizune._

"_No I'm not alright, something has happened to Naru-chan" replied the worried Tsunade._

"_Naruto…but how?" asked Shizune as she didn't understand how Tsunade knew such a thing._

"_I don't know how, I just know that something has happened to him, I can feel it my heart" answered Tsunade, as she suddenly got up and told Shizune that they were leaving. After which, the two Kunoichi, start to race toward Konoha at top speed and get to Naruto as soon as possible._

-With Anko later that Night-

As Anko travelled that night through the large forest looking for the intruder, she sensed a familiar Chakra signature nearby and instantly realized who it was and headed straight for it.

"_I feel him…_" thought the purpled haired Tokubetsu Jōnin, as she closed in on her target.

Soon enough she landed on a large tree branch and found her target, the former Snake Sannin and S rank Missing Ninja, Orochimaru, who was partially merged with the trunk of the tree that she was standing on.

When Orochimaru saw her, he smiled in amusement at seeing his former apprentice, "It's been a long time…Anko-chan."

"You can cut the pleasantries Orochimaru, as you're a wanted S class criminal and I' am going to kill you, even if it cost me my life", spoke Anko with the utmost seriousness, where four senbon needles appeared out of her right hand coat sleeve and into her hand.

"It's my duty after all, given how I was once your student and I learned everything I know from you" continued Anko, where she then prepared to throw her senbon needles at the former Sannin.

Orochimaru of course just smiled at this, where he then spat out his tongue, which stretched to an impossible length and headed straight for Anko. Who quickly jumped up into the air to avoid it and landed on the trunk of another tree opposite the one that Orochimaru had merged with, where she channelled her Chakra to her feet to keep from falling off the tree.

Sadly though, Orochimaru's tongue followed after her, where it then wrapped itself around Anko right arm and pulled her back onto the tree branch she was previously on.

Anko although quickly countered by holding out her left hand and the cried out "**Sen'eijashu**n (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)!" after which several snakes erupted from the sleeves of her arms and flew towards the Snake Sannin and pulled him out of the tree trunk.

"There's not a chance in hell that I going to let you escape!" cried Anko as she pulled Orochimaru towards her and slammed him into the tree behind her and retracted her Snakes.

Once she had retracted her snakes back into her sleeves, Anko then pinned Orochimaru to the tree by piercing both their left hands together with a Kunai. While at the same time she took hold of his other hand with her right and formed a seal with them.

"I have you now" said Anko with a smile, as she saw the realization dawn on Orochimaru when he recognised the seal.

"That's right, you and I are going to die together here", said Anko, as she prepared her Jutsu and thought "_**Sōjasōsai no Jutsu**_ (Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique)!" But before she could finish the Jutsu, she suddenly heard Orochimaru speak from behind her.

"I'm afraid you will die alone here Anko-chan…"

Surprised at this, Anko quickly turned around, where at the same time, the night moon came out of from behind the clouds, showing Orochimaru standing directly behind her.

Seeing the confused look on his former apprentices face, Orochimaru decided to explain, "…I'm afraid all you have there is a replacement."

Hearing this, Anko quickly turned around and saw that the Orochimaru that she had caught was indeed a clone, where when she turned it immediately reverted into mud, revealing it as a **Doton: Kage Bunshin** (Earth Style: Shadow Clone).

"You shouldn't use the forbidden technique that I taught you Anko-chan, since you're one of Konoha's Tokubetsu Jōnin now" said Orochimaru with a smile as he slowly walked to Anko.

Angered by how she had been tricked by the former Sannin, Anko quickly pulled the Kunai she had stabbed herself with and threw it at Orochimaru.

But before it could hit the Sannin in the head, he caught it with ease between his two front fingers.

"It's useless Anko-chan, you don't have the power nor the skill to defeat me" said Orochimaru, where he then did a single one handed hand seal and activated Anko's curse seal, causing the young woman to fall to her knees in pain.

After Anko fell to her knees, Orochimaru slowly walked up to her and lifted her head up slightly so that he could look her directly in the face.

"Why did you come…?" asked Anko as she tried to fight the pain.

"I must say, I'm disappointed Anko-chan, we haven't seen each other in years, but you have treated me so coldly" taunted Orochimaru.

"Have you come here to kill the Hokage?" asked Anko, as she held her left shoulder.

"Oh no, as sadly I don't have enough followers to attempt that" replied Orochimaru with a smile. "I actually came her to observe and test two young Genin here, both of whom show much promise, where I then placed my curse seal on them", said Orochimaru

"You haven't changed a bit…they die before they ever serve you!" stated Anko.

"That is indeed very possible, as their odds are one in ten against them, but I'm certain they will both survive, like you did", replied Orochimaru.

"Hmph! sounds like you want them both badly" sneered Anko.

"Ahh Jealous?" asked Orochimaru as he cupped Anko's face, "You just can't forgive me for using and tossing you aside…can you?"

At hearing this Anko glared angrily at her former Sensei, as she remembered how he used her.

"In many ways, both boys show ever more potential than you did" explained Orochimaru. "For you see one of them has inherited unique abilities of the Uchiha Clan, while the other had inherited several unique abilities from his family, such as the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton bloodline and both their physical conditions are excellent."

At hearing this Anko eyes widened in surprise, as she quickly realized who the other person Orochimaru was talking about.

"You mean the Senju kid?"

"Oh yes, Naruto-kun especially shows a great deal of potential, even more so that Sasuke-kun, as I don't think I've ever seen so much raw potential and power in one person before. Either he or Sasuke-kun could become the very heir that I' am looking for", answered Orochimaru.

"Getting a little greedy aren't we? Going after two Genin at once" taunted Anko.

"Perhaps, but it would be such a waste not to…" replied Orochimaru with a smile, after which he then stood up and started to walk away from Anko. "…Should either one or both of them survive, things will become very interesting very soon."

As Orochimaru walked away, he then suddenly turned around, "Also whatever happens, don't cancel the exam…Three of my followers are in this exam and I look forward to see how they fair. Should you cancel the exam, then Konoha's fate is sealed, and I will destroy it."

Once Orochumaru had said this, he then turned away from Anko and disappeared in a whirl of purple flames, leaving Anko alone.

-At dawn with the Kiri Team-

Currently jumping through the tree-tops, Haku and her team where making their way to the tower in the centre of the forest, after finally getting the scroll they needed.

As they made their way to the tower, they notice the signs of a fierce battle, where some of the large trees around them were damage as well as large holes down in the ground. When they dropped to the ground to investigate further, they saw that four massive trees had fallen on top of each other, showing signs that their bottoms had been blown up.

They even saw several large dry patches in the grass where the moisture seemed to have been drawn out of the grass and plants.

Not only that, but they saw that the earth had been turned up or destroyed in several places and large amounts of water in others areas of the ground, along with wooden spikes, tentacles and a destroyed wooden dome.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Chōjūrō as he looked around the area.

"By the looks of things a fierce battle was fought here", answered Saito, as he looked around the area with the others.

"Could it have been the battle you sensed earlier, Saito?" asked Haku, as she turned to her team-mate. Who was a senor type Shinobi, although his skill was limited, where when he sense a powerful battle going on, he couldn't tell who it was between or who was winning, he could only tell what direction it was happening in and that it was a distance from them.

"More than likely" replied Saito simply.

"But if the battle was over who was it between and who won it?" asked Chōjūrō.

"I do not know, but let us be thankful, that it is over and they are gone, as given the state of this area, the people who fought here were very powerful and highly skilled" said Saito.

"But still Chōjūrō has a point, if the battle is over then where is the losing side, where are their bodies?" asked Haku.

"Perhaps the beast here ate their bodies after the battle ended" suggested Saito.

"I don't believe so, as I seen no blood or animal tracks" stated Haku.

"Does it really matter Haku-san?" stated Saito. "The battle is over and whoever fought here is gone, I suggest we continue on to the tower, before a rival team shows up and attacks us for our scrolls."

At this Haku nodded, as she knew Saito was correct, where she then turned to Chōjūrō, who had broken from them to look at something. Before either she or Saito could call him back to tell him that they were leaving, the blue haired boy called them over to him to look at something.

When they came up to him, they saw him looking a large deep slash mark on the large tree.

"Look at this! What short of technique can make a deep slash mark like that on a tree like this?" asked the boy. Since as a swordsman in training, he knew that it would take some serious skill for a swordsman to make a slash mark like that on a tree like this with a sword. As given the angle and shape of the slash, it was clearly from a sword or at least a technique involving a sword.

"As interesting as that is Chōjūrō, I believe we should leave this place before…" spoke Saito only to be interrupted by Haku.

"We're not leave or at least not yet" stated the young Ice user.

"What?" asked Saito, as he turned to his female team-mate in surprise and confusion.

"I said we aren't leaving, and we are going to search the entire area."

"But why?" asked Chōjūrō, not understanding why the young Hyoton user wanted to stay here and search the area.

"It doesn't matter just, search the area!" stated Haku forcefully, with concern in her voice and a worried look, as she recognised the slash marks on the trees, and could only think of one technique that could do that. Hence why she was searching the area and was hoping she could find proof that she was wrong or at the very least find out what exactly happened here.

Not really understanding what was up with their team-mate, both boys decided not to argue and do what they were told, as they knew that when Haku acted like this, there was no talking her out of it.

"And what exactly do you want us to look for?" asked Saito with a slightly annoyed and sceptical look on his face.

"You know it when you see it" replied Haku, not really answering her team-mate's question, where she then went off to look.

Frowning at this, Saito just shook his head with annoyance, before he started looking, for whatever Haku wanted them to find. Chōjūrō also decided to simply obey where he shrugged his shoulders and sighed before he went in another direction to look for this mysterious thing.

After a few minutes Haku suddenly heard Saito's voice from her short range radio.

"_**Haku! I think I found what you had us looking for, over**_" spoke Saito over his radio.

"_**Received, I will arrive at you location momentarily, over**_" replied Haku, as she head to Saito's location.

After a minute or two, Haku arrived and came up to Saito, who was standing over a person that lay face first on the ground.

"I believe this is who you had us looking for" stated Saito, as Haku knelt down and turned the person over, revealing it to be Naruto, the very person she had hoped it not to be.

"Naruto-kun" spoke Haku with concern when she saw her injured friend.

"How did you know he was here?" asked Saito.

"I wasn't sure, but I recognised the slash mark on the tree, as I know of only one technique that can make a slash mark like that", replied Haku, where Saito just nodded.

"Haku what are you doing?" cried Saito in surprise when he saw his team-mate taking out her medical equipment and started to treat Naruto injuries.

"I'm healing him" replied Haku without even looking at Saito.

"I can see that, but why are you doing it? He is our enemy!"

"To you perhaps, but not to me, as he is a dear friend" answered the female ice users.

"Haku stop this!" stated Saito forcefully.

"No I will not" replied Haku, as she continued to treat Naruto injuries.

"Haku, you will stop this n…" said Saito, where he then went to grab Haku's hand, but before he could even touch her, he found a set of senbon needles pointed at his jugular. For when he tried to grab hold of Haku's hand, the young Hyoton user turned around and before her team-mate knew what happened next, a set of needles appeared in Haku's hands, where she brought the needles to her team-mate's neck. After which Haku then stared directly into Saito's eyes with a cold, angry look in her eyes, one that Saito had never seen before in the normally kind, and friendly ice user.

When Saito saw this look in his team-mate, a cold chill ran down his spin, showing that his team-mate was indeed a true student of the famed Kirigakure no Kaijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist), and wasn't the strongest member of their team for nothing.

"B-But Haku…why?" asked the slightly nervous Saito.

"Because both Zabuza-sama and I owe Naruto-kun our lives, for if it were not for him, both us would've been killed at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). It did not matter to him that were where his enemies, all that matter to him was that he didn't believe that we deserve to die. It was also because of him that we were able to return to Kiri, so I will not allow any harm to come to him and will help him no matter the cost, for I know in my heart that he would do the same for me" stated Haku. After which she lowered her senbon needles and returned to treating Naruto's injuries.

Upon Haku removing her senbon needles from his neck, Saito quickly took a step back from his team-mate and began to rub his neck. After which he turned and saw his other team-mate Chōjūrō standing not far from him and Haku, holding Naruto's Katana in his hand, (which he found when he was looking around the area).

"Eh is there something wrong?" asked Chōjūrō with a worried look, after seeing Haku threatening Saito with her senbon needles.

"Ahem…No there isn't" replied Saito, not wanting to get on Haku bad side any more than he already had.

"Well, I thought you guys should know that I found this Katana, a bit away from here and thought this might be what you were looking for. But I'm guessing you already found what you were really looking for" said Chōjūrō, as he held the Katana up, after which he looked at the injured Naruto.

"Is that…?"

"Yes…" replied Saito "…that is Senju Naruto."

"What happened to him?"

"Obviously he was involved in the battle that was fought here and he clearly lost", answered Saito.

"But who could've done this to him? I thought he was one of the strongest Genin in the exam?" asked Chōjūrō.

"Well he clearly fought with someone who was much stronger than him" stated Saito in a monotone like tone, as he looked down at unconscious Naruto.

"But who could've been strong enough to beat him this badly, could it have been that Gaara guy from Suna or that Yugito girl from Kumo. Since according to those info cards that Kabuto guy showed us, they could be strong enough to take on and beat Senju."

"That is indeed possible, although it's just as likely that he was defeated by another equally powerful Genin, who wasn't mentioned by that Kabuto person" replied Saito. "But what concerns me, is that the person or group that defeated Senju did not kill him, since given his condition, it would've been easy."

Chōjūrō could not dispute, since it was true, although as he thought about it, he suddenly remembered something. "Wait! What about the rest of his team, where are they, shouldn't they be around her somewhere?"

"I have not seen any sign of them anywhere, it is highly possible that they abandoned him, when they realized that they were going to lose" said Saito.

"I do not believe that to be true" spoke Haku without looking at her team-mates, as she continued to heal Naruto's injuries.

"Why's that?" asked Chōjūrō, not understanding what Haku meant.

"Sasuke-san and the others are not the type of people who would run away from a fight even when they were losing, nor would they abandon a team-mate. I know this to be true, as when Zabuza-sama first fought Hatake Kakashi and his team and captured him, Kakashi-san ordered them to run away, but they refused, stating they wouldn't abandon him. After which they worked together to free Kakashi-san."

"So what do you think happened to them?" asked Chōjūrō.

"I believe they were forced to retreat, once they realized that they couldn't beat whoever they were fighting. Naruto-kun most likely stayed behind to hold their enemy off and give Sasuke and the others time to escape. Since he was the strongest of their group and had the best chance of holding the enemy back and surviving", explained Haku.

"And how would you know this?" asked Saito, for although Haku's theory was not impossible, he still found it hard to believe that Haku could know all this.

"Because I know how Naruto-kun would react when faced with his comrades being in danger, as at our fight on the bridge in Nami no Kuni, he put himself in harm's way to save his comrades", answered Haku.

At this Saito just nodded, for although he wasn't entirely convinced, he accepted the theory none the less, at least until after Naruto woke up and told them what happened.

"So how is he?" asked Chōjūrō.

"Well he has a few bruised ribs and several other cuts and bruises, but other than that nothing life threating. But still we should find a safe place to stay, until he wakes up", stated Haku, where her team-mates just nodded. Even though Saito still had his reservations about helping Naruto, he wasn't going to argue with Haku again, given what happened earlier between the two of them. Chōjūrō was also of equal mind of this, since he had seen what happened, and had no wish to get on Haku bad side.

Once both Saito and Chōjūrō had lifted the unconscious Naruto up, the two of them followed Haku. Who led the way to a large cave they had passed by not too long ago, when they were heading to the tower.

-Hidden in one of the large trees-

As Haku and her team, carried the injured Naruto away, the three hooded cloaked Ame Genin hide in the one of the trees looking down at the group.

"Damnit, just when we had him, why the hell did these guys have to show up?" cursed one of the Ame Genin.

"Better yet why are they even helping him? I thought this was battle royale between all the teams. Not to mention, it's not like Kiri and Konoha are allies, if they were Suna Genin or another Konoha team I might understand, but not this", said the other Ame Genin.

"Obviously, this group is different, as I remember them talking to Senju and some of the other Konoha Genin and they seemed rather friendly with one another" stated the other Ame Genin, who was clearly the leader of the group.

"So why don't we attack? We can take them", spoke one of the Ame Genin.

"No not yet! Let's follow them to where they are taking him and plan what we should do from there. Since right now, they would be on guard and if we attack them it could result in a full out battle and we know nothing of their abilities or skills, hence we could find ourselves at a disadvantage" explained the leader of the group. "The best thing we can do right, now is follow them to their hideout and plan out an attack from there."

At this the two other Ame Genin just nodded, where together with their other team-mate they stealth-fully followed Haku and her team from a safe distance.

-At the Forest of Death Tower-

"How is the curse seal Anko? Dose it still hurt?" asked the Sandaime Hokage, after he had finished treating Anko.

"No it's gotten better, thanks to you Hokage-sama" replied Anko as she covered from the curse seal, although it still hurt a small bit.

"So tell me what exactly happened and what did Orochimaru tell you?" asked the Sandaime, with a serious tone.

For the next twenty minutes Sarutobi listened to what Anko had to say, where once she finished, a large frown appeared on the old Hokage's face.

"I still can't believe that Orochimaru came here of all place" spoke Izumo with surprise and worry in his voice.

"But still why would he come here? It doesn't making any sense" said Kotetsu.

At hearing this Anko then suddenly remembered what Orochimaru said to her in the forest, "He wants…"

"He wants Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto, am I corrected?" interrupted the Sandaime before Anko could finish, where Anko just nodded, confirming the Hokage's worst fears.

Upon hearing this, the Sandaime frown grew even deeper, where he then told Izumo and Kotetsu to leave the room, as he wanted to speak to Anko alone.

Both Chunin nodded and left the room, after which Sarutobi turned to the nearby window and looked out at the forest before him, where he let out a deep sigh, before he spoke to Anko again.

"Tell me Anko did Orochimaru tell you anything else about Naruto? As I am sure you can guess why he wants Sasuke" asked the Sandaime without look at the young woman.

At this Anko nodded, as she already guessed that her former Sensei wanted Sasuke, because of his Bloodline. Since he had always been obsessed with learning all the Jutsu in the world, and the unique abilities of the Sharingan would be an invaluable asset to him in achieving his goal.

"He mentioned that Senju Naruto had inherited several abilities from his ancestors, including the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton powers."

At hearing this, Sarutobi let out another tired sigh, before he turned to Anko. "What I am about to tell you Anko has been declared a S class secret, known by only a select few Shinobi and the members of the Konoha Council. Should you tell anyone that has not been cleared, before it has been officially announced, you'll be severely punished."

"I understand Hokage-sama"

"Good, what Orochimaru said is true; Naruto has indeed inherited the Mokuton Bloodline of his ancestor the Shodaime Hokage, although he is able to use it in a way that the Shodaime could not. Since Naruto is able to manipulate and control plants with his Bloodline as well. Not only that, but he has also inherited his mother's precise Chakra control and is able to use her super human strength to a remarkable degree. He also seemly has a high affinity to Water much like the Nidaime Hokage, and is able to create large amounts of Water without a large reserve of Water nearby. Although he is not yet at the same level as the Nidaime, since he must use the moisture from not only the air, but also the surrounding plants, when using powerful Water Jutsu that require a large amount of Water. But given time, I'm certain that he will overcome that inability. Also according to Kakashi, Jiraiya and Kureani, Naruto has seemly developed a unique talent for Genjutsu not unlike his ancestor Senju Tōka. But the most remarkable thing about Naruto is that he has four Nature affinities, naturally"

When the Hokage had finished explaining Naruto's abilities, to say Anko was surprise, would have been a severe understatement.

"_No wonder Orochimaru, wants the kid so badly! If he is this talented and strong already, there's no telling how strong he'll become later on_" thought Anko.

"What affinities does he have?" asked Anko.

"He has affinities to Earth, Water, Lightning and Wind" answered the Sandaime before he continued. "Given what I've told you, I'm certain you can understand why this has been declared an S class secret. Since given his heritage alone, many of our enemies and rivals will come after Naruto, and their drive to either capture or kill him will only grow once they eventually learn what Naruto can do."

Anko just nodded at this, after which she decided to ask the Hokage something that concerned her.

"But Hokage-sama, if it is indeed true that only a select few people knew of Senju Naruto's abilities. How is it that Orochimaru learned about it?"

"I believe he originally only came to test both Sasuke and Naruto to see if they might prove useful to him. So when Naruto and his team fought him, Naruto must have been forced to reveal his abilities to Orochimaru", answered Sarutobi, where he could not fault Naruto for doing so, given who he was up against.

Anko of course nodded after hearing the Hokage's explanation as it made sense, but then spoke up again about something else she had been wondering.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but what are we to do about the exam, should we cancel it or should we continue on with it?"

"We'll continue on with it for now, while at the same time try and find out what Orochimaru is up to" answered Sarutobi, where Anko just nodded again.

"What about the two boys?"

"I will send a team of ANBU out into the forest to serach for any signs of Naruto and Sasuke or of their team-mates" replied the old Hokage

Once they finished speaking Anko left the room and went to get some rest, leaving the Hokage alone in the room with his thoughts.

As he looked out the window again towards the forest, the Sandaime could not help but silently curse himself, for not stopping Orochimaru when he had the chance all those years ago.

"_I was a fool not to have stopped you when I had the chance and now because of it, Sasuke and Naruto have paid the price for my weakness_" thought Sarutobi angrily; where he could only pray that Naruto was alive and safe.

-The Next day with Haku and her team-

Following their finding of the injured Naruto, Haku and her team brought him to a nearby cave, so that he would have a safe place until he woke up.

When they arrived at the cave, Haku had told them that they could go to the tower without her and wait for her there, stating that she would stay with Naruto until he had fully recovered.

Both boys of course refused and stated that they would stay with her, since neither of them liked the idea of leaving their team-mate alone, with the possibility of being attacked by a rival team with no-one to help her. There was also the fact that their sensei Zabuza would be less than pleased with them, if he learned they left Haku and Naruto alone and undefeated in the forest, where he would no doubt show them why exactly he was called Kirigakure no Kijin. Not to mention give them a first-hand experience as to why his sword was called Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife).

When night eventually came and Naruto had still not woken up, Haku and her team agreed to take turns in guarding, while the others got some sleep. Haku of volunteered to take the first watch, while Saito and Chōjūrō slept for the first few hours.

As the night grew, Haku looked up into the night sky and saw that moon shining brightly and was at its zenith, as the moonlight shined down around the surrounding forestry. Haku suddenly sensed something, where she then noticed a glimmer of light coming from one of the bushes.

Acting quickly Haku immediately used her Hyoton ability and created an ice shield right in front of her and the entrance or the cave, protecting both her, her team-mates and Naruto from the barrage of Kunai and Shuriken sent at them.

As soon as Haku had erected her Ice shield, both Saito and Chōjūrō and immediately woke up and grabbed hold of their swords and stood next to Haku, as they quickly realized that they were under attack.

Seeing that their sneak attack had failed, the three cloaked Ame Genin jumped out from the bushes that they were hiding behind, after which one of the Genin walked forward and spoke.

"If you value your lives in any way, you'll handover Senju Naruto to us, as our business is with him, not you."

"Why do you what Naruto-kun? What do you intend to do with him?" asked Haku, with a frown, as she already had an idea.

"That is of no concern to you, hand him over and you'll live, if not then you'll die here" replied another one of the Ame Genin.

"No!" retorted Haku forcefully, as she drew out a set of Senbon needles, as she prepared to fight, where her team-mates followed suit, as they readied their own weapons.

"So be it, you had your chance" replied the last of the Ame Genin, where the three of them charged straight at the Kiri Genin.

When the two sides clashed, the six Genin spilt up to face against their opponents, Haku faced against the leader of the Ame Genin, while her team-mates faced off against the other Ame Genin.

As Haku faced the leader of the Ame Genin, she quickly fired several Senbon needles at the Ame team leader, who skilfully deflected the needles with a Kunai. After which the Ame leader launch several Shuriken at the Haku, who in turn skilfully avoid the Shuriken. Although when she did, she suddenly saw the Kunai that the Ame team leader had been holding a moment ago, flying towards her at high speed.

Acting quickly, Haku, spun around to her left to avoid the Kunai aimed at her, where she then caught the Kunai when it flew past her. After which she spun around to face the Ame leader again, where she then threw it straight back at the Ame Genin. Who avoided the Kunai, by quickly stepping to the right, where the Kunai flew by and stabbed itself right into the tree directly behind the Ame leader.

After seeing this, the Ame team leader was of course both surprised and impressed at Haku's skill.

"Impressive…it seems I can't afford to underestimate you" commented the Ame leader.

"You should not, for if you do, it'll be your last" replied Haku with a calm voice, as she took out another set of Senbon needles and raced straight at the Ame-nin.

Seeing this, the Ame team leader acted quickly took out another Kuani and blocked Haku's attack with it. After which a battle for dominance began between the two team leaders, each trying to push the other back.

Sadly though for the Ame Genin, this was all according to Haku's plan, since now both team leaders were standing directly in front of one another and only had one hand free. This was of course all that Haku needed, where she then did a few quick on handed hand-seals and simply said "**Hijutsu:**** Sensatsu Suishō** (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!" After which she gathered some water from around the surrounding area, where one thousand long water needles started to form all around them.

Upon which Haku then had all her Water needles fly straight at her opponent from all angles, just when she jumped away from the Ame Genin, leaving no chance for escape.

But when the attack ended and Haku land back on the ground a few feet away from the Ame-nin. The enemy ninja reverted into water, revealing that Haku had been fighting a **Mizu Bunshin** (Water Clone).

Seeing that she had been tricked, Haku quickly turned around and saw the Ame Genin she thought she had been fighting, standing over the still unconscious and defenceless Naruto.

When the female Ice user saw this, she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it in time to save Naruto if she ran, since they were too far away. She also knew that neither of her team-mates could reach Naruto in time either, since both were busy fighting with the other two Ame Genin.

Realizing this, Haku knew of only one way that she could reach Naruto in time and save him, where she did a several one handed hand seal and disappeared in a whirl of ice.

-With the Ame Team leader-

As Haku battled with the Ame-nin's water clone, the real team leader snuck around the battle, while the water clone and the rest of the Ame-nin's team kept Haku and her team busy and away from the defenceless Naruto.

After sneaking into the cave, the Ame leader stood over the unconscious Naruto and smiled.

"_All too easy_" thought the Genin, but before the Ame-nin could deliver the fatal blow. The cave suddenly began to get very cold and a mirror made out of ice appeared right between the Ame-nin and Naruto. After which, Haku emerged out of it and punched the Ame-nin hard, right in the face, sending the young Genin flying out of the cave.

Recovering quickly, the Ame team leader glared at Haku coldly, as she walked out of the cave to face the real Ame-nin, since if Haku hadn't interfered Naruto would be dead now.

"_Damnit, it's bad enough she is a Hyoton Bloodline user, but she incredibly fast, especially with that technique she just used_", thought the Ame team leader.

"Why are you fighting so hard to defend him?" asked the annoyed Ame Genin.

"Because he is my friend" replied Haku, as she readied herself, as she wasn't going to let her opponent get the better of her this time.

"Friend!" repeated the Ame team leader, with confusion. "That's ridiculous!... you're both from rival villages, besides in this exam, everyone that isn't on your team is your enemy."

"That is where you're wrong… even though Naruto-kun and I are from different villages, it does not mean we cannot become friends and regardless of this exam, I would gladly help him. For I know he would do the same for me if I were in trouble, furthermore I owe Naruto-kun my life, and I will do whatever it takes to repay that debt."

"Hmph, nice speech, but if you're indeed so intent to dying to protect him, then I'll be more than happy to leave your corpses next to one another" stated that Ame team leader. After which two small hand sized fans with spikes appeared out of the Ame-nin's sleeves and right into the Genin's hands.

"I hadn't intended to get this serious in the exam, but you've left me no other choice" spoke the Ame-nin, after which the Genin swung the fans and created a powerful wind current and sent it straight at Haku.

Realizing what would happen if that attack hit her, Haku immediately created a large ice wall in front of her and protected herself from the deadly wind attack.

When the attack ended, Haku saw the dozen or so deep gashes and slash marks on her wall of ice, which barely withstood the attack.

Seeing this, Haku knew that she would have to be carefully with the Ame team leader, as it was oblivious, that the young Ame-nin was no ordinary Genin and had been well trained and was highly skilled.

For the next few minutes the battle raged between the two Genin teams, but unbenounced to both sides, a dark aura started to form around Naruto.

As the fight dragged on Saito and Chōjūrō were able to push the other two Ame Genin well back, forcing them to keep their distance from the two Kiri Genin.

But even with the fact that they were being pushed back, the Ame Genin weren't finished yet and found a way to bypass their opponents, where the first Ame Genin threw a Kunai at Saito, whom he had been fighting against. Saito had of course sidestepped the Kunai, where it just stabbed the ground. But what the young Kiri-nin didn't notice until the Kunai stabbed the ground, was that tied to the end of the Kunai, was an exploding note.

Seeing this, Saito had immediately jumped up into the air and barely avoided the explosion, where parts of his clothes had been slightly singed. But even still it gave the Ame-nin the opening he needed to bypass Saito, where he ran straight for Naruto.

At the same time, the second Ame-nin who had been fight Chōjūrō, used a smoke bomb, temporarily blinded the young swordsman in training, allowing the Ame-nin to bypass him and head straight towards Naruto as well.

Both Chōjūrō and Saito quickly recovered from the Ame-nins diversionary tactics and proceeded to chase after the two Ame-nins. Sadly though, the two Ame Genin had too much of a head start, where both boys realized that it was unlikely that they would catch up to them until it was too late.

At the same time Haku and the Ame team leader proved to be evenly matched, as both Genin, were at a deadlock with one another. As the fight dragged on, Haku turned around slightly and notice the two Ame Genin heading towards Naruto from opposite sides.

Seeing that Naruto was in trouble, Haku prepared to use her ice mirrors again to transport herself to Naruto. But before she could, the Ame team leader cried out, "Oh no you don't!" and created a large gust of wind and sent Haku flying to the side.

Seeing that they had a clear shot at Naruto, the two Ame Genin threw several Kunai with exploding notes tied to them, at the cave that Naruto lay in. As soon as the Kunai hit the inside of the cave, the notes tied to them exploded, causing the cave to collaspe.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Haku with horror, as she feared the worst when the collasped.

"Hmph! Mission accomplished" commented the Ame team leader with a slight smirk of satisfaction.

Haku of course was about to race over to the now collapsed cave in an attempt to search for Naruto, but before she could, she was stopped by Saito who appeared next to her and held his arm out to stop her.

"Haku it's too late he's dead, even if he somehow survived the explosion, there's no way he could survive the cave falling on top of him."

At this Haku closed her eyes in sorrow, as she knew Saito was correct, Naruto was dead and it was her fault, she had failed to protect him.

Soon enough though, Haku sorrow turned to anger, as she opened her eyes, and glared with vengeful rage at the cloaked Ame leader, since they were the ones who had killed her friend.

Seeing this, the Ame team leader just smirked with amusement, unafraid of Haku vengeful stare.

"Oh are you angry that I kill your little boyfriend" mocked the Ame leader. "Well if you like I'll be more than happy to send you to join him in the afterlife."

At this Haku became even angrier and drew out another set of Senbon needles and prepared to attack the Ame Genin.

"Haku don't!" warned Saito, but it was to no avail, as Haku was fixed on the Ame-nin, where she pushed Saito's arm away.

"Well are you coming or not? Since the sooner we start the sooner, I can send you to your boyfriend in the next life" taunted the Ame leader after taking a fighting stance.

"I don't think that'll be necessary", spoke a familiar voice out of nowhere, causing both teams to start looking around.

Quickly enough Chōjūrō, who had joined Haku and Saito a moment ago shouted out "Look!" and pointed to up to the top of a large tree near the cave. When everyone turned to look, they saw none other than Naruto standing proudly on a large thick tree branch without so much as a mark on him, (with the exception of his clothes being a little ruffled up by the explosion).

"Naruto-kun your alive" cried Haku with clear relief in both her voice and on her face.

Naruto of course just smirked in return of this statement, but when he did, Haku finally notice that something was off about Naruto. Since the smirk that Naruto gave her, was not the same kind and friendly smirk that he would often give her and other people. This smirk, seemed dark and almost sinister like, and was only highlighted by the dark aura that surrounded him and the strange lines in a rip like pattern that covered his body. (1)

"Impossible! How can you still be alive!" cried the Ame Leader.

"Hmph! As if I would die so easily…you seriously underestimated me" retorted Naruto with a smirk.

"Well then let see if you can dodge us!" cried one of the two Ame-nins as he and his partner appeared in mid-air behind Naruto, where they attempted to stab Naruto with their Kunai. But before their attacks could hit, Naruto disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"What the hell!" cried on of the Ame Genin, as he and his partner landed on the tree branch that Naruto was on a moment ago.

"He disappeared, but how?" spoke the other Ame Genin in confusion, as he and his partner looked around for any sign of Naruto.

"Looking for me!" cried Naruto, where he appeared right above the two Ame Genin and delivered a powerful falling elbow strike down on top of the head of one of the Ame Genin. Sending him face first, right through the tree branch and speeding down into the ground, creating a small crater.

After taking care of one of the Ame-nins, Naruto who was now standing on another tree branch faced the remaining Ame-nin, who had jumped off the branch that Naruto destroyed when he hit his team-mate.

"It's your turn now?" asked Naruto with the same dark smirk on his face.

Angered by what Naruto said, the Ame-nin took out a set of Kunai and threw them at Naruto, who easily side stepped them. But what Naruto didn't know was that tied to the Kunai was nearly invisible wire, which he used to control his Kunai, where he had the Kunai turn around and stab Naruto from the behind. But once again Naruto disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared right in front of the Ame-nin, where he delivered a powerful knee to the chin, that sent the Ame-nin up into the air. After which Naruto then reappeared over the Ame Genin and cried out "**Tsūtenkyaku **(Painful Sky Leg)!" as he delivered a powerful falling axe kick on the Ame Genin's back, sending him crashing to the ground much like his partner.

After dealing with the two Genin, Naruto landed on another nearby branch and brought his hand up and began to open and close it with the same dark smirk still plastered on his face, as he looked at it. He marveled at how powerful he was feeling, since he couldn't believe how much stronger he had become, as he taken down the two Ame Genin with ease and was able to deal all that damage to them without having to use his superhuman strength.

"_So this is the power that Orochimaru was talking about, it's incredible I've never felt so strong before, it's as if all my abilities have doubled_" thought Naruto.

At the same time the Ame team leader grew concerned at how easily Naruto had defeated the others, not to mention the powerful dark Chakra that was surrounding him. But despite this, the Ame leader was not about to fail and sent a powerful blast of wind at Naruto, where it destroyed a portion of the tree.

Seeing this, the Ame team leader thought for certain Naruto was dead, only to be surprised when Naruto reappeared again few feet away from the Ame-nin, with his Katana in his hand and pointed forward as he charged at the Genin.

Reacting quickly the Ame team leader caught Naruto's stabbing attack, with the hand sized fans that the Genin was carrying and twisted the sword out of Naruto's hand with the two fans skewered to it. (2)

Naruto then quickly then countered with a sharp kick to the abdomen, and sent the Genin leader flying backwards a bit, before recovering.

But before the fight could continue any further, Haku and her team appeared where they surrounded the Ame Genin.

Knowing when a battle was lost, the Ame team leader quickly smashed several large smoke pellets into the ground, causing a large cloud of smoke to appear around Naruto, Haku and the others.

When the smoke dissipated, they saw the Ame team leader holding the other two Ame Genin.

"We'll leave this battle for now Senju, but mark my words, we'll met again and next time, you won't have your friends there to help you" spoke the Ame Genin before disappearing in a puff of smoke with the other Ame Genin.

"As if I'm going to give you that opportunity" stated Naruto, as he picked up his Katana and removed the two fans that were stuck to it and then started to walk away from Haku and her team.

"Naruto-kun, where are you going?" asked Haku with concern.

"What does it look like I doing, I'm going after them and when I find them I going to kill them" replied Naruto with a sadistic smirk, that worried Haku, as this was not like him.

"Naruto there's no need for that, they've run away, they're not a threat to us", said Haku with concern at the way Naruto was acting.

"They came to kill me Haku-chan, that's more than enough reason for me to kill them. Besides I haven't even warmed up yet and I want to see what else I can do with this new power", answered Naruto as he smiled darkly.

At hearing this, Haku knew that there was something wrong with Naruto, since Naruto hated killing much like her and tried to avoid it as much as possible. It was then that she realized that the markings on his body where not only increasing his strength, speed and power, but were also affecting his mind.

"Naruto stop this! This isn't you!" pleaded Haku as she grabbed hold of her friend only to be pushed away.

"No your right…" replied Naruto as he lowered his head.

Seeing this Haku smiled, thinking that she had gotten through to her friend, but that quickly changed when Naruto turned around with a evil looking smile.

"…I'm better than who I was, as with this power, I will finnaly acknowledge me and not because of my mother."

At this Haku became scared, as the dark power that was surrounding Naruto grew.

"No Naruto I won't let you go and turn into some kind of cold hearted murder, I'll stop you", replied Haku, as she readied herself, as she hoped that when faced with the concept of fighting her, Naruto would return to normal.

Sadly though, this did not work, for upon hearing this, Naruto just smiled.

"Really, well then go right ahead and try and stop me, let's see if you have become any stronger Haku-chan", replied Naruto, as he readied himself.

"_Naruto-kun what happened to you_", thought Haku, where she and her team-mate prepared to fight Naruto.

"_Something is seriously wrong with this guy; it's as if he's a completely different person from the written exam. It must have something to do with those markings on his body and that foul Chakra that is surrounding him_" thought Saito, as he and Chōjūrō readied themselves for battle.

As the three Kiri-nin readied themselves to fight Naruto, the dark foul Chakra that surrounded him began to grow, as if it was gaining strength from Naruto's thirst for battle, where a large vortex of dark Chakra surrounded and rose from the young Senju heir.

"_Shit this is getting out of hand, his Chakra level is too big, too powerful, we can't beat that!_" thought Chōjūrō with fear. For like the others, he could see the foul Chakra emanating from Naruto's body and knew that spell serious trouble for them. Since he remembered from his lessons with his sensei Zabuza, that Chakra could only be seen when a person was releasing a particular large and strong amount of Chakra all at once. Hence given what he was seeing, Naruto was emanating a large and very potent amount of Chakra right now.

Knowing what they were facing and hoping to finish the battle quickly, Saito quickly put his Katana away and did three quick hand-seals and brought his hands up to his mouth and cried out "**Suiton: Mizurappa** (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)!" where he then gushed out a large amount of water from his mouth, not unlike a waterfall.

The large wave of water quickly enveloped Naruto and flooded a small portion of the area in front of them.

"Got him!" said Saito with a smile, which quickly disappeared, when he heard Naruto's voice speak from behind him.

"Afraid not"

Hearing this, Haku and Chōjūrō turned around and saw Naruto standing directly behind Saito, with his back facing Saito's, who then tried to turn around. But before he could even try, Naruto delivered a sharp elbow to the back of the head, where thanks to Naruto's enhance strength from the Earth curse mark. The elbow strike was strong enough to send Saito flying forward and skidding across the flooded ground, before finally landing in a small crumpled heap, face first in water.

Reacting immediately, Haku used her own high speed to appear behind Naruto and attempted to hit the blonde Genin in the neck with her senbon needles, hoping to disable him.

Sadly though Naruto sensed her approach and spun around and caught her wrist before she could hit him.

"Nice try Haku-chan, but not good enough" stated Naruto with a dark smirk, before swinging her around slightly and sending her flying into some nearby bushes.

It was then at this point that Chōjūrō made his move, where he then had Hiramekarei (Twin sword) take the shape of a giant hammer and slammed it down on Naruto, where a large cloud of dust erupted.

After hitting Naruto, Chōjūrō smiled in victory, thinking he had defeated the young Senju, even his team-mate Saito, who was picking himself up from Naruto's attack smiled.

"_Nice going Chōjūrō_" thought Saito.

But when the dust finally settled, both boys' eyes widened in disbelief, when they saw Naruto blocking Hiramekarei's hammer form with both his hands, (as he dropped his Katana to catch Hiramekarei), standing in a small crater that was caused by Chōjūrō slamming Hiramekarei down on him.

"_Impossible_" thought both boys at the same time.

"Pretty good…that actually made my arms go slightly numb" said Naruto, before he grabbed hold of the hammer head and in a feet of incredible strength, threw both Hiramekarei and its wielder over him, sending them both flying into a tree, and making a massive impact dent in the large tree, knocking Chōjūrō out.

"_Such strength, and yet if what Haku and Zabuza-sensei said is true, he is much stronger than this!_" thought Saito with disbelief.

After Naruto had taken care of Chōjūrō, he suddenly found himself surrounded by thousands of Water needles.

Seeing them, Naruto quickly realized that Haku had returned and saw her standing not far from his left hand a few meters away from him.

It was then at this point that Haku activated her attack, and had all the water needles that surrounded Naruto converge on him. But within an instant, Naruto disappeared, before the water needles could hit him and then reappeared to the left hand side of Haku, where he attempted slash at her.

Fortunately though, Haku was able to move away and avoid the slash in time, thanks to the many years of training she went through as Zabuza's student.

At the same time Satio watch with disbelief, as Naruto had not only avoided Haku's **Sensatsu Suishō**. But also had snuck up on Haku and nearly cut her in two with his Katana, which he had picked up, and did it all within a blink of an eye.

"_What tremendous speed! He might very well be as fast as Haku, if not faster_" thought Saito, since he knew that out of all the members of his team Haku was the fastest.

After dodging Naruto's attack, Haku, immediately took out a set of senbon needles and used them to block another strike from Naruto with his Katana. As the two began to struggle for dominance, Haku quickly found herself being pushed back. But before Naruto could push her back fully, he suddenly heard Saito cry out "**Suiton: Teppōdama **(Water Style: Gunshot)!" and a large ball of water shooting forward him a great speed.

Knowing that he couldn't avoid the attack in time, Naruto immediately pulled himself back, catching the Hyoton (Ice Release) user off balance, where he thenkicked her away. After which he then channelled a large amount of his Wind Chakra into his Katana and cried out "**Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash)!" Upon which a large crescent shape blade of Wind erupted from his Katana and spilt the large ball of water in two, causing it to fall apart. Naruto's wind attack although continued to move forward at immense speed, where it nearly split Saito in two. Who barely avoided the attack, due to his shock at the technique Naruto used.

"_That was too close…_" thought Saito after he barely avoided the attack and held his left arm as it bled from the light cut he received from Naruto's attack. _"…that must be the __**Surasshu-fū **__attack that Haku mentioned earlier_"

Seeing that her team-mate had avoided Naruto's deadly wind attack, Haku quickly attempted to take advantage of Naruto's distraction and disable him.

Unfortunately though for Haku, Naruto saw Haku coming at him from the corner of his eyes and spun around and blocked Haku's needles with his Katana. After which the two of them engaged in a fierce close quarter battle.

As the fight continued Haku was soon joined by Saito, where he engaged Naruto with his own sword, for the next few minutes the three Shinobi fought with one another, where despite having the enhance power of Orochimaru's Earth mark. Naruto found himself being push backed, as Haku and Saito worked together to stand up to Naruto, where Haku used her own speed to keep Naruto at bay, while Saito supported Haku, with attacks from the side and behind, keeping Naruto off balance.

Eventually though Naruto was pushed back into the area that was flooded with water from Saito's earlier attack. The fight of course continued on without halt, where after avoiding another of Naruto's slashes, Haku and Saito attempted to attack Naruto from two sides in the hope of creating an opening for the other to exploit.

Seeing them, Naruto quickly turned his Katana around and held it backwards and started to spin around at high speed, drawing the water around him to create a swirling waterspout. While at the same time crying out "**Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water)!" (3).

As the waterspout rose up, both Saito and Haku were forced to jump back to avoid the large mass of swirling water.

But as soon as it rose up, the waterspout died down, although when it did Haku and Saito found that Naruto was no-where to be found.

As the two Kiri-nins looked around for any sign of Naruto, Haku saw a slight blur at the corner of her eye, heading straight for Saito.

"Saito watch out!" Haku cried, as she tried to warn her team-mate, but it was too late, as before Saito could do anything. Naruto appeared right below him and hit him straight in the stomach, with the bottom hilt of his Katana, causing the young Kiri-nin to keel over in pain. After which Naruto followed with a backwards spinning kick to the face, which sent Saito flying backwards and skidding across the flooded ground, landing in a small heap, with his face looking to the sky.

It was then, at this point that Naruto appeared and stood over Saito with an evil looking smirk and his Katana in hand, ready to stab Saito through the heart with it. But before he could, Haku appeared to his left side and delivered a powerful flying double kick to the side of Naruto's head, sending the young Senju flying several meters away.

Haku of course attempted, to keep her advantage, where she unleashed a small barrage of Senbon needles on Naruto, who quickly recovered from her strike and used his Katana to skilfully deflect the needles.

Once Naruto had deflected all her needles, Haku stood directly in front of Naruto, with only a few meters separating them.

"Not too shabby Haku-chan…" commented Naruto with a dark smile, as he held the left side of his face, which was red from Haku's flying double kick. "…that move actually hurt, you certainly have improved since we last fought."

Haku of course did not reply to Naruto's comment, where she began to do hand-seals at impressive speed.

Seeing this, Naruto prepared to defend himself, as he was certain that Haku was preparing some kind of Ice justu, especially since they were surrounded by water that was up to the feet.

Within second, Haku finished her hand-seals and cried out "**Hyoton:** **Hyōrō no Jutsu** (Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique)!" After which the water around Naruto began to shoot up and envelope him, where it then froze, sealing him in a large block of Ice.

Once Naruto was sealed in the ice, Haku lowered her shoulders and let out a sigh of relief at the battle finally being over.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun but you left me no other choice" said Haku, as she looked at her friend trapped behind inside the block of Ice, where she hoped he could forgive her once they figured out what was wrong with him.

But as Haku turned her back to Naruto and prepared to go help Saito, who was fairly bruised up from his fight with Naruto, she suddenly felt Naruto's dark Chakra growing again.

"_No…It's not possible!_" thought Haku with shock, as she turned around and saw the dark Chakra emanate from the ice prison around Naruto.

Before Haku could even attempt to try and contain Naruto, the ice prison began to crack, where it then shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, Haku quickly raised her arms up to protect her face from the small shockwave that erupted from Naruto, as he broke free of the Ice Prison. As well as protect her face from the pieces of ice and the water that was sent flying through the air when Naruto broke free.

Once the shockwave died down, Haku lowered her arms and saw Naruto slowly walking over to her, emanating an even stronger amount of dark Chakra around him than did before.

It took a moment or two for Haku to get over her shock and the slight fear caused by what just happen, but she quickly steadied herself to continue the fight. But before the female ice user could even make any kind of attack or put up any kind of defence. Naruto suddenly disappeared within the blink of an eye and reappeared right underneath her, where he then delivered a power kick to Haku's chin. Sending her flying right up into the air, not unlike what Lee did when he fought Sasuke before the Chunin exam started.

After launching Haku into the air, Naruto once again disappeared and then reappeared right over Haku, (who was still stunned and unable to move after what just happed). Upon which he then brought his right heel down on to Haku with immense force, sending her hurtling to the ground and making a small dent in it.

"Haku-chan!" cried Saito, as he tried to get up, but held his stomach in pain from Naruto's hit earlier.

Naruto then landed back on the ground and slowly walked towards Haku and picked the young girl up, and held her by the throat with a vice like grip, nearly choking her. After which Naruto the held up his Katana ready to stab her right between her eyes.

"Well it's been fun Haku-chan, you put up an interesting fight, but as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end."

"Naruto-kun, please don't do this, this is not you, you're not like this, you're a good and kind person…" croaked Haku, as Naruto kept his vice like grip on her throat. "…Please Naruto-kun remember what you said to me at Nami no Kuni…you and I are friends."

At hearing Haku mention Nami no Kuni and them being friends, Naruto started to have flashbacks of the events on the bridge of Nami no Kuni.

-Flashback-

As Naruto held his Katana over Haku's face, the young ice user spoke, "Why do you hesitate kill me…I've lost my purpose in living…I've failed Zabuza-sama…I' am no longer fit to be his weapon".

"What kind of fucked up crap are you talking about? You're not a weapon, you're a human being, you have your own life and your own free will, why the hell would you want to die, simply because I defeated you?" asked Naruto, since what Haku was saying didn't make any sense.

For the next few minutes Haku went on to explain her life in Mizu no kuni (Water country) and how when Haku's father discovered that she and her mother were bloodline holders. He gathered a mob and killed Haku's mother and then tried to kill her, but were killed themselves when Haku accidently used her bloodline to kill them.

After the incident, Haku roamed the cold streets of Kiri during the dead of winter until she was found by Zabuza and he made Haku his weapon, thereby giving Haku a purpose in living again.

When Naruto heard this, several different thoughts ran through his head, as he was unsure what to say or think at what Haku had told him.

"I can understand why you feel that you owe Zabuza after he took you in, but that still doesn't make it right that he views you and treats you like some kind of weapon" spoke Naruto.

"But that is what I am, I am his tool to use in whatever way he wishes", spoke Haku

"STOP BEING SUCH A BAKA HAKU!" cried Naruto angrily, which surprised the young ice user. "You're a human being, just like me, you're not a tool, you feel pain, you feel joy, you feel sorrow and you have your own dreams just like me or anyone else. The only person that has a right to decide how you live your life is yourself, as it's your life not his!"

As Haku heard this, the young ice user understood what Naruto was saying, but even still Haku was too loyal to Zabuza. "If you say that I can choose how I live my life Naruto-san, then I choose to serve Zabuza-sama as his weapon. As that is my purpose and my dream is to help him to achieve his dream, for he is my precious person and I would gladly give my life up for him…so kill me now and be done with it".

"AAAgggghhhh!" cried Naruto in frustration "Damnit Haku I won't kill you, simply because you think you should die!"

At this Haku couldn't help but smile kindly, despite the situation she was in, since the young ice user could tell that Naruto was a kind individually and that the two of them were a lot a like many ways.

But as Haku and Naruto were talking to one another, the two Shinobi's heard a cry of pain, after which the mist slowly began to die down, where they then saw Zabuza and pack of dogs on top of Zabuza, biting deeply into his arms and legs, preventing him from moving. Also at the same time they heard a large chirping noise, where when they looked, they saw Kakashi holding his right hand, which was now covered in Lightning.

"_Shit's that Kakashi-sensei __**Raikiri**__ (Lightning Cutter)!_" thought Naruto in surprise at seeing the Jutsu's with his own eyes for the first time. As he had heard about it from his Godfather, as it was one of Kakashi's strongest moves and was the advance form of his only originally Jutsu the **Chidori** (One thousands birds). He had also heard from his Godfather that Kakashi had given the technique this name after he cut a bolt of Lightning with it.

Upon seeing that Zabuza was in trouble, as well as seeing that Naruto was monetarily distracted, (since he was looking towards Kakashi). Haku quickly took advantage of Naruto's distraction and spun around, kicking Naruto off his feet and making him fall onto his back, after which Haku then quickly got back onto her feet. But before she raced of towards Zabuza, Haku turned to look at Naruto sadly (who was still on the ground), I'm sorry Naruto-san, if we had met at another time and in another place, I believe we could've been friends.

"But we're friends Haku!" spoke Naruto.

-End Flashback-

It was then after remembering this, Naruto realized what he was doing and let go of Haku, dropping the girl onto the flooded ground along with his Katana. After which, he fell to his knees and held the side of his neck, where the curse seal was and screamed out in pain.

"NO! I won't let you control me and make me hurt my friends!" screamed Naruto in pain, as he started forced the curse markings back by sear willpower.

Soon enough, the curse markings retreated back into the seal, after which Naruto started to phant heavily, since forcing the curse markings back had taken a lot out of him.

"Naruto-kun are you alright?" asked Haku as she went over to Naruto and helped him up.

"Yea I think so" replied Naruto, before he looked up at Haku.

"Haku-chan... I'm sorry for attacking you and your team, especially after you all risked your lives to protect me from those Ame-nins. It was just... when the curse seal activated I couldn't…" apologised Naruto, but before he could finish, Haku placed her index finger on Naruto lips to stop him.

"It is alright Naruto-kun, I understand, you were not yourself, this curse seal you mention was affecting you and turning you into something you're not", replied Haku, after she lowered her finger from Naruto's lips.

"But I nearly killed you and your team!" stated Naruto, as he couldn't believe Haku was being so forgiving of him after what he nearly did.

"But you didn't, you fought the seal and proved that you were stronger than it", answered Haku.

"Only because you helped me come to my senses and for that I owe you, as well as for saving my life" Naruto said.

"Consider us even, since you saved my life and changed it for the better" replied Haku with a smile, which Naruto returned. After which the two of them went over to Saito and helped him up and treated his injuries and did the same for Chōjūrō.

* * *

At dawn when the sun began to rise up into the sky, Naruto finished treating Haku's, Chōjūrō and Saito's injuries, during which, Naruto thanked both boys for protecting him from the Ame-nins when he was unconscious and at the same time apologised profoundly for attacking them.

Chōjūrō of course accepted both Naruto's thanks and apology; Saito on the other hand was not as forgiving as his team-mates were, although it was more out of hurt pride than anything else. Since other than when training with Haku or his Sensei Zabuza, Saito had never been so utterly and hopeless outmatched and overpowered in his life.

Once the two of them were finished being treated, Saito decided to get some answers from Naruto. Since after everything he put them through, he believed that they at least earned the right to know what happened to the young Senju heir and why he went berserk on them earlier on.

Naruto had of course not surprised by these questions, since he expected them to ask and normally, Naruto would've refused to answer. Since this was technically an internal matter to his village, given how it involved Orochimaru and he was after both him and Sasuke.

But after risking their lives to protect him and how he nearly killed them in return, Naruto believed they had earned the right to know the truth. After which he then began to explain what happen after he was separated from his team.

After about an hour or so, Naruto told them what had happened to him and his team, where once he had finish, all three Kiri Genin were left utterly stunned.

"So you're telling us that you took on one of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary three Ninja's) by yourself and survived" spoke Chōjūrō with awe and disbelief.

"Yea, but to be honest he was just toying with me and could've killed me whenever he wanted, where once he was finished he let me go" answered Naruto.

"And that mark he gave you, why exactly did he give you it?" asked Saito, as he was curious as to why a Rogue Shinobi like Orochimaru would give Naruro something like the curse seal to Naruto, especially since it gives him such an incredible boast in power.

"I don't really know myself, but I'm guessing he's hoping that by using this seal, he can corrupt me or turn me into some kind of puppet follower for him" replied Naruto. Since after what happened with Haku and the others, he figured that the seal not only gave him a boast in power but also affected his mind, turning him into someone like Orochimaru.

As Naruto thought about the seal, it suddenly started to throb, as if it was burning him, making Naruto cringe and cover the seal with his hand.

"Naruto-kun are you alright?" asked Hau worriedly.

"Yea, I'm fine, just the mark starting to hurt again" replied Naruto, as the pain slowly started to fade away.

Haku of course frowned at this, and became even more concern, as she wished she could do something to help Naruto. But unfortunately she knew very little about sealing and even if she did, she doubted she could do anything to help her blonde haired friend. Since Naruto had some skill in Fūinjutsu and even he didn't know anything about the seal or what to do about it.

"So what do you plan to do now?" asked Chōjūrō.

"Find my team and link up with them as quickly as possible, since Orochimaru placed the same kind of seal on Sasuke and it's possible that the others may be endanger. Since there's a good chance that Sasuke may go berserk like me and attack Sakura and Sai", explained Naruto.

"And how do you intend to find them?" asked Saito.

"I'll head back to where I fought Orochimaru and then use a technique I created a while back, where hopefully if they're not too far out of range I can find them" answered Naruto.

When Saito heard this, he raised his eyebrow with interest, as he was intrigued with this technique Naruto mentioned and was curious to see it.

"If it's alright with you Naruto-kun, we would like to accompany you until you rendezvous with you team."

"Although I appreciate the offer Haku-chan, I can't ask you to do that" said Naruto.

"You do not need to worry Naruto-kun, because you do not need to ask, besides you're still recovering from the effects of the seal and forcing it back, as well as the injuries you recieved earlier on, hence you aren't at full strength", replied Haku with a smile.

Naruto of course only sighed at this, as he knew he could not argue with Haku, since when it came to certain things she was as stubborn as a mule, where she wouldn't take no for an answer, plus he was in no frame of mind to argue with Haku. Not to mention he had to admit he could do with some help, should Sasuke get out of hand with the curse seal.

"Well since you're back to normal now, I think we should give you this" spoke Saito, as he handed Naruto the Earth scroll that Orochimaru left to Naruto after he had marked him.

"But don't you guys need it?" asked Naruto, where Saito shook his head.

"We have the other scroll needed, besides you need it more than we do, since you have to get three more scrolls" said Saito, where Naruto just nodded his thanks.

After a few minutes, Naruto, Haku, Saito and Chōjūrō decided to move out, and start looking for the members of team-seven.

N/A.

Another Chapter done, hoped you all enjoyed Naruto's battle with the Ame-nins and Haku and her team, as well as seeing a slightly dark Naruto, caused by the curse seal.

Now as I am sure you can guess the next Chapter will involve Sasuke with the curse seal and the battle with the Oto-genin. The Chapter will also deal with the finishing of the survival exam, as well as Tsunade finally coming to Konoha, which is something I know many readers have been looking forward to and if that's isn't enough. I'm happy to tell you that the next Chapter will be coming next week along with the beginning of the preliminary rounds. Also as an extra treat you will have the first fight between Sasuke and Naruto.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

(1). Think of the same markings that appeared on Kiminaro's body when he activated the first level of his curse seal.

(2). Think to how in some Martial art films, a person uses a folding fan to catch a sword attack by letting the sword stab the fan, where they then close it and twist the sword out of the persons hand.

(3). Go back to Chapter Fourteen and scroll down to the bottom of the Chapter and got to the Jutsu marked with the letter C to know more about this attack.


	21. Chapter 21

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-one: ****Mother's Fury**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

**Pervious on Hope of the Senju Clan**

"_If it's alright with you Naruto-kun, we would like to accompany you until you __rendezvous with you team."_

"_Although I appreciate the offer Haku-chan, I can't ask you to do that" said Naruto._

"_You do not need to worry Naruto-kun, because you do not need to ask, besides you're still recovering from the effects of the seal and forcing it back, hence you aren't at full strength", replied Haku with a smile._

_At this Naruto could only sigh, as he knew he could not argue with Haku, since when it came to certain things she was as stubborn as a mule, where she wouldn't take no for an answer, plus he was in no frame of mind to argue with Haku. Not to mention he had to admit he could do with some help, should Sasuke get out of hand with the curse seal._

"_Well since you recovered now, I think we should give you this" stated Saito, as he handed Naruto the Earth scroll that Orochimaru left to Naruto after he had marked him._

"_But don't you guys need it?" asked Naruto, where Saito shook his head._

"_We have the other scroll needed, besides you need it more than we do, since you have to get three more scrolls" said Saito, where Naruto just nodded his thanks._

_After a few minutes, Naruto, Haku, Saito and __Chōjūrō decided to move out, and start looking for the members of team-seven._

-With Sakura and Sasuke-

As the early morning dragged on into the afternoon, Sakura struggled to keep herself awake, as she had been up most of the night keeping watch over the unconscious Sasuke with Sai. They had of course tried to take turns in keeping guard, but Sakura found that she couldn't get any sleep as she kept having nightmares of Orochimaru and how close they had been in being killed. She also couldn't help but worry what happened to Naruto, even though they didn't get on too well, that didn't mean she wanted him to be killed.

When morning broke, Sai told her that he was going off to try and find Naruto and that he would be back in a couple of hours.

It was then in mid-afternoon, that Sakura's exhaustion had gotten the better of her, where she finally nodded off.

Seeing this, the Oto team that Orochimaru had sent to "_test_" Sasuke and Naruto, after they had their curse marks placed on them, attacked. The team had tracked down Sakura and Sai not long after they had _escaped_ Orochimaru and kept hidden from them until Sakura and Sai stopped, where they then watched over them until the time was right.

When the Oto team attacked, they triggered some of Sakura and Sai's traps, but easily evaded them, where they prepared to kill her. Fortunately though, before the Oto team could kill Sakura, Rock Lee arrived and forced the Oto team back.

He then engaged the team leader Dosu, where thanks to watching Dosu and his team attack Kabuto earlier, Lee knew he had to keep his distance from Dosu because of his melody arm.

Sadly though that had also put Lee at a disadvantage, given how he was strictly a Taijutsu user and was forced to use his **Omote Renge** (Front Lotus) in the hope of taking Dosu out quickly.

Unfortunately Lee's attack failed, as Dosu's team-mate Zaku interfered, where Lee's attack did little damage to him. After which Dosu struck back at Lee and used his melody arm against Lee, whose body was fairly worn out from using the **Omote Renge**.

Even after being hit by Dosu melody arm, Lee continued to try and defend Sakura and Sasuke, but given the damage he took from Dosu's melody arm and from using **Omote Renge**, there was little he could do. He's was eventually knocked out by Dosu, when the Oto Genin made a direct hit on him with his melody arm.

After Lee had been defeated, Sakura tried to defend both Sasuke and Lee by herself, but despite her best efforts she was easily over powered. During the course of the fight she was caught by Kin who caught her by using her hair; where she then demanded Sakura tell them where Naruto was. Sakura of course answered that she didn't known, where upon hearing this, Kin stated that Sakura was then of no use to them and prepared to kill her. But before she could, Sakura cut her long her short, and freed herself from the Oto Kunoichi Kin, only to be then quickly caught by the Oto Kunoichi again.

But just when Kin was about to finish off the pink haired girl, team ten, who were hidding in the tree line watching the battle, arrived. Together the three Genin were able to push the Oto Genin back and held their own against them, they even captured the Oto Kunoichi Kin, where Ino took possession of her body.

As the battled continued, Lee's team-mates Hyuuga Neji and Tenten arrived, where they prepared to enter the fray for what Dosu and his team did to Lee. But before any of them could enter the battle, they suddenly notice the large pulse of Dark Chakra emanating from Sasuke, which had been slowly growing during the battle.

When everyone finally took notice, they saw Sasuke standing up, surrounded by Dark Chakra and with markings covering his body.

It was upon seeing this that Dosu realised that Orochimaru had placed his curse seal on Sasuke and that he and his team stood no chance of beating Sasuke with the curse seal helping him. But before he could order his team-mate Zaku to pull back, his teammate attacked and tried to kill both Sakura and Sasuke with his **Zankūkyokuha **(Extreme Decapitating Airwaves).

Unfortunately though for Zaku, Sasuke was able to evade the attack, while carrying Sakura to safety at the same time. After which he easily defeated Zaku, with his **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) combined with Shuriken and his newly enhance speed from the curse mark, where he then dislocate both Zaku's arms.

When those watching the battle saw this, many of them couldn't believe the brutality that Sasuke was showing. Those who knew Sasuke, like team ten and Sakura, were of course frightened by all this, especially when they saw the dark sadistic look on his face. This was only highlighted by the dark aura that was surrounding him along with the markings covering his body and his Sharingan being activated.

After defeating Zaku, Sasuke then turned to Dosu, who immediately took a step back in fear, when he saw Sasuke looking at him.

When Sakura saw this, she knew that there was something wrong with Sasuke and it had to do with the mark that Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke yesterday. But just when she was about to run over to Sasuke and stop him, the young Uchiha heir was forced to jump away, when he saw a gleam of light from his left, along with a fast moving blur.

After avoiding the blur, Sasuke quickly turned to see who his assailant was, where he narrowed his eyes with annoyance, when he saw that it was his part-time team-mate Senju Naruto, who had now turned around to face him with his Katana in hand.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura with both surprise and relief, at seeing the young Blonde alive and safe.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Ino delight, at seeing her crush, as when she and her team were watching Sakura and Sai guard over Sasuke and saw no sign of Naruto. She had become worried that something may have happened to her crush.

It was then, after Naruto arrived, that three more people appeared; the first was Saito, who came up behind Dosu, without the Oto Genin knowing and held his Katana against the young Oto-nin's throat from behind. After which he then told Dosu not to move a muscle, which Dosu wisely obeyed, knowing he couldn't escape.

The other two people to appear were Chōjūrō and Haku, who quickly appeared in front of Sakura and team ten.

At seeing Haku and her team, both Sakura and everyone else were naturally surprised and slightly confused at the Kiri team accompanying Naruto.

"Haku?" spoke Sakura in surprise, when she saw the female Hyoton user.

"Greetings Sakura-san, I' am pleased to see you that you're ok" replied Haku, as she glanced slightly back at Sakura, while at the same time keeping a close eye on Naruto and Sasuke.

"What are you doing here with Naruto?" asked the pink haired Kunoichi.

"You need not worry Sakura-san, we're here to help, my team and I came across Naruto-kun, when we were making are way to the tower, where we treated him and then accompanied him here."

Upon hearing this, Sakura let out a sigh of relief, since with Haku and her team's help, they would able to stop Sasuke from going out of control any more.

"_Kiri Shinobi! What are they doing here and why would they be with Senju?_" thought Neji curiously, since he found it strange that the Kiri team were helping one of their rivals in this exam.

"So you finally decided to show up Senju, you always did have a flare for the dramatics, waiting until the last minute, to save the day. But it seems that you brought company as well" commented Sasuke, where he glanced at Haku and her team-mates

Naruto of course ignored Sasuke's comment, where he just narrowed his eyes and stared at Sasuke, whose body was covered in the curse markings and surrounded by a dark sickly aura, which was no doubt caused by Orochimaru's curse seal.

"Sasuke stand down, the battle is over you've won, there's no needed to kill them" spoke Naruto, as he tried to get Sasuke to see reason, even though he knew it would most likely not work.

And just as Naruto feared, Sasuke did not stand down; in fact he just smirked at Naruto's request.

"Stand down?" asked Sasuke in mock surprise, "And why should I do something as foolish as that, after what they did to Sakura and how they tried to kill me. They wouldn't have shown us the same mercy if we were in their position."

"Because you aren't in the right frame of mind Sasuke, the mark is affecting your mind and is corrupting you, turning you into something dark and foul just like _him_" stated Naruto. This of course got many confused looks from everyone observing Naruto and Sasuke (minus Sakura, Dosu, Haku and her team, who knew what Naruto was talking about).

"Affecting me?" declared Sasuke with a half laugh, "The only thing that this seal is doing to me is making me more powerful, as I've never felt so strong in my life. With this power helping me, I can finally achieve my revenge and kill _him_."

"Sasuke I know right now you may feel invincible, but trust me, the power your feeling is wrong, it's evil, let it go", Naruto said.

"Huh! If I didn't know any better I would think you were scared of my new power" spoke Sasuke with a cocky looking smirk.

"I am scared of that power... and its because I know what I'm talking about, I was given the same thing" Naruto replied as he pulled the bandages that Haku placed over the seal slightly, allowing Sasuke, Sakura, Dosu, along with Haku and her team to see his seal. (1)

After seeing this, Sasuke eyes narrowed slightly, while Sakura and Dosu's eyes widened in surprise.

"_He's got the mark just like Sasuke-kun!_" thought Sakura in surprise.

"_He has the curse seal as well!_" thought Dosu in shock, as he finally understood why he and his team were sent after Sasuke and Naruto. Originally when they found team seven and saw no sign of Naruto, they assumed that he had been killed in the forest or had somehow got separated from them. Hence they attacked Sakura and Sasuke in the hope of getting one of their targets, while getting Sakura to tell them where Naruto was. But now seeing that Naruto had the curse seal like Sasuke, he realised that Orochimaru had only sent him and his team to test Naruto and Sasuke should they survive the curse seal and use them as guinea pigs.

"So trust me when I say that power isn't worth it, as it will turn you into something dark like Orochimaru, believe me I know", said Naruto.

"I don't care!" cried Sasuke, "You may be afraid of this power and not willing to use it, but I'm not, I'am an avenger and as long as it helps me get what I want, I don't care about the consequences afterwards."

When Naruto heard Sasuke answer, he knew that there was only one other course of action left.

"Well if you aren't willing to listen to reason, then I just have to beat some sense into" replied Naruto, as he got into a fighting stance and prepared to fight the young avenger.

When Sasuke saw this a predatory smirk appeared on his face, "That's fine by me, since to be honest Senju, from the moment I first saw what you could do, I've wanted to fight you and with this new power that I have, I'll defeat you and be one step closer to achieving my goal." After which the young Uchiha heir took out and Kunai and fell into a fighting stance of his own.

For the first few moments the two heirs of the founders of Konoha stood opposite one another, waiting for the other to make the first move. While at the same time, those who were watching the two heirs, stayed silent as they waited for the fight that was to come. Although two particular Shinobi where watching the two Genin with greater interest than everyone else.

The first was the Hyuga Neji, the proclaimed prodigy of the Hyuga Clan, who was eager to see what two of his greatest rivals in this exam were capable of.

The second was another Shinobi hidden in the tree near Neji and Tenten, who remained undetected from everyone else.

After a minute or two of waiting, both Genin decided they had waited long enough and charged forward at one another at the exact same time with impressive speed, where they quickly clashed with the individual blades.

For the next few minutes the two team-mates fought each other in a fierce battle, where each tried to hit the other with their bladed weapons, although neither was able to get the upper hand over the other.

As the battle continued, Naruto was able to push Sasuke back a bit, where he fired the last of his Shuriken at Sasuke, who easily deflected them and skilfully caught a few others before throwing them back Naruto. Who in turn skilfully deflected them with his Katana, while making sure that that none of them hit anyone else who was watching the fight.

After deflecting all of the Shuriken, Naruto quickly realized that the Shuriken were just a distraction, for when he looked up at Sasuke. He saw Sasuke finishing some hand seals before taking in a deep breath and exhale a large ball of fire, which then flew towards the blonde Senju.

Knowing he couldn't avoid the large ball of fire at him, Naruto quickly channelled a large amount of his Wind Chakra into his Chakra and swung it in a vertical slash and cried out "**Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash)!"

"_What is that Technique!_" thought the Hyuuga prodigy with surprise, when he saw the crescent shape blade of Wind erupt from Naruto's Katana.

The blade of Wind continue to fly towards the large fireball, with tremendous speed where it cut right through the fireball, splitting it in two, causing it to quickly dissipate.

"Huh? But how!" spoke Tenten in surprise, "Gai-sensei told us that when certain elemental jutsu go against one another, the element that has the advantage will win, and Fire is supposed to be stronger than Wind."

"That is not what he exactly said Tenten", stated Neji with a slight frown. "Gai-sensei actually said that they would normally win, but there are exceptions, where elemental techniques can overpower other elemental techniques that would normally have the advantage over them. Such as if they were at a higher level than the other or if the user puts a larger amount of Chakra in his or her technique than his opponent does and given what we've just seen Senju's technique is at a much higher level than Sasuke's".

After seeing Naruto's **Surasshu-fū **cut his Fireball in two and then continue towards him, Sasuke quickly jumped out of the way of the crescent Wind attack, narrowly avoiding it, where it made a deep gash in the massive tree behind him.

Once he had dodged Naruto's attack, Sasuke then quickly countered by creating several small Fireballs and cried out "**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu**!" where he then sent the Fireballs at Naruto. Who in turn stabbed his Katana into the ground and did his own sent of seals and spat out several large blasts of water which hit the small Fireballs dead on and extinguished them. But what Naruto was unaware of was hidden in the flames where shuriken, much like what Sasuke did earlier when he fought Zaku.

Seeing them, Naruto knew he couldn't block them all in time, given how close they were to him, leaving only one option... dodge them.

Acting quickly Naruto grabbed his Katana and tried to move out of the Shuriken path, unfortunately though Naruto couldn't avoid them all, where he receive a large shallow cut on his left arm and another on his left leg.

But even after receiving so little damage from the attack, Naruto was still annoyed, as normally he could've avoided those shuriken despite how close they were. But given how he had not fully recovered from his own experience with the curse seal, his reaction time, speed and stamina were not as they use to be, leaving him at a further disadvantage. Since unlike him, Sasuke was intent to kill, there was also the fact that Naruto was also holding back since he didn't want to reveal too much of his abilities to those who were watching them.

After avoiding the Shuriken, Naruto prepared to counter with an attack of his own, but before he could. Sasuke appeared in front of him and delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's ribs on his left side and set him tumbling for several meters on the ground.

After being set tumbling across the ground, Naruto struggled to pick himself up and gripped his side in pain, as Sasuke had kicked him in the ribs, which had been bruised when he fought Orochimaru.

As Naruto tried to pick himself up, Sasuke once again appeared next to him and kicked Naruto in the side again, seeing that Naruto was hurting a lot from the kick in the side.

"What's wrong Senju? Don't tell me that is all you got?" said Sasuke with sneer after he kicked Naruto, who landed on his back and grunted in pain from his bruised ribs being kicked.

After Naruto turned on his back, Sasuke then decided continue with his beating of Naruto, where he raised his right foot and prepared to stomped his foot down on Naruto.

Sakura and Ino of course cried out to Sasuke to stop, but sadly the young Uchiha ignored their cries and prepared to stomp his foot down on Naruto. But just as he did, Naruto caught Sasuke's foot and threw the Uchiha away from him, where Naruto then focused himself up and ignored the pain coming from his ribs.

After being thrown away by Naruto, Sasuke quickly did a mid-air flip so that he would land on his feet. Once he landed on his feet, he saw Naruto charging towards him with incredible speed and his Katana thrust forward. (2)

Seeing this Sasuke continued to run straight at Naruto, but before Naruto's attack could hit him he used his high speed to disappear in a blur right before Naruto eyes, and reappeared behind his exposed back, kicking him right in the back sending the young Senju heir flying forward.

But despite being caught off guard Naruto quickly recovered by bring his left hand forward and flipping himself over to land back onto the ground, where he then spun around and charged at Sasuke. Who in turn prepared himself for Naruto's next attack.

Once Naruto was close enough to Sasuke, he then swung his Katana that was in his left hand, in an upwards diagonal slash, which Sasuke saw with his Saringan and brought his Kunai, (which he was still carrying), up to block it. But much to his surprise, instead of Naruto's Katana hitting his Kunai, all Sasuke saw was Naruto's left hand moving past him and then an immense pain in his left side, where he was then send flying several meters away.

After being hit, Sasuke slowly picked himself up off the ground and held his left side it pain, as he was certain a rib had been cracked by that hit. After he picked himself up he looked up and glared at Naruto. When he did, he then notice that Naruto's sword was now in his right hand. It was then when he saw this; he realized that Naruto had somehow switched his Katana from his left hand to his right when he was swinging it, making the first swing a fait, leaving him (Sasuke) open to the real attack.

Sasuke also guessed that Naruto had also hit him with the back of his blade; otherwise he wouldn't be alive to realize the.

"So I guess that was another one of your Kenjutsu techniques that your sensei Kushina taught you" commented Sasuke, as he remembered Naruto mentioning the sword style that he was learning from Kushina when they were in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country).

"Correct, that was the **Mizu no Atsuen** (Rolling Water) technique of my sensei's Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of Raging Water Goddess) style" replied Naruto with a slight smirk. Since he was quite pleased with himself, as he had finally perfected **Mizu no Atsuen**, where he had switch his Katana from his left hand to his right in an instant. Where even if Sasuke had seen what he had done with his Sharingan, his body would not have been able to react in time. (3)

Soon enough though Sasuke recovered and threw several Shuriken at Naruto, who of course deflected them and then spun around to block Sasuke's sneak attack from behind, where he tried to stab Naruto in the back with his Kunai.

As the two of them struggled for dominance with one another, Naruto suddenly pulled his Katana back, catching Sasuke off balance. Where he then passed his Katana from his right hand to his left from behind his back, and then hit Sasuke in his unguarded right side, cracking another of his ribs and sending the Uchiha stumbling sideways a few feet away.

Sasuke of course quickly recovered despite his new injury, where he once again glared at Naruto angrily, as he had once again fallen for another of Naruto's Kenjutsu techniques.

Naruto on the other hand just smirked, as he was quite pleased with himself at preforming **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water) (A) so perfectly, since Kushina had taught him the technique right before he entered the exam.

Having enough of Naruto's Kenjustu tricks, Sasuke decided to strike back by using his enhance speed from the curse seal to appear on Naruto left side and kicked in in the ribs again, knowing that Naruto was injured there.

After being kicked by Sasuke again, Naruto was sent flying through the air, but before he could recover. Sasuke appeared right above him and delivered a powerful falling axe kick on Naruto's chest, that sent Naruto straight down into the ground and making Naruto scream in pain.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Ino in fear at seeing Naruto being slammed into the ground by Naruto.

"_Naruto!_" thought Sakura with worry, as she feared that Sasuke would kill Naruto.

Fortunately though for Naruto, after the many years of dodge training and Taijutsu training with his mother, Naruto had developed a high tolerance for pain. Hence he had been hit with a lot harder kicks than the one Sasuke hit him with. But as he lay on the ground he could not help but feel frustrated at how he was letting Sasuke beat him around like a punching bag. Since if he could use his Mokuton Bloodline, he was certain he could beat Sasuke and have him restrained by now. But unfortunately he couldn't afford letting others like team ten, Haku and her team and Lee's team learning about his Bloodline, at least not yet. Not to mention Sasuke was intent on killing him, while he was trying to take down Sasuke without hurting him too badly.

As Naruto lay unmoving on the ground with his eyes closed, Sasuke stood over his with a victories smirk on his face.

"Well it looks like your finished Senju, although I have to say I'm disappointed, as I had hoped you would make for a better challenge" spoke Sasuke. But as soon as he had said this, Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and spun around and did a leg swipe, kicking Sasuke off his feet and causing him to fall on his back.

"_He's quite durable_" thought Neji, surprise, as he was certain that Naruto would be finished after taking Sasuke's last attack.

But despite Naruto catching him by surprise, Sasuke quickly recovered, where he jumped back onto his feet and smirked at Naruto.

"Not bad Naruto…but still not good enough, so you might as well give up now and save yourself a lot of pain. Since with his power you can't beat me, at least not in the shape you're in now" said Sasuke.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Sasuke" replied Naruto with a knowing smirk, which made Sasuke frown. But before he could comment on it, Naruto suddenly took out all his smoke bombs and smashed them onto the ground, filling the area with smoke. Although this wasn't ordinary smoke, for mixed in with the smoke was pepper powder, which filled the smoke filled area, blinding Sasuke.

"AAAAAHHHHH! MY EYES!" cried Sasuke in pain, as his eyes started to burn from the powder and was force to shut them, after which he then started to cough repeatedly as his throat started to burn as well.

With Sasuke blind and distracted from the smoke pepper bombs, Naruto, who was holding his breath and had his eyes close before he released the smoke pepper bomb, used his **Chakura no Parusu** (Chakra Pulse) to locate Sasuke in the cloud of smoke.

"_What was that?_" thought Neji from up the tree and outside the cloud of smoke, where he saw a large pulse wave erupt from Naruto after he touched the ground with his two front figures. Since he had used his Byakugan to see what was happening inside the cloud of smoke, when Naruto smashed the smoke pepper bombs.

Once Naruto had located Sasuke, he quickly sped towards him at high speed and delivered a powerful rising kick to Sasuke's chin, which sent the young Uchiha flying up into the air and out of the cloud of smoke.

Naruto then quickly followed after Sasuke, where he appeared right above Sasuke with his leg stretched out, where he cried out "**Gekikyaku** (Hammer Kick)! (B)" and delivered a powerful blow onto Sasuke's chest with sent him hurtling to the ground.

"That's like one of Lee's moves!" stated Tenten in surprise, when she saw Naruto's **Gekikyaku**.

"Obliviously Senju Naruto mimicked one of Lee's moves after watching him and Sasuke fight before the written exam" commented Neji after he saw the move.

When Sasuke hit the ground, he made a small dent in the ground and was then sent tumbling across the ground for several feet, before coming to a stop when he hit a large tree.

As the smoke slowly blew away in the gentle wind, Sasuke slowly picked himself up and used the tree that he hit as leverage to help him keep steady.

At the same time Naruto gracefully landed on the ground, where he then threw his last few Kunai at Sasuke. The young Uchiha heir of course couldn't avoid the Shuriken, since he was still blind by the pepper powder that was in his eyes, although even if he could, given the damage he took from Naruto's **Gekikyaku**. It was unlikely he could've avoided them in time to begin with.

But fortunately though for Sasuke, Naruto's goal was not to kill him, but to restrain him, where the Kunai flew right pass him and the Ninja wire that Naruto had tied to the Shuriken wrapped itself around Sasuke. Tying him tightly to the tree behind him and preventing him from moving.

"Wh-What's going on?" cried Sasuke with confusion as he still couldn't see, but felt himself be restrained by the Ninja wire.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but this is for your own good" said Naruto, before he took out a Senbon needle and threw it at the restrained Sasuke, where it hit a certain point of Sasuke neck, that put him into an unconscious state.

Once Sasuke was put into his unconscious state the curse marking around his body started to recede back into the curse seal.

Seeing this Naruto knew the battle was over and let out a tried sigh and held his left side in pain, as it still hurt. But he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, as he didn't want to show any weakness right now, even if his fight with Sasuke was over, he still had some possible enemies to deal with.

"Sasuke-kun!" cried Sakura as she raced over to the tied up and unconscious Sasuke.

When she reached him, she saw the needle in his neck and quickly turned to Naruto.

"I-Is Sasuke-k-kun dea-" spoke Sakura with fear but was interrupted by Naruto before she could finish.

"No I hit Sasuke in a certain spot that put him in a sleep like state, simlair to what Haku did before and as long as that needle stays in him he'll stay like that. So for now I think it would be best to keep him like that" replied Naruto, with a tried sigh.

Sakura just nodded at this, as she was relieved that it was finally over and that Sasuke and Naruto weren't badly hurt.

At the same time, Dosu who was still held by Saito just stared at Naruto with awe and slight fear.

"_Unbelievable he was actually able to defeat the Uchiha, despite him having the curse mark and he didn't even have to rely on his own to do it_", thought Dosu. "…_He's clearly no ordinary Genin_!"

Soon enough though Dosu's focus turned fully to Naruto, who had now turned to him and Saito and was walking towards them. After which Naruto then pointed his Katana directly at Dosu face, making the Oto-nin very nervous.

"If you value your life and the lives of your team-mates, you will accept the offer I'm about to make" spoke in a cold and serious tone. This of course surprised those that new Naruto, since they'd never heard him speak like that to anyone.

"What sort of offer?" asked Dosu as he did his best to remain calm and show no fear, despite the situation he was in .

"You'll hand over your scroll to me and in return we'll allow you to leave with your team peacefully" answered Naruto.

"And what would happen should I refuse this gracious offer of yours?" asked Dosu.

At this Naruto did not answer, but gave Dosu a look that would have made even a Chunin take a step back in fear. When Naruto stared right at the Dosu, the Oto-nin couldn't mask the fear in his one revealing eye this time. As the look Naruto was giving him told him that Naruto wasn't someone to be trifled with, and given what the Oto-nin saw when Naruto fought Sasuke, it didn't take much convincing to believe it.

Saito, who was standing behind Dosu, couldn't blame the Oto-nin for being afraid of Naruto, especially at the way Naruto was looking at him now. For as Naruto stared down at Dosu, his eyes were alight with a cool fury like blue flames which radiant power from them.

"Very well then I agree" replied Dosu that it would be pointless to refuse.

At this Naruto only nodded and told Saito to let go of Dosu, after which Dosu gave Naruto his team Earth scroll, where he then went over to his two team-mates who were unconscious and picked them up. But before he could leave, Naruto decided to ask Dosu some questions.

"Before you go I want you to tell me what were your orders concerning Sasuke and me?" asked Naruto.

"Our orders were simply to track you down and kill you both" replied Dosu.

"So you knew nothing about the seals that _he_ placed on us then" stated Naruto with a slight frown.

"No, we weren't told that" answered Dosu with a frown, since if he and his team had known about the curse seals; they would never have attacked Sasuke.

"Fine you can go" finished Naruto, where Dosu just nodded and jumped away carrying his team-mates.

Once Dosu had left with his team-mates, Naruto then turned to look up at Neji and Tenten, who were still up in the tree watching Naruto and the others.

"You're Hyuga Neji, correct?" asked Naruto remembering the names of Lee's team-mates when Sasuke asked Kabuto to tell him about Lee.

"I am" replied Neji with his left eyebrow raised.

"Good, then I have a deal for you as well" spoke the Blonde Senju.

"What sort of deal?" asked Neji as his left eyebrow rose slightly higher.

"Even though we are all rivals for this part of the exam, I propose that we call a truce since we all either have injuries or injured team-mates and any further battle would be pointless. In return both Haku-chan and I will treat Lee's injuries."

"And why would you help him? Since with Lee injured, your chances of defeating us are much better" asked Neji.

"Because Lee came to the defence of Sakura and Sasuke when he didn't have to and if weren't for his interference, along with Ino-chan and her team, both of them would most likely be dead. I owe him that much and I always repay my debts" answered Naruto.

"An admiral statement but still, why should we agree to this? As unlike the rest of you, both Tenten and I are fresh and uninjured. While the rest of you are tired and as you said injured from battle, where if we should fight, I believe the odds would be in our favour", stated Neji.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Naruto with a knowing smirk, which made the young Hyuga prodigy frown and wonder what Naruto was up to. "Although it is true that several of us are injured and a bit tried, that still doesn't change the fact that you're outnumbered here. As Ino-chan, Haku-chan and their teams are more likely to side with us in a fight and even if you should defeat us. Neither you nor your team will come out of it unscaved and will be easy prey for any other teams you may meet on your way to the tower. Although that's if we even give you the chance to attack…isn't that right Sai!"

Once Naruto said this, Neji and Tenten suddenly found several Ink lions surrounding them.

"Not bad Senju, I guess nothing slips by you" spoke Sai, as he appeared in a tree near Neji and Tenten.

"_Where the hell did he come from?_" thought Tenten with surprise as she never sensed Sai.

Neji too was also surprise at Sai's sudden appearance, as he realized that Sai must be highly skilled in stealth to come so close without Tenten or him sensing him. Neji also realized that Sai must somehow know the extent of how far he could see when he had his Byakugan activated and kept himself just out of his (Neji) range so not to be seen.

"So Hyuga Neji, do we have an accord or not?" asked Naruto with a confident look.

Seeing the situation they were in, Neji frowned slightly as he realized that if they fought now, it was possible they would lose and even if they should win, it would not be without serious cost, given how they were outnumbered and surrounded. Not to mention there was Naruto, as something told Neji that there was more to the younger blonde than what he was showing.

"We're in agreement…for now at least" stated the Hyuga heir as he maintained the frown on his face.

"Good" replied Naruto with a smile, as he let out a slight sigh of relief, as he was glad that Neji agreed. Since Naruto wasn't sure what would happen given how he wasn't a hundred precent and was running low on Chakra. The only reason he even knew that Sai was nearby was because when he used his **Chakura no Parusu** to locate Sasuke in the smoke cloud, he located Sai hidden in the tree near Neji and Tenten.

Once everyone was in an agreement to the truce, Haku and Naruto started to treat Lee, Sakura and everyone else for their injuries. Fortunately though, none of the injuries were life threatening, although Lee's injuries from Dosu's Melody arm took a little longer to treat. But eventually they healed his injuries, after which Tenten woke her team-mate by shaking him like a rag doll and slapping him on the face.

The method was of course unusually, but neither Naruto nor Haku could argue with the result as Lee did wake up. Soon after Tenten filled in Lee on what happened, after he was knocked out.

The green jumpsuit wearing boy was of course surprised when he heard how Naruto was able to mimic one of his moves so well, after only seeing it once, and then incorporate it into his own fighting style.

Lee of course did not mind this, but stated that he now wanted to fight Naruto even more now. Somthing that Naruto wasn't bothered by, since he knew Lee was strong and wanted to face against him as well.

After everyone was healed, Sakura then asked how Naruto met up with Haku and her team.

Naruto of course explained what happened, and how they had found him and how they had defended him from a group of Ame Genin, who were seemily targeting him. Although he did leave out the part about going berserk and attacking Haku and her team, since doing so would mean he would have to explain the curse seal and their meeting with Orochimaru to everyone else. Something Naruto believed they were better off not knowing.

When Ino asked who had defeated Naruto, since to her Naruto was the strongest Genin here, Naruto simply stated it was a strong Shinobi from one of the other villages, which was partly true.

When Shikamaru heard Naruto's reply, he of course grew suspicious, since it was obivious that there was more to Naruto's story than what he was telling them. But he decided not to pry since it wasn't their problem.

Soon after though, Naruto asked Neji to use his Byakugan and look at Sasuke to make sure that the curse seal had fully receded.

Neji of course did not like being ordered around by Naruto, but still did so anyhow, and saw that the dark Chakra that the Uchiha used earlier had indeed receded and that there were only trace amounts left.

After he had examined Sasuke, Neji also looked at Naruto with his Byakugan and also saw trace amounts of the dark Chakra in him, indicating that Naruto too had the curse mark.

When Neji stated this and asked Naruto to tell him what the curse seal was, Naruto refused to answer, stating that it was none of his concern and that he was better off not knowing.

This of course did not sit well with Neji, since he did not like being pushed aside by anyone. But before he could press the matter any further with Naruto, Tenten placed her hand on his shoulder and told him to back down, as they had all agreed to a truce.

At this Neji relented, although he retained a large frown for the next few hours over not getting any answers.

Once the matter with Neji had been dealt with, Naruto went over to Sai and asked him where he was and why he left Sakura alone with Sasuke.

Sai of course explained that he had left to go search for him and came back here when he couldn't find him or any tracks as to where he went. He then stated that as he was looking for Naruto, he ambushed a rival team and took their Heavens scroll off them when he defeated them. Meaning that team seven once again now had three scrolls and only needed another Heaven scroll to enter the tower.

Naruto only nodded after hearing Sai's story and kept a blank look on his face, as he didn't buy Sai's story in the slightest. At least not the part about looking for him, since he and Haku along with her team had returned to where he had fought Orochimaru. Where Naruto then used his **Chakura no Parusu** along with the tracking skills he had learned from Omoi to find where Sai and Sakura went with Sasuke. Hence if he was telling the truth, then they would've met Sai or seen the rival team he fought on their way here, or at least Naruto would've sensed them nearby when he used his **Chakura no Parusu** to track them.

Realizing this, Naruto figured the young ROOT agent had gone off somewhere to secretly send word to Danzo of what had happened and then waited for orders on what he should do next. Naruto of course knew he could challenge Sai on his lie try and force him to tell him the truth and what his orders were. But decided not to, since he knew it would get him no-where and just expose the fact that he was on to Sai and lose any edge he may have over him.

Soon enough though, Naruto turned away from Sai and went over to Sasuke and pulled the Senbon needle out of his neck. Immediately awaking the Uchiha heir up, where he tried to stand up only to fall down when Sakura jumped on top of him and hugged him tightly and saying she was glad he was ok. Eventually though Sasuke got Sakura off him, where he then turned to Naruto and asked him what had happened, as his memory was slightly hazy when it came to what happened when he fell unconscious after Orochimaru placed the curse mark on him.

Naruto of course gave him a quick brief on what happened and how he was forced to knock Sasuke out when he went berserk.

As Naruto told him what happened, Sasuke's memory of the event started to slowly comeback, where when Naruto finished, he remembered everything that happened. After Naruto finished, much to male Blonde's surprise, Sasuke actually apologised for attacking Naruto, a gruff apology, where he grunted it, but an apology none the less. Although after Sasuke grunted out his apology, Naruto notice that there was something up the young avenger, as he saw that Sasuke was slight upset about something. But before he could ask, Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain his left side, where he hissed angrily and held his left side.

"Naruto-kun!" spoke both Ino and Haku, where both girls went over to Naruto.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, when she and Haku went over to him.

"It's my side, I think one of the ribs that were bruised from my earlier fight was broken from when Sasuke kicked me" replied Naruto as he started breathing harshly.

"Bring him over to the tree Hollow, where I can treat him" ordered Haku, where Ino and Lee, who had come over to help bring Naruto to the tree Hollow, where they placed him against it.

After putting Naruto next to the Hollow, Haku and Ino helped him take off his Katana and sheath along with his green zip-up top and his black tank top that he wore underneath it.

After helping Naruto take off his upper clothing, Ino couldn't help but blush, as Naruto was the first boy she was seeing topless. Naruto was skinning and had few muscles since he was only thirteen and only developing, but still when he got older, there was little doubt he would develop well.

With Ino's help, Haku slowly and gently removed Naruto's bandages that she had wrapped around him earlier. She then used her **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystical Palm Technique) to help heal Naruto's broken rib, after which she then spread some ointment on the bruised area to ease the pain and with Ino's help, started to re-bandage him.

As the two girls were re-bandaging the blonde Senju, Ino decided to ask Naruto something that she had been wondering.

"Naruto-kun, what was that smoke that you used against Sasuke to make his eyes hurt?"

"Just some pepper powder, mixed with smoke powder", answered Naruto.

"So how did you know that it would be so effective to beat Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"His Sharingan" answered Naruto.

"His Sharingan?" repeated Ino in confusion, not understanding what Naruto meant.

"It's simple, in the shinobi world; Doujutsu bloodlines like the Byakugan and the Sharingan are feared for their unique abilities and for seeing things that other people can't. This is of course, both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness."

"I don't get it" stated the confused girl.

"Like most Bloodline users, Sasuke relies a great deal on his Sharingan, hence if someone were to take away his ability to see. His fighting ability would be greatly reduced, making him more vulnerable to attack" explained Naruto, where Ino's eyes widened in understanding.

"Where did you come up with that idea?" asked Ino.

"Back when I was in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) when I fought against Zabuza and you Haku", Naruto replied where he looked at Haku.

"You're referring to how Zabuza-sama used **Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Hidden Mist Technique) to prevent Hatake-san's from seeing him and using his Sharingan to Hypnotise him", stated Haku.

"Yea, although unlike him, I'm not able to use **Kirigakure no Jutsu** or use Silent murder technique. Hence I had to make do with the pepper smoke bomb and a unique technique I created to find people when I can't see them", replied Naruto.

Naturally after hearing this, both girls were surprised and impressed with Naruto ingenuity, at how he was able to come up with such an effective plan to defeat Sasuke without seriously hurting him, in the heat of battle.

Once the girls had finish treating Naruto, Tenten walked over to them "Are you ok?"

"Yea, I fine thanks to Ino-chan and Haku-chan" replied Naruto, as he put back his black tank top and his green zip-up top. "You're Lee team-mate Tenten correct?"

"Hai, its pleasure to meet you Naruto-sama…" replied Tenten, although as soon as she said this Naruto held out to stop her from saying anything further.

"Please Tenten-san call me Naruto, I don't really like being referred in any honorifics" replied Naruto.

At this Tenten just nodded and decided to continue the conversation, since she had wanted to talk to Naruto for a while.

"If you don't mind me asking, what Kenjutsu style were you using? Since I've never seen one like the one you used when you fought Uchiha Sasuke" Tenten asked.

"The style is called Arasuijin no Mai, I learned it from my Sensei Uzumaki Kushina" Naruto answered.

"So it's true then, you were trained by Konoha's Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury)" stated Tenten, where Naruto just nodded.

"Eh…would it be ok if I looked at you Katana?" Tenten asked, which of course got a curious look from Naruto, as well as Ino and Haku.

"May I ask why?"

"Well…it just that I interested in weapons and I would like to examine it" explained Tenten, where Naruto raised his eyebrow curiously, but soon just nodded and handed his Katana, (which was lying next to him), to her.

As she examined the sword, Tenten was quite impressed with the blade, as it was clearly first rate craftsmanship and was made of high quality metal which allowed Chakra to be absorbed and flow through the blade.

"This is a top notched Katana, you have here…" stated Tenten when she re-sheathed Naruto's Katana and handed it back to him. "…Where did you get it from?"

"Eh…well, when I was traveling with my Ka-chan and my Nee-san, I met a guy who taught me about Kenjutsu, along with some other things, where he later gave me this Katana as a gift", answered Naruto, where he hoped Tenten would believe him, since it was sort of true.

"Well whoever he was, he was good friend, if he gave you this", replied Tenten.

Relieved that Tenten believed him and didn't press and further, Naruto then decided to steer the conversation from him and onto her. "You seem to know a lot about weapons and know how to tell if they are well made or not, that means you must specialise in using them."

"Hai, I do, I'm not really that skilled when it comes to Ninjutsu nor do I know many of them, but when it comes to weapons and marksmanship. There's no-one better than me, as rarely miss my target, but my real goal is to be a great Kunoichi just like your mother Tsunade-sama, as she short of my idol" Tenten answered, though was slightly embarrassed how she told Naruto's mother was her idol.

Naruto although just smiled, since it was obvious that Tenten was a Kunoichi who took her duties seriously and didn't worry about her looks or obsess over guys like Ino and Sakura did.

"Well if you like, I can introduce you to my Kaa-chan, as I'm sure she would be happy to hear that she inspires someone like you into become a strong Kunoichi."

"You'd really do that?" asked Tenten excitedly at the idea of meeting her idol.

"Sure, my Kaa-chan will eventually be coming back to Konoha and when she does I introduce you both", Naruto replied with a smile. Although as soon as he said this, the elder girl enveloped him in a tight hug, saying "Thank you" over and over again.

Now normally the blonde Senju wouldn't mind this, but given how his sides were still a bit tender, from his broken rib, the hug was quite painful.

Fortunately though, Ino, who was a bit jealous at the fact that the bun haired girl was hugging "her Naruto-kun", pulled her off Naruto, after which Haku, quickly used her **Shōsen Jutsu** to ease the blonde's tenderness.

Realizing that Naruto was still a bit swore, Tenten quickly apologised, which Naruto accepted and told her it was alright. Since he knew she didn't mean any harm and assured her that he had been through a lot worse.

Soon after, once everyone was healed and rested, the four teams broke apart, where Haku and her team headed off to the tower, while team ten and Lee's team headed off in their own opposite directions. Leaving team seven by themselves, to search for the last scroll they needed.

- Three days Later (Last day of the exam) -

For the past three days Naruto and team seven had been searching for other teams who would have the last Heaven scroll they needed. Sadly though all their attempts failed, as they only came across three other teams who all had earth scrolls and now they were running out of time.

After another failed search for a rival team, Naruto and Sai decided to return to their camp, where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for them. But when they returned to their base camp they saw Sasuke and Sakura standing with Yakushi Kabuto.

"Sasuke, Sakura what the hell going on and why the hell is he here?" Naruto asked when he arrived with Sai and narrowed his eyes at Kabuto when he turned to him, who just smiled.

Sasuke of course explained how when he went to get some water and came back, he found Kabuto stopping Sakura from opening one of the scrolls.

At this the pink haired girl just hung her head in shame and said nothing, since she had thought that if she opened one of the scrolls she might find a clue that would help them find the scroll they needed.

Upon hearing this, Naruto had to resist the urge to slap his forehead in frustration, at how Sakura could be so foolish and wondered how the girl was credited of being the smartest of their class. Since they had been told that they were forbidden from opening the scroll they were given.

"It seems we owe you one Kabuto-san, but tell me, why exactly are you alone?" asked Naruto, since he didn't like Kabuto, especially after he put a target on his head by mentioning he was trained by both his mother and Jiraiya.

"I'm not after your scrolls if that's what you're worried about" Kabuto answered calmly where he then showed Naruto and the others his two scrolls. "I got separated from my team, so I decided to head to the tower, where we would most likely meet up."

After showing team seven his scrolls, Kabuto then put them back in his pouch and started to walk away. But before he could fully walk away Sasuke suddenly spoke up, "Wait!"

"Yes"

"Fight us" demanded Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun you can be serious!" spoke Sakura in surprise.

"I am" answered Sasuke as continued to stare at Kabuto, who had turned around fully to look at Sasuke.

"But why?" asked Sakura.

"We're running out of time Sakura and we can't afford being nice any longer" stated Sasuke.

"For once I agree with Uchiha" spoke Sai.

"As do I" Naruto added, even though normally he would be against something like this. Sasuke was still right as they were running out of time, although it did help that Naruto didn't like Kabuto to begin with.

"But you said that we owed Kabuto" stated Sakura.

"Yes, but right now we're desperate and unless you want to fail, we need Kabuto's scroll" answered Naruto, leaving Sakura unable to argue.

"I'm afraid they aren't wrong Sakura-san, although I commend you on your courtesy, since most people in your position would've just attacked me when my guard was down, which is what Shinobi are supposed to do aren't they?" stated Kabuto, causing the three boys to frown.

"Perhaps we can come to some sort of compromise" offered Kabuto.

"What sort of compromise?" asked Sai retaining a neutral expression.

"I can lead you on the correct path to the tower and on the way there, we are more likely to run into rival teams who have both Heaven and Earth scrolls" explained Kabuto.

"I get it! If we do this then we can ambush another team on their way to the tower, and get the scroll we need" said Sakura as she realized the plan.

"But that isn't the only possibility is it?" stated Sasuke gaining everyone's attention. "Since there is also a good chance, given how the exam is nearly over, that other teams will have the same idea and lay in wait to ambush us."

"That's correct, I'm impressed" spoke Kabuto with a smirk.

"Well as helpful as all this information is, I don't think that you're just telling us this, simply out of the goodness of your heart" stated Naruto with a frown.

"Oh, what do you mean?" asked Kabuto with a knowing smile.

"The reason why you're telling us all this and why you stopped Sakura from opening the scroll, is because you're afraid of those other teams that are lying in wait. Hence you're hoping to use us to help you get to the tower safely, since your chances of making it there with us are better than you going by yourself" explained Naruto.

"Impressive" commented Kabuto, "It seems that Katana isn't the only sharp thing on you Naruto-kun, as you're correct, I' am using you to get to the tower. But even still, you cannot argue that it is you best option if you wish to move on to the next round of the exam.

At this Naruto only frowned, since as much as he hated to admit it, Kaburo was right, if they wanted to pass they needed another Heaven scrolls.

After a minute or two of weighing over their options and talking it out, Naruto and the rest of team seven agreed to travel with Kabuto to the tower.

* * *

As Kabuto and the members of team seven continued to travel towards the tower, it grew dark and the moon started to rise up, although the tower soon came into sight, indicating that they were getting closer to the tower. But as time moved on and the moon rose higher the team realized that they weren't making any progress.

"Guys I think were caught in some kind of Genjutsu" stated Naruto.

"I agree, as it's the only explanation as to why we haven't gotten any closer to the tower" spoke Sai.

"But what kind of Genjutsu is i?" asked Sakura.

"It's called **Kori Shinchū no Jutsu **(Sly Mind Affect Technique)" answered Kabuto.

"You know it?" asked Sasuke.

"I've heard of it, its causes the targets to walk around in circles for hours by making it seem as if they're walking straight to their desired destination. It mainly used by Shinobi who aren't very strong, where they try to wear their opponents down before attacking. I was a careless not to have notice it sooner" said Kabuto.

Seeing that Kabuto and the others had realized that they were caught in a Genjutsu, the three Ame-nins who had created the Genjutsu. Decided to move on to the next phase of their plan, where they then used **Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu** (Mist Servant Technique) to attack Naruto and the others.

When the clones appeared around them, the team quickly formed up in a circle formation with their backs to one another.

Once they had formed up, the five Genin were forced to defend themselves, as a small barrage of Kunai and shuriken were thrown at them by the clones.

After deflecting the projectiles, Sakura immediately took out another Kunai and threw it at one of the clones. But much to her surprise and confusion the Kunai pass right through the clone.

When Naruto saw this, he quickly realized what they were, where he walked out of the formation and went right towards one of the clones.

"Naruto what are you do? Get back into formation!" cried Sasuke, where Naruto just ignored her and continued to walk towards the clones.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura, when she saw the clones was about to hit him with its fist, but when the clone went to hit him, the clone passed right through him.

"_Just as I thought_", thought the young Senju.

"What's going on?" spoke Sakura in surprise, "Why didn't that clone hit him?"

"They're illusion, said Sasuke, realizing the truth.

"Right, like Kabuto said the guys we're fighting like to wear out their opponents, since they aren't strong enough to take us head on" responded Naruto.

"But how did you know?" asked Kabuto.

"When Sakura's Kunai passed right through."

"But their Kunai's and shuriken were real" responded Sakura.

"That's because the enemy is hidden somewhere and are throwing projectiles at us, so to wear us out further and make us think that the clones are real", answered Naruto.

"But still, that doesn't change the fact that we're at a disadvantage, as we still don't know where they are or how to break this Genjutsu, and they won't reveal themselves until we're too weak to fight" replied Kabuto.

"That's where you're wrong, as I've a technique that can help us find them", stated Naruto, where he began to summon his Chakra. But as soon as he did, he suddenly started to feel intense pain coming from the curse mark, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Naruto!" spoke Sakura with concern, as she saw her part-time team-mate fall to his knees.

"_Dammit, the curse seal, not now of all times_" thought Naruto angrily, as he held his neck in pain.

Seeing that something was wrong with Naruto, the Ame Genin decided to take advantage of the situation and each threw three Kunai at Naruto. Luckily though before they could hit him, Sai appeared and deflected the three Kunai, saving the Senju's life.

"Looks like the mighty Senju Naruto, isn't so mighty after all, if he lets scum like this defeat him" spoke Sai, without look at Naruto, as he kept a look out for anymore projectiles coming at them.

"Shut it Sai, as I'm in no mood for you trash talk" retorted Naruto angrily, as his seal felt like it was one fire right now.

When Sai glanced back at Naruto, he could see tin lines spreading from Naruto's curse seal.

"_His curse seal must act up when he tries to summon his Chakra_" thought Sai, where he remembered his orders that he received from Danzo, when he left Sakura alone to defend Sasuke.

"_Should Senju Naruto receive the curse mark like Uchiha Sasuke and should both boys survive the marks, you are to monitor their behavior and actions closely. Should they lose control of themselves or should you believe that they pose a threat to our village, you're to use lethal force to deal with them_."

Remembering this, Sai readied himself to kill Naruto, should he go out of control like Sasuke did earlier.

Naruto was of course fighting the seal with everything he had, as he knew that if he didn't act soon then he and his team would all be in trouble. Fighting back the pain, Naruto summoned a large about of his Chakra and used his **Chakura no Parusu **and released a small Chakra pulse wave to locate the Ame Genin position.

"_What was that?_" thought, Kabuto and the Ame Genin at the same time.

"They're over there!" cried Naruto as he indicated to the top of the tree where the three Ame Genin were hiding, before falling over in pain again.

Acting quickly on what Naruto told them, Sai used his **Chōjū Giga** (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create three Ink Lions and two Hawks to attack the Ame Genin.

"_How did they find us?_" thought all three Genin at once, just before they were force jump out of the tree they were hiding in, as the ink animals destroyed a small portion of the tree.

"_That was certainly an interesting technique, they were perfectly well hidden and yet he was still able to locate them perfectly, with that technique_" thought Kabuto with intrigue.

Unfortunately though, for the Ame-nins, as soon as they jumped into the air to avoid Sai's ink beasts. Sasuke sent a small barrage of Shuriken at them, which they couldn't avoid in time, where they received several injuries from them and crash down to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground, the clones that surrounded team seven disappeared.

Quickly enough though, the three Ame Genin recovered and got back onto their feet, "I don't know how you found us. But you haven't won yet!" spoke the leader of the team named Oboro, where he and his team each formed the same hand seal and said "**Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu** (Haze Clone Technique)!" creating several dozen clones of the Ame team.

With Naruto unable to fight, Kabuto, Sai and Sasuke charged forward and attacked the Ame-nins, while Sakura stayed behind to guard the vulnerable Naruto. But when Sasuke, Sai and Kabuto attacked the Ame Genin and their clones, they went right through them.

"They're illusions just like before" stated Kabuto.

Realizing that they were going to get nowhere by just attacking all the different clones, Sasuke decided to try and find the real Ame-nins by using his Sharinagn. But as soon as he activated it, like Naruto, his curse seal started to hurt and pain shot throughout his body.

"_Damnit now my seal is starting to hurt as well_" thought Sasuke as fell to his knees. But still despite the pain that was going through his body, Sasuke fought it and used his Sharingan to try and find the real Ame-nins.

As the battle progressed, the Ame Ninja attempted to attack Sasuke, by hiding among their illusionary clones. Luckily though for Sasuke, Kabuto was able to push him away, but was wounded in the process.

Not wanting to let Kabuto's efforts to go to waste, Sasuke continued to search for the Ame Genin and quickly found them and told Sai where they were. Who then immediately pounced on them and knocked them out within seconds.

Once the Ame Shinobi had been taken out, Sai then searched them and found their scroll, which was a Heavens scroll the very one they needed.

After a quick break so to give Naruto and Sasuke a chance to recover from their curse seals acting up. Kabuto and the members of team seven headed towards the tower and arrived just as dawn had broken through.

When they arrived at the tower, they met Kabuto's team-mates who were waiting for him and after bidding good-bye to the silver haired boy, they headed through the double doors that were marked for them.

-With Kabuto and his Team-

After separating from Naruto and team seven, Kabuto and his team-mates entered the double doors that were marked for them.

Once they entered the doors, they found themselves in a large hallway and there leaning against the wall to their left, waiting for them to arrive was the infamous Nuke-nin Orochimaru.

"So how were they?" asked Orochimaru.

"Sounds like you're quite fond of them" Kabuto spoke with evil looking smirk.

"I would just like your opinion of them…" replied Orochimaru, "...since you're my trusted subordinate and spy."

"My opinion matters little Orochimaru-sama, as yours in the only one that matters, since you're the one who decides" replied Kabuto with a cunning smirk, where he handed Orochimaru one of his info cards, which told the former Sannin everything Kabuto learned about Sasuke and Naruto.

"Crafty as always Kabuto-kun" spoke Orochimaru before he disappeared in a whirl of Wind.

-With Naruto and Team Seven-

After entering the large hallway and reading the large notice sheet, Naruto and the others soon realized that they needed to open the scrolls inside the hall.

Once they opened all four scrolls together, four large puffs of smoke came out of the scrolls, where the three boys instantly recognized the summoning inscriptions on the scrolls and threw them away and told Sakura to do the same.

Once they threw away the scrolls, two large puffs of smoke appeared, where when they dissipated they saw that the people that were summoned were Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo.

For a moment or two, Naruto and the others didn't recognize them, but after getting a better look at them the quickly realized who they were.

"Hey I know you guys, you were those two guys that tried to stop us from entering the exam and tried to trick us into going into the wrong room" cried Sakura in realization.

"Nice seeing you guys too" replied Izumo with a smirk.

"Wait I thought you guys were Genin like us!" Sakura said in confusion.

"Nah that was just part of the test to weed out weaklings" explained Kotetsu.

"So why are you guys hear?" asked Sasuke.

"Well you see it's our job as Chunin examiners to welcome the examinees who pass the forest with both scrolls, at the end of the second round", answered Izumo.

"You guys are pretty lucky, since if you'd been any later, you wouldn't have passed…so congrats" added Kotetsu with a smile.

After hearing that they had passed the second round of the exam Naruto and the rest of team seven smiled in victory at passing the second round. Even Sai smile at the news of them passing, but it was his usual fake smile.

Kotetsu and Izumo then went on to explain how this part of the exam was to test their abilities to follow orders and to work as a team. Since if they arrived here without all members of their team or if they opened any of the scrolls outside the tower, they would've been disqualified.

At the mention of opening of the scrolls both Sasuke and Naruto glanced at Sakura, who had the decency to blush and look to the ground, since she'd nearly got them disqualified from the exam.

Once the explanations were over, Izumo and Kotetsu told them to follow them to the grand hall, where they and the other Genin who successfully got through the forest were to meet.

-At Konoha's Main Gate-

Currently standing guard at the main gates of Konoha, two Chunin named Tsuzumi and Hayase stood guard at the entrance booth.

As in normal cases, guard duty at the main gate was fairly routine and boring, with signing in some people coming to do business in the village or Shinobi returning from mission or leaving for a mission.

But as they slowly watch time go by, the two Chunin suddenly saw three blurs flying past them with such incredible speed that neither Chunin knew had happened.

"What the hell was that?" asked Hayase in confusion.

"The hell I know" replied Tsuzumi in equally confusion.

After passing by the Main gate, the three blurs headed straight for the Hokage's mansion jumping across building's rooftops with tremendous velocity, where they flew right pass the Shinobi, who were traveling by the rooftop as well, leaving them just as confused as the Chunin at the gate were.

Soon enough, the three blurs arrived at the main entrance of the Hokage's mansion and raced up the building to where the Hokage's office was.

When they arrived they saw the Hokage's secretary at her desk sorting out some papers, when the secretary turned to them, she instantly recognised two of the three people. They were none other than Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya the Gamma Sennin (Toad Sage), while the third person was Tsunade's apprentice Shizune, who was carrying Tonton, the family pet pig.

The reason why Jiraiya was with the group was because after Tsunade had her premonition of something happening to Naruto. She and Shizune had raced for Konoha at top speed and on their way; they had met Jiraiya who was also heading to Konoha.

When they met up, Jiraiya explained to them that his network had informed him that someone was making a move on Konoha, which was why he was heading to Konoha, so to warn the Sandaime. Since according to his Intel there was a strong possibility that Orochimaru was the person that was moving against Konoha.

At the mention of her former team-mate's name, Tsunade's fears of something happening to Naruto grew even more, where she then gave Jiraiya a quick rundown on why she and Shizune were racing for Konoha.

Now normally Jiraiya would've been sceptical when it came to stuff like premonitions, signs or other things. But when it came to a mother's instincts for her child or Tsunade's luck in gambling along with the possibility of Orochimaru being involved. He was willing to believe in just about anything, where he then joined the two women in their race to Konoha.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, what brings you here?" asked the woman respectfully to the two Sannin.

Tsunade of course did not answer the woman's question as she simply ignored her and marched by her and headed straight for the double doors next to the secretary, which led to the Hokage's office.

"Wait!" cried the woman, when she saw the female Sannin heading for the Hokage's office, "The Hokage isn't in his office."

"Then where the hell is he?" rounded Tsunade angrily, as she turned to the secretary.

"He left for the tower in the forest of death several days ago and has not returned from it yet. By now he should be giving his speech to those who have passed the second round of the Chunin exam" answered the secretary.

At this Tsunade quickly turned and started to head down the hall, that led to the stairs that lead to the bottom floor of the mansion, where she was joined by Jiraiya and Shizune. But before any of them could get very far, the secretary suddenly called out to them.

"Wait! There's something more you need to know!" called the woman.

"What?" rounded Tsunade, as she was in no mood for chatting.

"Several days ago, when the exam in the forest first started, the Hokage received word from the head examiner of the second round of the Chunin exam, Mitarashi Anko. That the bodies of three Kusa Genin were found not far from the forest of death with their faces melted off, where she believed that there was intruder in the area. Later on the Hokage received word that the intruder was your former team-mate Orochimaru and that he was after Uchiha Sasuke and your son Senju Naru-GAH!" the secretary spoke. But before she could finish speaking, Tsunade appeared directly in front of her and grabbed her by the collar of her kimono and pulled the young woman across her desk, so she was looking right into the angry and worried face of Tsunade.

"What happened to my son!" demanded the blonde haired woman, where for once neither Jiraiya nor Shizune tried to stop her, since they wanted answers as well.

"A…A…According to Anko-san's report Orochimaru placed his curse mark on Uchiha Sasuke and your son, other than that we don't know. The Hokage sent an ANBU team, where they spent much of the second day looking for them, but couldn't find him or his team-mates. Although they did find signs of a battle being fought, which they believe is where your son and his team fought Orochimaru" answered the secretary nervously, since last time Tsunade had lost her temper here. She had destroyed the entire hallway, hospitalized two ANBU and scared the last secretary (her predecessor) so badly, that she was too scared to come back to work.

Within a blink of an eye after hearing this, Tsunade let go of the frightened woman and raced out of the Hokage's Mansion with Jiraiya and Shizune hot on her heels, at even greater speed than before and headed straight for the forest of death.

-At the Tower-

After giving his speech on the reason why the Chunin exam existed other than to promote Genin to Chunin. The Hokage stared at the many different Genin that were before him and could not help but be impressed on how many made it this far, especially at the fact all the rookie Genin from Konoha made it.

"_It's impressive that so many made it this far…and many of them are recently made Genin, this Generation certainly has a lot of promise_" thought the Sandaime, before his eyes fixed on Naruto where a look of relief and concern spread across his face.

After his ANBU failed to find Naruto and his team, Sarutobi had them stop the search, since if Naruto had died from the seal then they would've found his body along with Sasuke's. This of course gave the old Hokage hope that Naruto was alive, where he would eventually head for the tower on the fifth day or at least come out of the forest. But even with Naruto in front of him alive and seemly well. New concerns started to appear in the Sandaime's mind, such as what effect had Orochimaru's curse seal have on both Naruto and Sasuke.

As the Sandaime continued to stare at Naruto, he planned to have a talk with Naruto on what happened later. Even though his ANBU didn't find Naruto, they had found the area where Naruto appeared to have fought Orochimaru, and given what the ANBU described to him. Sarutobi knew Naruto had given it his all and put up a fight.

The Hokage was of course not the only one who was surprised that so many Genin had made it this far, since the second head examiner Anko was equally surprised

"_There were eighty Genin who entered the forest and thirty-three were able to pass it. Sure I said that I would make more than half of them fail. But still I never expected more than ten to make it to this point_" thought Anko in surprise. Since out of the all the teams entered the forest, Kiri, Suna, Taki, Oto, Ame and Kumo each had one team who passed, while the remaining five came from Konoha.

Eventually Anko's eyes fell on Naruto and Sasuke, where she narrowed her them, and subconsciously touch her own curse seal, knowing that they both had one as well.

"_As expected, you came out of the forest unharmed, Gaara_" thought the Suna Jonin-sensei Baki.

"I'm impressed that your team has made it this far Kakashi, they're pretty good, as is your student Kushina-san, Yamato-san. But as long as my team is here, I fear they'll go no further. Since the next stage of the exam, personal skill and abilities are critical. For Youth is sweet and sour, and sometimes strict" spoke Gai, as he turned to Kakashi, Yamato and Kushina as they stood behind the Hokage with the other Jonin-sensei's, whose teams passed.

Kakashi of course just ignored Gai's little speech, where once he finished, he simply turned to Gai and said "Did you say something Gai?"

Naturally of course, the self-proclaimed Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū (Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey), did not take this well and started to cry out in disbelief. After which he began to curse Kakashi's "cool hip" attitude and saying he wouldn't lose to him next time.

Kushina of course snickered at Gai's antics since they always made her laugh.

"Trust me Gai when I say this, your team is the least of Naruto's concerns…" said Kushina, with a slight frown, as she looked at her student and saw him place his hand on the side of his neck. As she and Yamato had been informed by the Hokage, that Orochimaru had attacked team seven and placed the curse mark on both Naruto and Sasuke. "…Besides if I were you I been more worried about your team, because if knew what Naruto could do, you'd know that your team stands no chance against him."

At this remark, Gai frowned slightly and began to wonder what Naruto could do, to have Kushina have such fate in his abilities. Although Gai had heard the rumours of Naruto being a powerful and gifted Genin, especailly after he seemily defeated his "enternal rival" Kakashi. It didn't reveal what Naruto could do, which is why Naruto is talked about so much in the village, since he was still a mystery to people.

As the Jonin-sensei looked over the remaining Genin, the Genin themselves analysed their situation and looked around those who passed with them.

The Oto team of course glared angrily at Sasuke, remembering how Sasuke defeated them, where Zaku swore revenge on Sasuke for what he did to his arms. Although Dosu narrowed his eye at Naruto, since he still didn't know what to make of the blonde boy.

"_So out of the twenty six teams who entered the second exam, only eleven made it here_…" thought Temari, before she lost her train of thought when she saw her younger brother looking to their left.

When she look, she saw that her brother was staring and Senju Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke and had a bloodthirsty look on his face, as if he was glad that they had passed the second test.

"_This isn't good_," thought the blonde girl, as she feared that her brother would lose control of himself again, should he ever have to fight either boys, since she knew that bloodthirsty look all too well.

"_So Naruto-kun passed as well, I'm glad_" thought Hinata when she turned to look at Naruto.

"_Just as I thought, all the ones who stood out made it_", Neji thought, before he glance to Naruto and Sasuke, who stood next to him, and narrowed his eyes slightly. Where he remembered what he had seen in Sasuke's battles with the Oto-nins and Naruto.

"Looks like Naruto made it" commented Omoi, in a low voice to his team-mates when he glance to Naruto on his right.

"As expected" stated Yugito with a slight smirk.

"_**You seem happy kitten, are you happy that your special "friend" passed as well**_" teased the Nibi.

"_I told you before Nibi, it's nothing like that, I consider Senju a worthy rival and that's it. And to answer your question I am. But not because of what you said, I'm happy, since I've another chance to fight him and this time I'll defeat him_" replied the slightly annoyed Yugito. Although smiled slightly at the idea of fighting Naruto again.

"_You're going down, Senju_" thought Karui, as she glared at Naruto.

"_Good he made it; you won't get away from me this time Senju_" thought the Ame team leader, who stared at the blonde boy.

"_I'm glad you and your team were able to pass the forest Naruto-kun_" thought Haku, as she glance at Naruto and smile.

"Looks like all the rookie teams made it" Sakura commented.

Naruto of course only nodded at this, where he looked around and was slightly surprised that so many made it this far. As he looked around he recognised many of them, like Haku and her team. This of course didn't surprise him since he knew they got both scrolls. He also notice the Suna, Ame and Oto teams made it, which caused him to narrow his eyes, given the encounters he had with the three teams. He was also both surprised and impressed that Ino and her team made it along with Hinata and her team. But then realized that it was only natural they pass, since after training with them for several months, he knew that when it came to tracking and terrain, Hinata's team was the best and Ino and her were no pushovers when they foughht together.

Naruto was also pleased to see that Yugito and Lee's teams passed, but wasn't surprise as he knew how strong they were. When Naruto turned to look back up at the Hokage and the Jonin-sensei's he notice, Zabuza and Killer Bee, who were seemly standing next to one another. Both men of course acknowledge him in one form or another, where Zabuza just nodded, while Killer Bee gave Naruto a thumbs up and smirk.

Naruto in return gave both men a smirk and a nod, after which he turned to sensei's Kushina and Yamato, who were at the other end of the group of Jonin from Zabuza and Killer Bee and where standing next to Kakashi and Gai. But before he could give them any kind of acknowledgement, Anko suddenly spoke up, stating that there was another announcement to be made.

As soon as Anko had stated that there was another announcement to be made, a sickly looking Konoha Shonbi carrying a Katana on his back appeared between the two groups. After which he then turned to look at the group of Genin.

"My name is Gekkō Hayate and I am a Judge in this exam and before we begin the third round of the exam, there is something we need to do first…" spoke Hayate. "…Given the large number of you that have passed the forest, we're forced to have a preliminary round, where we will pair you off randomly and have you face off against one another in a fight. So that there will be fewer of you in the third round."

"But why can't we just have the third round?" asked Sakura.

"As the Hokage mentioned earlier, during the third round there will be many visiting dignitaries, who wish to watch the match and because of this, we cannot have too many matches as we only have a certain amount of time. That is why we must have the preliminary matches now."

"Wait we're having it now! But we only just finish the second round!" complained Ino. Since she and her team had not arrived at the tower very long ago and like many, they were tired and hurt.

"That matters little, but if you wish to leave the exam then please just raise your hand and tell me" replied Hayate.

At this Sakura became concern about Naruto and Sasuke and was about to raise her hand and mention the curse mark to the Hokage and the others. But before she could, Sasuke stopped and told her not to, as he wanted to continue with the exam and fight people like Lee, Neji, Haku, Yugito, Gaara and Naruto.

At the same time, Anko narrowed her eyes and turned to the Hokage, "Hokage-sama if I may, I suggest that we remove both Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto from the exam and isolate them with ANBU guards."

"Neither boys are the type that'll listen to you easily Anko" Kakashi spoke with his traditional eye as he walked forward. "Since they are the heirs of the founders of Konoha…Don't you agree Kushina-senpai?" where he turned to Kushina.

"Unfortunately I do" replied Kushina with an unusually serious look on her face.

"To hell with what they want, I'll make them quit, even if I have to force them to" Anko retorted angrily, where she touched her curse seal again. "The curse seal reacts when either of them try to summon or mold their Chakra, and it will extract power from them! It's nothing short of a miracle that both of them survived it, since a normal person would be dead from it."

At this, the Sandaime thought deeply about what do, after a few minutes the Sandaime puffed out a smoke and spoke. "Even though I am greatly concerned of what happened with both Sasuke and Naruto and what Orochimaru said, we'll let both of them go on and just observe them for now."

"But Hokage-sama…" objected Anko, but before she could fully interrupt the Hokage, he continued on.

"However should the curse seal on the boys activate and they both go out of control, we'll intervene and stop them."

Anko of course did not agree with this decision and believed it was a mistake, but before she could object, she relented as she knew that the Hokage wouldn't change his mind on this.

It was then at this point that Kabuto raised his hand up announced that he was giving up stating that he was unable to continue.

Naruto of course became suspicious of this, since there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. The young Senju was of course not the only one who became suspicious of Kabuto's actions, as Ibiki, Anko and the Hokage all became suspicious, since they remembered in last year's exam Kabuto did the same thing.

Kabuto was then soon joined by a Taki Genin, who unlike Kabuto had a more believable reason for quitting as he had a broken arm and a gash on his side, which was still bleeding despite being bandage up.

Soon after Kabuto and the Taki Genin left the hall, Naruto had a sudden cold chill run down his spine.

"Is there something wrong Naruto?" Sakura asked when she saw Naruto shudder slightly.

"I don't know, I just felt this cold chill run down the back of my spine, as if something bad was going to happen" replied the Senju heir and began to wonder what would cause this.

Naruto was of course not the only person to feel this chill run down his back, as the Sandaime also felt this chill. But before he could wonder what would cause him to have this chill, he quickly received his answer when he felt the ground start to shake, as if something big was coming their way.

Soon enough everyone began to feel the ground shaking a little, where many were starting to wonder what was causing it.

It was not long after this, that they began hear people shouting, along with large bangs and crashes.

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE….GGGAAAHHHH!" cried one person but screamed out in pain before they could finish.

"PLEASE WAIT! THE HOKAGE IS GIVING HIS SPEECH TO THE GENIN FINALIST AN-AAAAHHHHH!" cried another person before they were sent screaming and crashing into what sounded like the wall.

"JUST HOLD ON A SEC…GGYYAAAAHHH" shouted yet another preson before being once again interrupted and screaming at the top of their, followed by a large bang.

After hearing all these screams and destructive noises, many of the Genin was starting to get scared, while the Jonin started to worry, fearing they were being attacked.

The Sandaime though, already knew who was coming, although it did not lessen his worry, in fact it only grew, where he was starting to have flashbacks to the events at the Hokage mansion thirteen years ago.

"What's going on, are we under attack?" cried Kiba

"Sort of" replied Naruto with a sigh, as like the Sandaime he'd immediately realized who was causing all the mayhem.

"What do you mean by that Senju-san? Do you know who is causing all this?" asked Shino, since like everyone else he was concern at what was happening.

"I'm afraid so" Naruto answered with another sigh.

"Who is it? Is it an enemy Ninja?" asked the frightened Ino.

"No something much worse than any enemy Ninja" Naruto answered.

"Then who is it?" asked Sakura, as she became more and more worried.

"It's my…" Naruto spoke, but before he could finish a massive crashing sound was heard, where the double steel doors that allowed entrance into the hall were blown open, and nearly off their hinges. When everyone turned to look at the perpetrator, they saw that the person was a tall beautiful short blonde haired woman, with two large mounds on her chest and furious look on her on her face"…Kaa-chan."

"SARUTOBI-SENSEI!...WHERE IS MY SOCHI!" roared the angry Senju mother.

N/A.

Well that's Chapter twenty-one done, hoped you guys all liked it. Now I don't think I have to tell many of you guys what going to happen next and I know many of you have been looking forward to Tsunade returning to Konoha. Now before many of you start pleading for me to update soon, I will tell you I've the next Chapter already done and ready and will post it next week, so you've something to look forward to. As you can also guess the next Chapter will also have the beginning of the preliminary rounds, so expect a long fight scene.

Again hoped you all enjoyed the Chapter and please remember to read and review as I do enjoy reading peoples opinion on the story and I do reply to them or at least try to, as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

(1). Neji and Tenten cannot see since they are up in the trees and are too high to see the seal

(2). This is the **Tachioyogi** (Treading Water) technique of Kushina's Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of Raging Water Goddess) for more information go back to the bottom of Chapter fourteen.

(3). Go back to Chapter fourteen to get more information of this technique

**Custom Techniques:**

(A). **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water)**:** An offense technique belonging to the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of Raging Water Goddess), which is used to surprise the opponent. By passing the sword from one hand to another real fast behind his or her back, he can switch his attack, surprising the opponent. This effect can be crucial in a fight, by confusing his opponent he gets the chance to strike, which sometimes determines the outcome of a fight.

(B). **Gekikyaku** (Hammer Kick): This technique was developed by Naruto from watching Lee and Sasuke's fight before the Chunin exam. It is an ultra-fast combo attack that requires an advanced physical condition and a certain knack for it. The opponent is first kicked into the air, where the user then moves up above the target and delivers a powerful falling axe kick onto the target's chest, which sends the target falling to the ground at great speed, causing inconceivable amount of damage to the target.


	22. Chapter 22

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Salamander's Heir**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

**Pervious on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_Upon hearing all these screams and destructive noises, many of the Genin were starting to get scared, while the Jonin started to worry fearing they were being attacked._

_The Sandaime though, already knew who was coming, although it did not lessen his worry, in fact it increased it, where he was starting to have flashbacks to the events at the Hokage mansion thirteen years ago._

"_What's going on, are we under attack?" cried Kiba_

"_Sort of" replied Naruto with a sigh, as like the Sandaime he'd immediately realized who was causing all the mayhem. _

"_What do you mean by that Senju-san? Do you know who is causing all this?" asked Shino, since like everyone else he was concerned at what was happening._

"_I'm afraid so" Naruto answered with another sigh._

"_Who is it? Is it an enemy Ninja?" asked the frightened Ino._

"_No something much worse than any enemy Ninja" Naruto answered._

"_Then who is it?" cried Sakura, as she became more and more worried._

"_It's my…" Naruto spoke, but before he could finish a massive crashing sound was heard, where the large double steel doors that allowed entrance into the hall were blown open, and nearly off their hinges. Upon which when everyone turned to look at the perpetrator, they saw that the person was a tall beautiful blonde haired woman, with two large mounds on her chest and furious look on her on her face"…Kaa-chan." _

"_SARUTOBI-SENSEI!...WHERE IS MY SOCHI!" cried the angry Senju mother._

-Battle Arena-

After Tsunade broke the doors open, the female Sannin slowly marched towards the two groups, with her eyes ablaze with righteous fury and fixed of her former Sensei the Sandaime, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

Right behind Tsunade was Jiraiya and Shizune, (who was still carrying Tonton), who looked to be a lot calmer that the famed slug princess, although had concern looks on their faces.

As Tsunade marched towards her Sensei, killing intent emitted from the blonde haired woman in a manner that impressed even Gaara, as she marched forward. Spider cracks started to appear on the floor every time her heels hit it, furthering the fact that the woman wasn't in a good mood.

The Genin quickly broke part so to allow Tsunade to pass and have a clear path to the Sandaime. As they could practically see the dark red murderous aura that now surrounds the elder woman.

Naruto of course remained hidden in one of the two groups, since he knew that it was best for his mother to vent her frustration out, before going up to her. Although that was if the Sandaime survived her venting.

The Jonin sensei's that stood behind the Hokage quickly followed their student's example, where they slowly started to back away from the Sandaime, since they knew well enough not to get in the way of an angry Sannin.

"Cowards" muttered the Sandaime, although wished he could the same thing himself right now.

"_So that's Naruto-kun's mother…She's beautiful_" thought Ino, before looking at Tsunade massive bust, and became slightly envious. She then wondered if there was some kind of secret method or something she ate or drank to make them grow that big.

"_So that's Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime _(Konoha's Slug Princess Tsunade)_, I'm beginning to see the similarities between the two_" thought Zabuza. Given how Naruto had a similar look as her when he was angry, not to mention they both had the same destructive tendency.

"_Whoa, are those things for real…? They're definitely the biggest, I've ever seen, she's gotta be an E_" thought Killer Bee as he stared a Tsunade's chest.

"_I can't believe it, I'm actually seeing Tsunade-sama herself in person_" thought Tenten with glee and stars in her eyes, when she saw her idol.

"_So that's Naruto's mother and that other guy must be Jiraiya the Gama Sennin_" thought Sasuke, as he stared at the two legendary Shinobi with narrowed eyes.

"_Damn, Naruto's mom is pretty scary_" thought Omoi. "_What if she goes postal and kills the Hokage, does the exam get cancelled? What if instead she destroys the entire tower, should we get out of here now or wait and see what happens? Or should we simply quit now before she does something?_"

"_Kukukuku…Well this is an unexpected surprise, I'll admit I expected Tsunade to show up, but I didn't think Jiraiya would, this certainly makes things more interesting. Not to mention it seems that Tsunade hasn't lost any of her monstrous strength, and I dare say that her temperament has increased_" thought the disguised Orochimaru in amusement.

"Holy cow, she's hot and her boobs are a HUGE! I would so bo…"stated Kiba as he stared at Tsunade's chest as she marched by them. But stopped in mid-sentence when he heard the clicking sound of a blade being drawn and felt the edge of a blade right next to a certain valuable body-part.

"If you know what's good for you dog breath, you'll not finish that sentence and will remove your eyes from my mother's chest. Otherwise I'll be neutering you here and now", stated Naruto in a very deadly tone and look, which made the young Inuzuka gulp in fear.

Quickly following Naruto's instructions, Kiba stopped what he was about to say and removed his gaze from Tsunade's chest. Upon which Naruto, removed his Katana from Kiba's manhood and sheathed it back onto his back, but not before he gave Kiba a cold glance, telling him to watch it.

Once Naruto removed his Katana, Kiba let out a sigh of relief at not losing his most valuable asset, and as much as he hated to say it, he had to admit, Naruto could be pretty scary when he wanted to be.

"_Damnit, this could jeopardize everything, we knew to expect Tsunade-sama, but we never considered Jiraiya-sama would appear with her_" thought Baki with a frown. Since the appearance of the two remaining loyal members of the Sannin could ruin the entire invasion.

"I-t g-good to see you back in the village Tsunade, I ho-GAH!" spoke Sarutobi nervously, as it was obvious that Tsunade knew or at least had an idea of what happened to Naruto when he was in the forest of death. But before he could finish speaking Tsunade grabbed him by his robes and pulled him right to her angry face.

"Cut the crap Sensei, I know what happened…What kind of fucked up exam are you running here? Now tell me where my son is now, or so help me I will…" stated Tsunade angrily but before she could finish here threat. Naruto stepped forward out of the group of Genin, so to save his surrogate Grandfather from being pummelled to death by his overprotective mother.

"Kaa-chan, you can let go of Jiji, since I'm fine."

As soon as Tsunade heard her son's voice, she quickly turned to see him, where within seconds she dropped the Sandaime onto his rear and then cried out "Naru-chan!" and "My Baby!" before enveloping Naruto in a bone breaking hug and preceded to smoother the boy in her amble bosom.

Naturally upon seeing this, everyone minus Jiraiya and Shizune all had large sweat drops on the back of their heads, as they weren't exactly sure how to judge this scene. Although some of the male Shinobi couldn't help but slightly envy Naruto's situation. Since even being suffocated to death in Tsunade's ample chest was a way many of them wouldn't mind going. Jiraiya himself stated that he often envied Naruto's position whenever he was enveloped in one of his mother's hugs, especially for the first two years of his life when Tsunade was breast feeding him. He even once asked Naruto what it was like to be rest his head in that Heavenly Bosom of hers.

Naturally he never got his answer, since as soon as he'd asked Naruto the question; the young blonde did a perfect imitation of his mother and punched the Gamma Sennin right into a wall, while crying out "Pervert!"

At the same time as everyone was watching the scene of Tsunade smothering her son, a certain Nara heir couldn't help but find the whole situation "troublesome". Although for once he was actually glad that he had the mother he had, since he had found a woman that was actually more troublesome that his own mother. Something that he thought until just now was impossible.

As Kiba watch the scene he couldn't help but snicker slightly at scene, especially when he heard Tsunade call Naruto her "Baby" and her "precious little Naru-chan".

Kiba was of course tempted to shout out "Moma's boy", but decided against it for now, in case Tsunade turned her wrath on him for teasing her _baby_.

Eventually though Jiraiya decided to intervene and "save" his godson from being smothered to death and from anymore embarrassment, where he had Tsunade let go of Naruto.

Once Tsunade had let go of her son, she then turned to the Sandaime who had just picked himself.

"You and I need to have a little chat sensei…now!" stated the slug princess with forceful look that said she would accept no excuses.

The Sandaime could sigh, as he knew that there would be no going around this, where he then told Hayate that they would halt the exam for a little.

At this the young man just nodded, after which, the Senju family along with the Sandaime, Kushina and Yamato departed.

Soon after leaving the battle arena, the Sandaime Hokage led Tsunade and everyone else to a small room where they would have some privacy. But as soon as he shut the door behind him, Tsunade once again grabbed the Sandaime by his robes and held him up into the air.

"What the hell has been going on here Sensei!" cried the furious Tsunade.

"I come here racing at top speed for four days, fearing that something had happened to Naru-chan and when I arrive. I hear that you just let Orochimaru walk right into the village and then let him place his curse seal on MY SON!"

"I'm sorry Tsunade, but we didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Orochimaru had somehow infiltrated the village without us knowing. By the time we realized that he was in the village he had already placed the curse seal on Sasuke and Naruto" explained the Sandaime. After which grunted in pain, when Tsunade tightened her grip on his robes nearly choking him.

"What kind of fucked up security have you got here! Has the village become this lazy and lax in the past twelve years, that they let an S-class Nuke-nin waltz into the village and attack children without so much as fight!" yelled the furious Tsunade.

"Hey easy hime, I know you're angry and all, but it's not Sensei's fault. You know as well as I do how crafty Orochimaru can be, where if there is a way around something, he'd find it" Jiraiya.

"No! It is his fault, as much as it is yours" rounded Tsunade, "If you and Sarutobi-sensei hadn't let him go when you each cornered him and had just killed him when you had the chance. Naru-chan wouldn't even be in this situation."

At this both men lowered their heads in shame, as they had indeed let Orochimaru go and it was because of this weakness that Orochimaru was able to do the things he did afterwards.

Eventually though Tsunade let the Sandaime go, where she then turned to her son and asked him to tell them what happened in the forest.

For the next half hour, Naruto recounted the events in the Forest of Death from when he was separated from his team to when he fought Orochimaru and how he placed the mark on him.

When Naruto finished the elder shinobi remained silent as the mulled over what they had heard. The Sandaime was of course very proud of his surrogate grandson; at how he was willing to put himself endanger to save his comrades. After hearing the story, the Sandaime could not help but be reminded at how Naruto's ancestor the Nidaime Hokage had done the exact same thing as Naruto and sacrificed himself to save his comrades. It of course showed that Naruto truly inherited the will of his ancestor and was a true heir of the Senju Clan.

Tsunade unfortunately did not see it that way, as she was quite angry at her son.

"Naruto, why on earth did you do something so foolish, you should know that you stood no chance of defeating someone like Orochimaru" spoke Tsunade angrily.

"Then what should I have done, run and hide like a coward?" retorted Naruto angrily.

"If it means that you survive then yes!" replied Tsunade.

"I won't do that Ka-chan, you didn't raise me to be a coward, who runs away and hides when my team-mates are in trouble. Hashirama-hii-ojiisan, Tobirama-oooji, Jiji, Ero-sannin and Tou-san would never do something like that either. Beside even if I had run and hid, do you really thing I wouldn've gotten away from him?" fired Naruto back fiercely as he felt his temper rising, since he wouldn't apologize for what he believed to be the right thing.

Tsunade of course would have commented on this, but before she could Jiraiya intervened, knowing that things could get out of hand, if he didn't.

"Alright you two that's enough! You both made your point" stated Jiraiya where he turned to Tsunade. "Hime I know your upset, but regardless of how you feel, the kid was only trying to do the right thing and you should be proud of that. Besides he's here alive and relatively unharmed and that's is what counts and even if he was ran or hid, Orochimaru would've still found him"

At this Tsunade just huffed, but slowly calmed down, as she had only reacted the way she did because Naruto could've been killed.

"As for you brat…" said Jiraiya as he turned to Naruto "…you mom isn't angry at you. She just upset, since she has been worried sick about you for the pass four days and she only acting like this because she loves you, and doesn't want anything to happen to you."

At this Naruto calmed himself down, before letting out a large sigh, where he then apologized to his mother, who in turn did the same.

Once the mother and son had apologized to one another and calmed down, Naruto then went on to finish his story.

When Naruto told them how Haku and her team had found him and treated his injuries and protected him from the Ame team who were seemly targeting him.

When Tsunade heard this she frowned slightly, and began wondered what the Ame Genin were up to, by targeting Naruto. She also made a mental note to thank Haku and her team for helping her son and treating him when he was injured. She already knew a bit about Haku from Naruto's letters, where Naruto had mentioned his mission in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) where he encountered Zabuza and Haku. Something that Tsunade had not been too pleased about when she heard, where she had planned to have a stern talking to her Sensei, about sending her recently made Genin son to fight a wanted A rank nuke-nin.

Naruto of course continued with the story and explained to the others how during the fight he woke up with his curse seal activated, causing him to go out of control and attacked Haku and her team.

Naturally Tsunade and everyone in the room were concerned at what happened. But their concern quickly turned to surprise, when Naruto told them that he had stopped himself from killing Haku and forced the seal to recede by sear willpower. After which Naruto then went on to explain how after regaining control of himself. He and Haku along with her team went to look for Sasuke and the others, where he eventually found them and fought and defeated Sasuke.

Once Naruto finished his story, the room once again remained silent, as everyone digested what they had learned. Eventually Tsunade spoke up and asked Naruto to show her his seal, which her son obliged, where he pulled away the bandages on the side of his neck so to show his mother the seal, which still throbbing a little.

When Tsunade saw the seal, she narrowed her eyes angrily and silently swore revenge on her former comrade.

Soon after though, she looked away from the seal and even though she was skilled in sealing, she couldn't make much out of it and so turned to Jiraiya, who was much better at the art.

"Jiraiya is there anything you can do to remove it?" Tsunade asked where the Toad sage just shook his head sadly.

"Sorry hime but I don't, as my knowledge on the seal is limited. But I do know for certain that if I were to try and remove without fully knowing what I'm doing it could kill Naruto. Since the seal is closely integrated into Naruto, the best we can do for now is seal it off from him. But I swear, I will do everything I can and I won't stop working until I find a way to safely remove it from him" answered Jiraiya.

Tsunade was of course not happy to hear this but understood, as she knew Jiraiya wouldn't stop until he found a way. "We should then use **Fūja Hōin **(Evil Sealing Method) to seal the mark away make and add some extra things to make sure that it doesn't affect Naruto."

At this Jiraiya just nodded "That sounds like the best option"

Once it was agreed, Tsunade then narrow her eyes and cursed her former team-mate. "_Damn you Orochimaru, I swear when I find you, I make you regret the day you were ever born_."

"If I may Tsunade-sama I would like to volunteer placing the **Fūja Hōin** on Naruto, along with any other seals that may be needed, since I'm his sensei" spoke Kushina as she stepped forward.

At hearing Kushina volunteering Tsunade just looked up at the red headed women with a blank face. She of course knew that Kushina was Naruto's sensei as he had mentioned her several times in his letters to her (Tsunade) and Shizune along with Yamato.

When Tsunade first heard this, she had naturally been surprised at the news, even though she expected Yamato to be Naruto's sensei, given how he had her grandfather Bloodline. She hadn't expected Kushina to be his sensei as well, but she soon realized given how Kushina was a skilled sealer and had a unique ability in restraining Biju. She was an excellent choice to be Naruto's sensei, where she could help restrain him, should he ever use the Kyuubi's Chakra and go out of control.

Tsunade had also been slightly concerned at Kushina being Naruto's sensei's given the relationship between her and his father. But her concerns soon faded in Naruto's later letters, where he spoke of the female Uzumaki fondly and how well they got on.

"With all due respect Kushina…" spoke Tsunade "…although I trust you to be my son's sensei. There're only two other people I trust my son's safety without question and given what happened here, I will let no-one other than myself to do the sealing."

Normally at hearing something like this, Kushina would've taken offense to the comment. But given recent events, she couldn't blame the older woman for feeling the way she did, for if she was in Tsunade's shoes, she probably do the same thing; hence she nodded in acceptance.

"So when should we do the sealing?" asked Jiraiya.

"We'll do it now! As the sooner we seal it up the better" responded Tsunade.

"Wait what about the preliminary matches? If you do the sealing I will miss them" stated Naruto.

"Naruto this sealing is more important, than the Chunin exam, the sooner we seal the curse mark from you the better. Since as long as that mark remains on you unsealed, you cannot use your Chakra. Not to mention the longer you have it the more likely it is to affect you and cause you to lose control of yourself like before" chide Tsunade.

"That won't happen this time, I won't let it, besides you can't order me around, since I not a little kid anymore" Naruto retorted.

"Like hell I can't! I'm your mother! And there's no guarantee that you'll be able to stop the curse mark from making you go out of control" responded Tsunade angrily. For the next few minutes, mother and son argued over the sealing, where neither of them were willing to back down to the other.

Seeing that this was getting no-where the Sandaime decided to intervene, where he coughed loudly enough to gaining everyone's attention.

"Tsunade, although I understand where you're coming from, Naruto is correct, he is a shinobi of this village now and has the right to decided what he wants to do. Besides I don't think arguing with him on this will change his mind. Since he is quite determined to do the exam" stated the Sandaime.

"LIKE I CARE!" cried Tsunade, "He's MY son, not yours, and I say he's doing the sealing now!"

"Yes you're correct, but he still has the right to make his own choices, but for the sake of less arguments, I suggest a compromise" the Sandaime responded

"What sort of compromise?" Tsunade asked.

"You let Naruto continue the preliminaries and if the seal should activate and cause him to go out of control, then we'll stop the match immediately and have the **Fūja Hōin** placed over the curse seal along with the other seals, regardless of him forfeiting his match."

Tsunade did not respond at first, as she thought long and hard about it, but soon enough she accepted the compromise. Since she knew like her, Naruto could be very stubborn about some things and not let it go.

"Fine" grunted Tsunade, "But I want one condition, and that is the very moment that preliminary fights are done with, Naruto is to have the **Fūja Hōin **and the other sealsplaced on him."

"I believe that is reasonable" answered the Sandaime, where he turned to Naruto. "Do you agree with the compromise Naruto?"

Naruto just nodded, as he knew this was the best possible deal he could get out of his mother.

"So then shall we move back to the exam now?" Sarutobi asked.

"Before we do Hokage-sama…" interrupted Kushina, "…There is something I think Tsunade-sama should know. Like Naruto's relationship with a group of Kumo Genin and their sensei, one which he developed before he came here."

"What?" asked a confused Tsunade, who was joined by an equally confused Jiraiya and Shizune.

At the mention of Yugito and the others Naruto cringed slightly, knowing what would happen next, where she turned to look at Kushina. Who just gave the blonde boy a stern look that said "You knew this was coming, sooner or later."

"Naruto what is she talking about?" demanded Tsunade, where Naruto sighed inwardly where for the remaining half hour he explained what had happened when he met Yugito, Killer Bee and their team.

When Naruto finished his story, Jiraiya and the others were naturally shocked that of all people Naruto would run into it would be two jinchūriki like himself. They were further surprised at hearing how Naruto defeated an out of control Yugito withouts using his Mokuton Bloodline or his other abilities. Sure they understood the fact that the girl didn't have full use or control over her demon's power. But it still didn't take away how incredible Naruto's victory was especailly when he was only ten years old.

The Sandaime and the others of course couldn't blame either Jiraiya or Shizune for being shocked, since they themselves were stunned by the news when the first heard the story, since it wasn't everyday they heard about an ten year old boy defeating a out of control jinchūriki.

Tsunade although, was far from pleased with her son after she heard the story. "Senju Naruto, of all the foolish things that you have done this…this…this is the most foolish. Do you have any idea of how much danger you put us in? How much danger you put yourself in? What if they had found out about you, they could've kidnapped you or worse they could've killed you!"

"But they didn't Kaa-chan, as I never revealed who I was or revealed my Mokuton Bloodline or any of my other abilities, the only thing they know is that I've four nature affinities naturally. They only recently found out who I was, when they were sent here in the exam."

"So they were the ones who showed you, that you have four nature affinities", stated Jiraiya with realization dawning on his face. Since he had never fully believed Naruto's story when he asked to be tested for his nature affinities and had always wondered why Naruto had asked. But after hearing his story, everything started falling into place.

"That is beside the point Naruto, since it doesn't change the fact that you put yourself in grave danger. Who knows what they could have done to you or try to do?" stated Tsunade fiercely.

"They won't Kaa-chan as they are my friends just like Haku!" Naruto responded.

"Are you so sure of that Naruto? As from what I saw you were only a step away from fighting that Kumo girl" spoke Kushina with a serious look.

"That's different, Karui may have her problems with me, but I trust Yugito, Omoi and Samui. Omoi was even trying to stop the fight, you saw that" said Naruto, when he turned to Kushina and Yamato.

"That is true Naruto, but it still doesn't change the fact that they are Shinobi of a rival village" spoke Yamato.

"Not to mention Kumo isn't above using underhanded means to get what they want" Kushina remarked with slight venom.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"Nine years ago a brief conflict between us and Kumo, erupted. The war ended with both sides agreeing to peace treaty, where Kumo sent their head Ninja here, to sign the treaty. The treaty was of course was just a ruse to allow the head Ninja to enter the village, so that he could kidnap the heiress of the Hyuga Clan", stated Kushina.

"Hinata!" spoke Naruto is surprise, where Kushina just nodded and continue.

"The plan of course failed, where Hinata's father Hyuga Hiashi stopped and killed the head Ninja. But even after being caught red handed, _Kumo_ denied that they had any knowledge of it and tried to make us look like the ones who broke the treaty by killing their Ninja. In fact we had to sacrifice one of your Shinobi to prevent a war from breaking out" stated Kushina rather bitterly.

"And if that isn't enough…" spoke Kushina "…back when I was not that much older than you, Kumo tried to kidnap me for my unique ability to restrain Biju. The only reason I didn't become slave or breeder for them was because your father saved me."

After hearing all this Naruto didn't know what to say, as he had no idea about any of those things

Sandaime although just lowered his head, as he could understand Kushina bitterness given her personal experience. Not to mention her sentiments were shared by many of the high ranking Shinobi in Konoha after the Hyuga affair. Despite the fact that Kumo had suffered a severe blow to their reputation and many of the other Shinobi villages weren't as trusting towards them afterwards. The incident had still left a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of many people in Konoha, especially the Hyuga Clan.

"I will admit what Kumo did was wrong, but Killer Bee, Yugito-chan or any of the others had a hand in what happened to you or Hinata-chan. Besides Yugito-chan and the others never told the Raikage that they knew me or revealed any of my abilities that they knew to him" Naruto responded Naruto.

"So they say" said Kushina not really believing that. "But still, it doesn't change the fact that the reason they're here is because it involves you. Since it's far too much of a coincidence that Kumo would enter one of their "_prized possessions_" into the Chunin exam, at the same time you are in it."

Naruto of course could not argue with Kushina at this point, since what she said did make sense. But even still Naruto refused to believe that his friends were out to harm him, since if they wanted to kill or kidnap him they could've done that in the forest of death like the Ame Genin.

After a minute or two of silence though, Naruto did speak, although gave Kushina a cold glance and spoke in a calm but equally cold tone.

"Their names are Killer Bee and Yugito and they are people not things. But if you want to refer to them as possession again _Sensei_, then you might as well refer to me as a possession as well. Since I am like them or did you forget?"

At this remark, Kushina cringed, as she had let her bitterness and anger towards Kumo get the better of her.

"Naruto I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that I ju-" stated Kushina only to be stopped by Naruto.

"Save it Sensei, before you make things worse" Naruto interrupted, where Kushina just sighed and cursed herself for her poorly chosen words, but planned to apologies better to Naruto later on.

Eventually though the Sandaime, decided that it was time to end the little meeting and get back to the exam, before anymore arguments could began. The others of course agreed, although Tsunade did state to Naruto that they would talk further about him keeping secrets from her.

-Battle Arena-

After the unexpected hour long rest period, the Chunin exams recommenced, with the return of the Naruto and all the others.

Although when Naruto and the others arrived they found that a few more people arrived in the battle arena when they were away, these people were none other than the Hokage's advisors Danzo, Homura and Koharu.

Naturally the group had been surprised at their appearance and when asked. The Shinobi elders simply stated that they were interested in seeing how Naruto would fair in the preliminaries. Not to mention, they'd heard that Tsunade and Jiraiya had appeared in the village.

Tsunade and the others of course did not believe this was the entire reason, since Naruto had informed them that Sai had left Sakura alone with Sasuke for a period of time, under the guise that he was searching for Naruto. The group of course figured that Sai had gone off to send a report to Danzo on what had happened in the forest.

When Naruto eventually re-joined team seven, Sakura had asked if they had talked about the curse seal and Orochimaru. Naruto of course just nodded, but before Sakura could ask further, she was interrupted by Hayate, who began to finish explaining the rest of the rules of the preliminary round. Given how he had been interrupted by Tsunade unexpected entrance.

Hayate went on to explain, that given how there was an odd number of Genin, and for the interest of keeping an even number of Genin for the finals. One of them would have to fight twice.

Many of the Genin of course did not know what to make of this. Since on one hand, should any of them lose their first match, one of them would get another shot of making it to the finals. But then again the opposite could just as likely happen, where if they won their first match and lost their second, then they would lose their spot in the finals.

Several of the Genin like Kiba complained about this, stating it was unfair. But Hayate simply retorted that if they had a problem then one of them can quit. That way the number of Genin would be even and no-one would have to fight twice.

Naturally after being given this option, those that complained remained silent, since none of them wanted to give up their chance of making it to the finals.

Once that matter was settled, Hayate had Anko bring down the selection screen, where the screen would randomly pick two Genins names, who would face off against one another.

When the screen activated it started to randomly go through names, eventually though it stopped on two names.

"Senju Naruto vs. Hattori Mai"

Upon seeing the name Hattori many of the more senior Shinobi let out a small gasps of surprise, while others eyes widened slightly.

"_Perfect_" thought the Ame team leader named Mai.

"Shit! Looks like the brat did inherit a bit of your bad luck after all, hime. As he is the opening match and is facing against a Hattori" commented Jiraiya to his team-mate, who just frowned.

"Well it seems that we get to finish off our fight sooner than I expected to Senju" spoke Mai as the Ame team leader walked forward.

"That's fine by me" replied Naruto with a slight glare, where the two stood opposite one another, while everyone walked up to the catwalks above.

As Tsunade walked by Naruto, she told him to be careful, while at the same time reminded him that if his seal started acting up, she would stop the fight. Naruto just nodded at this, after which Tsunade went up the catwalk on the left and side, along with Jiraiya, Shizune, Tonton, teams seven, eight, nine (Gai team) and ten, joined by Haku's team. While the remaining other teams went up the catwalk on the right hand side.

Once up on the catwalk, Tsunade was also joined by the Sandaime, who was accompanied by Ibiki and Anko.

At the same time, Kakashi, Kushina and Yamato were joined by Zabuza.

"It's been a while Kakashi", spoke Zabuza.

"Nice seeing you too Zabuza", greeted Kakashi, with his traditional eye smile and wave. "Although I have to say, I surprise that you of all people are a jonin-sensei now."

"Tsk! Not by choice, since the Mizukage didn't give me many options in the matter, but I guess I could've gotten worse brats to train", replied Zabuza.

Upon hearing this, both Saito and Chōjūrō" smirk at one another, for although it didn't sound like it that was the closest thing to praise, that anyone other than Haku could get out of Zabuza.

Kakashi just eye smiled again at this comment, knowing that the famed Demon of the Mist was actually quite proud of his students and was just too proud to admit it.

"So looks like your brat is starting things off Uzumaki, and he doesn't have it easy either, as he going against a member of the Hattori Clan" Zabuza commented.

"Yea, it should be hard, but you should know better than anyone Zabuza, how tough Naruto can be" replied Kushina, where the Demon of the Mist just nodded.

"Eh excuse me, but eh, who are the Hattori Clan?" asked the slightly nervous Sakura, since she was still a bit scared of Zabuza, given their last encounter with the former nuke-nin.

At this question Zabuza raised his eyebrow in slight disbelief, "Huh! You Konoha-nins really need to fix your Academy system, if Genin today don't know who the Hattori Clan are."

The Sandaime of course frowned slightly at Zabuza's insult towards Konoha's academy teachings. But he quickly realized that Zabuza may have a point, if Genin today never heard of the Hattori Clan.

"The Hattori Clan…" answered Kushina, while watching Naruto down in the arena. "…Are a famed and renowned Shinobi Clan, who reside in Amegakure (Hidden Rain). The clan is well known for having many skilled Shinobi, although they're practically famous because of their Clan head, Hattori Hanzo, better known, as Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzōthe Salamander), the leader of Amegakure. A man whose fame and reputation is known and revered throughout the entire Shinobi world, to the point where the mere sight of him on the battlefield would make most Shinobi run in fear."

After hearing this, all of the eyes of the Genin, (minus Haku and her team) who were listening to the explanation, widened in surprise. But before any of them could comment on what Kushina had told them, the former ANBU captain continued with her explanation.

"Hanzo is easily recognized as one of the strongest Shinobi of our time even to this day, and is an icon to the whole Shinobi world, because of his great skills. It is said he could singlehandedly wipe out an entire platoon of Shinobi with relative ease. But one of the things he is most famed for is for battling all three members of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja) when they were young and giving them their title as Sannin."

After hearing this, the Konoha Genin eyes widened once again in surprise, where Sakura then turned to Jiraiya and Tsunade. "So does that mean that, you defeated him Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama?"

"Defeated him, Hah!" laughed Jiraiya when he heard the question. "Girly, he wiped the floor with us, the only reason we survived is because he let us go, because he was impressed that we were able hold our own against him. The fact is, if we had kept fighting him, he would've killed us."

When the Konoha Genin heard this, every single one of their eyes widened in disbelief and gasped in shock, at the idea of one man being strong enough to have defeated the Densetsu no Sannin of Konoha by himself.

"Let's just hope for the brat's sake that the kid he's going against isn't as strong as we think" spoke Zabuza, as he watched Naruto, who was now talking to Mai.

-With Naruto and Mai-

As the two Genin stared at one another, Mai suddenly started to chuckle.

"Care to share the joke with me?" asked Naruto, as he was curious as to why the Ame Genin was laughing.

"Oh it's nothing, I was just laughing at how perfect this is. Since I get to face you in the very first battle of the preliminaries, in front of your mother and everyone else here and once I've defeated you. Everyone will finally acknowledge that the Hattori Clan is the strongest Shinobi Clan in the world, where like my Grandfather, I will have defeated the heir of the legendary Senju Clan of Konohgakure (Hidden Leaf).

"Grandfather, Wait! Are you telling me that you are…?" Naruto asked in shock, but before he could finish asking, Mai finished.

"Yes! I' am the Granddaughter of Hattori Hanzo better known as Sanshōuo no Hanzō."

-With the Spectators-

"Shit! Hanzo Granddaughter!" Zabuza spoke in surprise.

"Jiraiya, did you know anything about this?" asked Tsunade as she turned to the Gama Sennin in surprise.

"Like hell I did!" responded Jiraiya in equal surprise. "I didn't even know that Hanzo had a kid to begin with!"

"Damnit…Now it makes sense, Hanzo must have sent her to kill Naruto, knowing we couldn't do anything should he die in the exam. It also explains why his most trusted subordinate Kandachi is here as well, as the team's Jonin-sensei" stated Tsunade angrily, as she gripped the railings tightly. Since it made sense, given how the Ame Genin targeted Naruto back at the forest of death and how Hanzo was notorious for not tolerating any possible threats to his village.

"_This could cause some trouble_" thought Sandaime with concern.

"_Fuck…of all the people Naruto had to go against, it had to be her_" thought Kushina with a frown, as she beginning to believe that Jiraiya was correct, about Naruto inheriting a bit of Tsuande's bad luck.

"_Naruto will certainly have a tough time with this one_" thought Kakashi a serious look that was not normally seen.

"_The kid is definitely not going to have it easy with this girl, especially if she anything like her Grandfather_" thought Asuma as he let out a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"_So Sanshōuo no Hanzō has sent his Granddaughter to deal with the Senju heir, this could be beneficial to us_" thought Baki with a calculating look. Although that was soon replace with a look of slight concern, given the look that his youngest pupil was giving the cloaked girl.

"_Yes mother, she may prove to be worthy prey as well_" thought Gaara, with a craze excitement at the thought of fighting Mai. Since unlike the Konoha Genin he had heard of Sanshōuo no Hanzō and was certain that his Granddaughter with make an excellent opponent to fight.

"_Do not fail in your mission Mai_" thought the girl's Jonin-sensei Kandachi.

"_So Hanzo, you too have made your move on the boy_" thought Danzo, as he watch the two young Genin face one another.

"_KuKuKuKu…this is certainly an unexpected surprise, who would've thought that Hanzo had a Granddaughter and that she would be in the Chunin exam. Not to mention that she and Naruto-kun would face off against one another in the first round of the preliminary fights._" thought Orochimaru in amusement. As he was certain that this match would prove to be very entertaining.

-With Naruto and Mai-

As the two Genin stared at one another, Mai decided it was time to rid herself of her cloak, where as soon as she did, the blonde Senju's face turned a shade of red that rivalled any that a certain Hyuga heiress could ever turn.

"W…W…WH…What the hell?" cried the embarrassed boy, when he saw what Mai really looked like.

Mai was an attractive medium tall young girl with honey colour eyes and long brown hair, with long bangs that framed the sides of her face, tied up in a thick, long ponytail which flowed down to her lower back. But the thing that caught most people's attention (or more specially the males) was the skimpy red sleeveless tunic that's he wore, which barely covered her ample cleavage, which was easily a C-cup. Her outfit was held at her waist by a silk white waistband, with mini-shorts underneath it. At her feet she wore a pair of soft-soled tabi while also wearing fingerless red tekkou that covered only the back of her hands, which held a pair of white folding fans with metal sides. (1)

-With the Spectators-

When the spectators saw Mai and her outfit, their reactions varied, most of the males, like Lee, Choji, Chōjūrō, Omoi and some others, blushed bright red much like Naruto. While others like Shikamaru, Sasuke, Gaara, Shino, Sai and Neji remained emotionless and hid their reaction, although others weren't as skilled. Since after seeing Mai's outfit, some male members like Kiba and Kankuro were launched into the wall behind them by their nosebleeds.

The female spectators reaction was of course very much different, where the young Hyuga heiress turned a bright shade of red, like Naruto and many of the boys at seeing a girl wear such a daring outfit. On the other hand girls like Samui, Yugito, Haku, Temari, and Tenten were quite annoyed Mai's choice of outfits, some of the others girls like Ino, Sakura and Karui were infuriated by it. Although at the same time the three of them wondered what the girl ate and drank to get breasts like her.

"WHOA-HO!" cried Jiraiya with excitement, "Now that's what I call a Kunoichi outfit, I take back what I said earlier, the brat has the luck of the gods!" After which the perverted Sage took out a pad and pencil, where he planned to write down Mai's outfit description and use it in his next book.

But before he could put pencil to paper, an annoyed Tsunade elbowed the Toad Sage right in the face, but luckily for him, she hadn't used her superhuman strength. But even still, the hit had left an imprinted on the man's face and busted his nose, causing it to bleed a little.

"Well…um…it certainly…a unique outfit" commented the Sandaime with a slight blush.

"What the hell is that bitch thinking, wearing something like that!" cried the outraged Ino.

"Actually she doing what many Kunoichi did long ago!" commented Asuma causing his female student to snap her neck back to him, crying "What!"

"Well you see back in the day, especially when doing missions like infiltration, intelligence gathering or assassination. Many Kunoichi would use seduction and their sexuality to distract or catch their enemies off guard before striking. She is just following in that path, since many young and some older male Shinobi could easily fall for such a ploy, where they could lose focus in a fight", answered Asuma. As he had to admit if he had gone against someone like her when he did the Chunin exam, when he was Naruto's age, he would've easily lost focus or become distracted.

"Naruto-kun, isn't like most of the guys here, he isn't perverted and he won't fall for something like that" stated Ino.

"Well we'll see soon enough" replied Asuma, although he wasn't too sure and wouldn't blame Naruto if he did.

-With Naruto and Mai-

Shaking off his embarrassment, Naruto quickly focused himself at the matter at hand, where he went to draw his Katana and readied himself. As he knew the kind of game Mai was playing, since his mother had told him that Shinobi would often use different methods to distract an enemy, and make them lose focus, so that they could defeat their enemy more easily.

When Mai saw Naruto shaking off his embarrassment off, she smirked and decided to try and push her advantage forward.

"What's wrong Senju, do you see something you like?" asked Mai, as she leaned forward so to give Naruto a better look at her cleavage. Since Mai had no problem using her sexuality into keeping her opponents off balance.

But instead of becoming distracted by her seduction tactics, Naruto kept his eyes on the girl herself and not her chest. The fact that he was a medic in training, helped things since there wasn't a part of the male or female body that he wasn't familiar with. Sure it was embarrassing at first, not to mention the time right before he left for Konoha, where his mother and Shizune gave him the _talk_. Since neither woman wanted Jiraiya to do it, thereby giving him the chance to corrupt or ruin Naruto. But he eventually got over his embarrassment and got use to knowing and seeing such things, hence Mai ploy was worthless.

Soon enough though, Mai realized that her tactic wasn't working, since Naruto remained focused and ready. So she decided to try and mess with Naruto a different way. "Don't like me I see, well now, that's a surprise, I didn't think you swung that way. I guess Konoha can give up on any chance of the Senju Clan being restored."

After saying this, Mai was gratified to see a small twitch on the young Senju heir's face, knowing that her comment had irked Naruto. But before she could press her comment any further Naruto made his own remark.

"Oh no, I like girls alright, it's just that I go for more than just looks, where unlike you, I prefer girls who don't try as hard. Besides aren't you a little too old to be hitting someone like me or is it that you just can't get a guy your own age.

At this remarked Mai growled in anger, which cause Naruto to smirk, knowing that he had gotten to her.

"I'm only fifteen!" cried the girl in slight outrage at being called old. "And I don't have a problem getting a boyfriend, it's just none are worth my time."

Naruto was of course slightly surprise that Mai was only fifteen, as he had thought for sure that she was eighteen, given how developed she was.

"_Damn what the hell do they feed the girls in that village!_" thought Naruto. But quickly pushed aside such thoughts and took satisfaction using Mai's own mind games against her.

-With the spectators-

After seeing Naruto turn the tables on Mai, Tsunade smirked with satisfaction, as she was pleased that her son hadn't fallen for any of Mai's ploys. Especially the seduction techniques, since she had made sure Naruto wouldn't fall for such tricks, on the chance that some Kunoichi or other girls would try to, so that they could use Naruto to elevate their status in the village.

"That girl's only fifteen!" cried Jiraiya in surprise, before destroying his notes on Mai, since he did have certain ethics, where he didn't do any peeping or other things on girls under the age of eighteen. But he did keep the outfit in mind for another character, as it would be a waste not to.

"_Damnit Mai, don't let him trick you like this!_" thought Kandachi angrily.

-With Naruto and Mai-

Soon enough though, Mai calmed herself down, where she focused solely on Naruto, as she now knew that Naruto wouldn't fall for any of her tricks.

After a minute or two of staring at one another, both Genin decided to start the match, where Mai kicked things off, by channelling her Chakra into her right-hand fan. After converting her Chakra into Wind, Mai then cried out "**Futon: Kyōfuu** (Wind Style: Strong Wind)!(A)" and unleashed a powerful gust of Wind at Naruto. Who couldn't avoid the gust of Wind in time and was sent flying back into the wall behind him, where he was forced to raise his arms to protect his face and received several small cuts on his arms and body.

-With the Spectators-

"_So she is a Futon user like Naruto, and a powerful one at that if she can create a powerful gust of Wind like that with a hand size fan. This makes things more difficult for Naruto, as he can't use any of his Chakra because of the curse seal_" thought Sarutobi.

-With Naruto and Mai-

"So Senju, what did you think of that?" asked Mai, with a wicked smirk, as she saw Naruto lower in arms and saw the cuts all around his body.

Naruto did not answer of course, but glared silently at the girl as he picked himself up.

Although as he did, Mai channelled her Wind Chakra into both her folding fans and swung at the same time together, while crying out "**Futon: Nibai Kyōfuu **(Wind Style: Double Strong Wind)! (B)"

Not wanting to be hit by the clearly more powerful version of Mai's attack. Naruto quickly jumped up high into the air, which was a lucky thing. For as soon as he jumped into the air, the Wind attack collided with the wall behind him, which became covered in several dozen large slashes, created by Mai's attack.

"_Shit! I can't afford to underestimate her_" thought the Blonde boy, after which he took out a set of Kunai from his pouch, (which was refilled by Shizune, when Naruto asked her if he could borrow some Kunai and things from her), and threw them at the girl.

Mai of course jumped away from the Kunai, where she then counterattacked by using her **Futon: Kyōfuu **again. Creating another large gust of Wind, given how he was still in mid-air, Naruto couldn't avoid the technique and was sent flying into the stone hands, that were doing a ram seal, which was to his right. Fortunately though he recovered quickly and flipped himself over, so that his feet hit the wall and he was able to propel himself forward. After which he then used his wrist-mounted Senbon launcher and fired several Senbon needles**.**

Acting quickly, Mai narrowly avoided the high speed Senbon, which were highly accurate, as she had to use her fans to deflect them.

After deflecting the Senbon needles, Mai plucked out the last needle that had gotten stuck in her fan and smelled it, where she detected the trace amount of a toxin from it.

"_Poison, I must be careful around him, as he was trained by the world's top medic-nin Tsunade-sama. Who knows how many more of his weapons are covered with poison_" thought the Ame Kunoichi. But as soon as she had though this, Naruto suddenly appeared right in front of her.

Mai immediately realized then, that Naruto had use the needle attack to distract her, so to give him time to get close enough to her so that she couldn't use her Wind attacks.

Acting quickly, Mai raised her right hand fan up, and flipped a small switched on it, causing spikes to spring from the tips of the fan, which she then used to block Naurto's Katana, which he had swung at her.

Naruto was of course surprised by this, but then quickly used his superior strength to push the girl back, while at the same time, slashing through the fan, making it useless to use Wind techniques with.

After being pushed back by Naruto, Mai quickly jumped backwards to gain some distance between the two of them, where she then began to do some hand seals with her one free hand, which of course stunned many people.

-With the Spectators-

"Seals with just a single hand, I didn't think such a thing was possible!" spoke Kurenai in shock where she was joined by many others.

"_Just like Haku_" thought Saito.

"_This girl is indeed skilled_" thought the Sandaime with a frown, where he then watched Mai spit out several large balls of Water from her mouth and fire them at Naruto forcing him back a bit.

-With Naruto and Mai-

After Mai forced him back, Naruto knew if he wanted to beat Mai he would need his Chakra and use his Jutsu, but with the curse seal preventing him from using his Chakra. He was forced to use one of his backup plans.

Cutting his index finger on the edge of his blade, Naruto spread the blood on a small seal that was carved on the side of this blade near the hilt of his Katana.

This was of course no ordinary seal, this seal was a Chakra storage seal, that Kushina had taught him before the Chunin exam. Naruto had stored a large amount of Chakra into the seal, since Kushina told him, that there was always a chance, either on a mission or in battle, where he would be either running low on of Chakra or unable to use his. This was way, it always a good idea to have something like that to fall back on.

After activating the Chakra storage seal, Naruto slightly thanked his redheaded sensei, even though he was a bit upset with her right now, he was still grateful for her foresight. But before Naruto could even use the Chakra from the Chakra storage seal, Mai suddenly swung her fan and cried out "**Futon: Senpuu **(Wind Style: Whirlwind)! (C)". Unleashing a powerful blast of Wind from her fan, this lifted Naruto off his feet and into the air and then formed into a large tornado.

As Naruto was being spun around in the tornado, small Wind blades started cutting him from all sides, making it impossible for him to defend himself.

-With the Spectators-

"Impossible! How can she create something that big and that powerful, with that small folding fan" Temari spoke out loud in disbelief, as she herself had to admit that she couldn't do that with the small folding fan Mai was using.

"She gifted that's for certain" commented Baki with some surprise at Mai's Wind manipulation skill. "_But then again, she is the Granddaughter of the Legendary Sanshōuo no Hanzō_"

"Naruto!" cried Shizune concern, as she was watched her Godson/surrogate brother spinning around in the tornado being cut up by the Wind attack

Tsunade herself wasn't doing any better, as she grabbed the railing tighter, causing them to slowly break.

"_Dammit!_" thought Jiraiya, where his worry only grew, when he saw the curse markings staring to spread over Naruto's body.

"Hokage-sama!" indicated Anko, as she too saw the curse seal starting to spread.

"_Naruto_" thought the Sandaime with worry, when he saw what was happing.

"_FuFuFu…So he starting to draw upon the seal_" thought the disguised Orochimaru.

"_He's finished_" thought Kandachi, "_Well done Mai_"

-With Naruto and Mai-

As Naruto was spinning around and being cut up by Mai's tornado, he started to cry out in pain. But as he did, he could feel the curse seal activating and starting to spread throughout his body, as if reacting to his subconscious cry for more power. For just one moment, Naruto pondered at the idea in using the seal and its power to defeat Mai. But as quickly as that idea popped into his head, he remembered what he did to Haku and her team and how he had nearly killed them.

Not wanting to repeat of what had started to happen here, Naruto began to force the seal back, "_No! I won't let you control me again, I will win this fight my way, with my own power!_" screamed Naruto in his mind.

It was then at this moment that Naruto gripped his Katana tightly and started to draw a massive amount of Chakra from the storage seal, and channelled it to the tip of his blade and converted it into Wind, where he then swung his Katana and cried out "**Idaina Surasshu-fū** (Great Wind Slash)!"

As soon as he did this, a massive blade of Wind erupted from his Katana and slash through the tornado, causing it to dissipate. Although the Wind attacked continue to fly toward the catwalks on the side where most of the foreign Genin were, where it nearly hit Killer Bee and his team, who were barely able to move out of the way in time.

-With the Spectators-

"What the hell? Is Senju trying to kill us!" cried Karui, as she and the others picked themself up from the floor of the catwalk.

"Holy crap!" Omoi said suddenly, where when everyone turned to look, every Genin and nearly all of the Jonin eyes widened in shock. For where Naruto's attack hit, there was now a massive cut on the wall, as the Wind attack had cut right through the steel catwalk and made a scar like cut on the wall about four inches thick, which reached from the catwalk a couple of feet below it.

"That was close we could've been toast" rhymed Bee, when he saw what Naruto's attack did.

"How did Naruto do that? I thought he couldn't use his Chakra" stated Shizune in surprise.

"Chakra storage seals, that's only way I know how he could do that" replied Jiraiya before he turned to Kushina. "Did you teach him them?"

"Of course, since it always best to have something to fall back on."

"No way!" spoke Choji in disbelief, after seeing Naruto's Wind attack.

"_Damn…I told the kid that he should try to improve that attack of his, but I didn't think he go that far_" thought Asuma in surprise.

"_Inconceivable…where on earth did that boy learn a technique like that!_" thought a shocked Baki.

"_How on earth did he do that?_" thought Temari in amazement.

"What the hell is that guy" Zaku cried, while his team-mate Dosu just narrowed his one visible eye, as what he had just seen, proved that his instincts on Naruto we right.

"That's the way Naruto-kun" cried Ino, as the air she punched her fist into and continued to cheer for her crush.

"Whoa, looks like the brat has improved on that Wind technique of his" stated Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama look the mark, it's receding" spoke Shizune suddenly, where when they looked, they saw that Naruto was back with his feet on the ground and the markings of the curse mark were indeed receding.

At seeing this Tsunade let out a sigh of relief, not only of Naruto getting out of the Wind technique, but also for resisting the seal.

"_I don't believe it, he was actually able to push back the curse seal, with sear willpower_" thought Anko in surprise, as it took an immense amount of willpower to do that.

"_Hmmm…impressive, the boy does seem to have a talent in Futon_" thought Danzo, as he stared at Naruto with a calculating stare.

"_KuKuKuKu…most impressive Naruto-kun_" thought the amused Snake Sannin.

-With Naruto and Mai-

At the same time, when everyone was recovering from their shock at what they had seen. Mai herself had still, not completely gotten over it, since she had been certain that Naruto was finished.

"_Impossible…What on earth was that technique he used, I've never seen anything like it before_" thought the girl, where she was only awakened from her shock when she heard Naruto cry "**Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash)!"

Acting on pure instinct, Mai quickly jumped to her right, narrowly avoiding the deadly Wind slash. Although the attack was not as big or as powerful as the pervious Wind slash, the fact that was it able to make a shallow mark on the solid stone wall behind Mai, proved that it was still deadly.

"_Shit, what kind of Wind technique is he using? Sofu _(more formal way in saying Grandfather)_ was correct to be concerned about him. The fact that he is able to use a technique that is clearly A rank at his age, proves that he could very well become a formable threat one day, I need to kill him now and fast_", thought Mai as she picked herself up. But as soon as she did, she was force on the defensive by Naruto, who slashed at her with his Katana.

For the next few minutes the two Genin fought each other in a fierce battle, where Mai activated the spikes of her fan to help defend herself from Naruto's attacks. Naruto other hand did his utmost to try and find or make an opening for himself to exploit and take out Mai quickly.

Eventually though, Mai was able to once again gain a little distance between then, where she took out some Suriken and threw them. After which she then quickly channelled her Wind Chakra into her fan, and used it to create **Futon: Kyōfuu **to enhance the speed, power and ability of her Suriken.

Seeing this, Naruto knew he had to act fast, so he quickly took out a kunai with an exploding note tied to it and threw it at the incoming Wind attack and projectile, where right before his Kunai could be blown back at him. Naruto activated the exploding note, causing it to explode, where the explosion cancelled out the Wind attack and blew away the Suriken.

Luckily for Naruto, he had just been far enough away to avoid any serious harm from the explosion, although was a little singed and was blown a bit back by the blast.

-With the Spectators-

"Nice going brat, that's using your head" commented Jiraiya with a smile.

"Well I give him this, he's certainly quick on his feet" commented Temari, as she was impressed with how Naruto negated the Wind attack.

-With Naruto and Mai-

Unfortunately what Naruto was unaware of was that, the attack just now was just another distraction, so to allow Mai to prepare her real attack.

For as soon as the smoke of the blast died down, he saw Mai with her fan in her mouth doing several hand seals (with both hands) at a speed that impressed everyone in the room. At the same time, Naruto also notice that she was now surrounded by a large volume of Water, which he had guessed, she had summoned from the scroll that was on the ground in front of her.

Seeing this, it wasn't hard for Naruto to guess that Mai was planning some kind of high level Water attack that required a large volume of Water. But before he could make any attempt to stop her, the young Ame Kunoichi finished her hand seal and thought "_**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **_(Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" and created a massive Dragon made out of Water.

Upon seeing the large Water Dragon coming at him, Naruto tried to move out of the way, but found he could not, as Mai was able to have her Water Dragon follow after him, while still in its form.

"_Fuck, I can't lose it!_" thought Naruto, knowing he had only one option left, where he drew out another massive amount of Chakra from his sword's Chakra storage seal and once again used his **Idaina Surasshu-fū**.

The large blade of Wind then cut right through the Water Dragon, splitting it in two, causing the Water that made up the Water Dragon to fill up the arena. After which the Wind attack hit the wall, where like before it made a large slash mark on it. Fortunately though, it didn't reach as high at the catwalk, since this time Naruto was not in mid-air.

-With the Spectators-

"To actually be able to use a technique of that level in here…!" commented Kushina in surprise, for as much as she hated to admire her student's opponent; the girl had seriously impressed her."

"_This is getting out of hand, we never expect Mai to have this much trouble with him…clearly the boy has been better trained than we thought_" Kandachi thought with a frown.

"_This new generation is certainly full of promise_" thought Sandaime, for like Kushina. He had to admire Mai's skill, since she was just as remarkable as Naruto. As to be able to use a high level B rank Water technique like **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**. In a place like this, and to control so well at her age, was remarkable to say the least.

"Tsk, as much as I hate to admit it, Hanzo did a hell of a job in training that girl" commented Jiraiya, since given what he saw, even if Naruto was a full strength and didn't have to hold back, he would still find this girl difficult to fight.

"Both of them are troublesome…Ow!" muttered Shikamaru, before being slapped on the back of his head by Ino, for calling "her" Naruto-kun troublesome. After which the girl continued to cheer Naruto on.

"The two of them are seriously strong…and here I thought the Sand Gay was dangerous" stated Kiba, where his silent team-mate Shino nodded in agreement, as Naruto was proving much stronger than any of them ever expected.

"Yosh the flames of youth are truly burning brightly in them…wouldn't you agree Kakashi?" asked Gai.

At this Kakashi, just turned to Gai and said, "Huh?…did you say something Gai?"

After hearing this Gai once again became outraged, "Damn you Kakashi and your cool hip attitude…you've one this round but I will not lose again!"

As the green jumpsuit wearing man continued his usually little rant about how he wouldn't lose to Kakashi again. The copy-nin just turned back to watch the two young Genin face off against one another again.

As Kakashi watched them, he did silently agree with what Gai was saying about Mai and Naruto, (although not in so many words), both of them were impressive Shinobi.

"Looks like we've better start watching out Kushina-senpai or else before we know it, Naruto and his generation well pass us by" commented the silver haired man.

"Perhaps, but I like to think we still have a few tricks up our sleeves to teach them" replied the red haired woman

-With Naruto and Mai-

"_Dammnit, I almost had him_" thought Mai angrily, as she started to pant heavily, as using **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **along with her other techniques, had taken a lot out of her and was nearing her limit Chakra wise.

At the same time Naruto stared down at his Katana, as he knew that his Chakra storage seal on his Katana was nearing empty. Since there was a limit of how much Chakra he could store in the seal, and he had used a great deal of it when he used **Idaina Surasshu-fū **twice. At best he knew he had about a third of the Chakra that was originally in it.

Hoping to finish the fight quickly, Naruto charged straight at Mai with his Katana, but the young Hattori Kunoichi was no slouch, for as soon as she saw Naruto coming at her. She quickly took her fan out of her mouth and once again began to do one handed hand seals and inhaled deeply before thinking "_**Katon: Ryū no Hōkō **_(Fire Style: Dragon's Roar)! (D)" She then brought her free hand to her mouth and then exhaled a large stream of Fire which flew a Naruto at great speed.

-With the Spectators-

"_Not only can she use Futon and Suiton Ninjutsu, but she can use Katon Ninjutsu as well!_" thought Sasuke in surprise. Since he never expected Mai to be this powerful and being able to use a Fire technique he had never seen before.

"_This girl is just like Naruto, as she is able to use multiple elemental Ninjutsu_" thought Asuma in surprise, as given what he was seeing; the girl was already as strong as high level Chunin if not a Tokubetsu Jonin. At the same time he couldn't help wonder, what kind of training the girl's Grandfather put her trough to get her to be this strong.

-With Naruto and Mai-

Seeing the stream of fire coming at him, Naruto immediately jumped to the left. After narrowly avoiding the hot stream of fire, Naruto charged right at Mai's unguarded right.

Mai of course saw this and quickly deactivated her justu and brought her folded fan up to defend herself, when she saw Naruto about to swing his Katana in an upward diagonal slash.

But when Mai brought up her fan to block Naruto's slash, all that happened was Naruto's empty hand passing by her fan, revealing it to be a faint. The real attack instead came from Naruto's other hand, where he bypassed Mai's fan and slashed her across the chest with his Katana.

"_You gotta love the __**Mizu no Atsuen **_(Rolling Water) _technique_" thought Naruto with smile, believing her had won. But that smile quickly disappeared when he saw Mai revert into Water, revealing that Mai had replaced herself with **Mizu no Bunshin**.

Seeing this Naruto silently cursed and quickly spun around, to see several Kunai flying towards him at high speeds. Brining up his Katana, Naruto skilfully deflected the incoming projectiles with his Katana and then started looking for Mai.

-Enter Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break) –

He quickly found her at the other end of the arena opposite him, standing directly in front of the large stone hands. After doing several one handed hand seals Mai inhaled deeply before thinking "_**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu **_(Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)!" and expelling a massive ball of Fire.

She then quickly followed up the attack, by channelling her Wind Chakra into her folding fan and using her **Futon: Kyōfuu** to enhance her Fireball, making it even bigger and stronger.

-With the Spectators-

"She's able preform combination techniques!" said Kurenai in shock, upon seeing what Mai did.

"Such skill at so young an age" commented Koharu is surprise.

"The girl truly is the Granddaughter of Hanzo" stated Homura.

"_A most impressive heir Hanzo_" thought Danzo, before turning to look at Naruto and see what he would do.

-With Naruto and Mai-

At seeing the massive ball of flames hurtling towards him, Naruto realized he couldn't avoid the attack, as it was coming in to fast and was too big. Knowing of only one way to get of this situation, Naruto started to summon the Chakra from the storage seal on his Katana, and hoped he had enough Chakra to do the technique.

He flipped his Katana, so that he was holding it backwards and then started to spin around at high speed, while channelling his Chakra to draw the Water around him (the Water that was used to create Mai's Water Dragon) to create a giant Waterspout around him, protecting him from the massive fireball. (2)

When the two techniques clashed, a giant steam cloud appeared where the two techniques cancelled each other out, as the Water extinguished the fire and the fire evaporated most of the Water.

As the cloud of steam rose, everyone struggled to see what was happening, as the steam covered most.

"Look over there!" cried Hinata, who had her Byakugan activated to see into the cloud, where she then indicated to the edge of the steam cloud.

When everyone looked they saw Naruto emerged from, the steam cloud with his Katana thrust forward and covered in Water.

Seeing this, Mai knew she didn't have much time, where she waited until the very last second before she stepped aside to avoid the attack so that Naruto would crash into the wall behind her.

But before hitting the wall, Naruto pulled back his blade and then brought his right foot forward, where he then used the wall to propel himself back towards Mai at even greater speed.

Surprised by this, Mai was barely able to bring up her fan to block Naruto's attack, who once again tried to use his **Mizu no Atsuen** technique, where he switched his Katan from his right hand to his left in an instant. Sadly though, Mai was prepared for this, where she recognized the faint and stopped the real slash with the metal side of her folding fan.

"I'm not going to fall for the same trick twice" stated Mai, as she blocked Naruto slash.

"Well how about this then!" replied Naruto as he passed his Katana from one hand to another at high speed behind his back, allowing him to strike Mai in the side, on her unguarded left with the side of his Katana.

After being hit in her left side, Mai stumbled sideways and struggled to keep standing, as she had been caught completely off guard by Naruto's **Nagareru Mizu **(Following Water) technique (3).

Not wanting to lose his advantage, Naruto quickly moved forward with his Katana, where he then channelled the last of the Chakra from his storage seal. After which he then used his **Hien **(Flying Swallow) technique to increase the cutting power of his Katana, and sliced right through Mai's fan, when she raised it, in an attempt to defend herself. After which Naruto then followed up his slash, with a round house kick in Mai's stomach that sent her flying backwards and crashing into the wall several meters behind her.

-End Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break) –

-With the Spectators-

"Pretty good, Naruto has improved a lot in his Kenjutsu, since we last saw him" commented Omoi, as he was quite impressed with Naruto's swordsmanship skills

"Hmph! I guess" muttered Karui "But what style is he using, I've never seen one like it?"

"It's called Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess), replied Samui, gaining her team-mates attention. "It's a unique Kenjutsu style, created by the Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury) Uzumaki Kushina. The style involves the user using not only a sword, but also Water as a weapon, which is why the fighting style is so unusual and unique. Since normally when using weapons and elemental Chakra together, Wind, Fire, Lightning or pure Chakra is normally what is used and as you can guess, the style is best used when there is a large nearby Water source."

"Beat her ass ten times out of ten!" cheered Bee in his usual bad rapping.

-With Naruto and Mai-

"Give it up Mai, you can't win" spoke Naruto, as he watched the girl slowly pick herself up.

"Tsk! Like hell I will…you haven't won this fight yet Senju!" cried the girl, as she charged straight at Naruto, who in turn charged straight at her.

As the two neared each other, Naruto attempted a sword thrust at the Granddaughter of Hanzo, but she quickly avoided it and moved close so that Naruto couldn't use it. She then delivered a sharp knee kick to Naruto gut, causing the blonde to kneel over slightly. After which Mai then grabbed hold of Naruto's sword arm and kicked his feet from under him and flipped over her, while at the same time causing Naruto to drop his Katana.

After being flipped over by Mai, Naruto quickly recovered by, doing a mid-air flip, allowing him to land on his feet, where he then fell into a fighting stance and prepared to fight Mai, who had spun around to face Naruto.

"Hmph! As you can see Senju, I'm not like the pitiful excuse of Kunoichi that you have in your village…" said Mai, causing several indigent yell from Tenten, Sakura and Ino. "…as I've been trained in some of the most gruelling training regimens you can image, for not only am I skilled in Ninjutsu and Weapons, but I' am equally skilled Taijutsu."

Upon hearing this Naruto eyes narrowed, as he had to admit he had underestimated Mai.

"I'll admit Mai, I've underestimated and you're indeed one of the strongest people I've ever fought, who were around my owe age."

After a minute or two of staring off at one another, the two Genin charged at one another and began to fight in fierce Taijutsu battle, where neither gave much ground to the other.

After ducking under a powerful jump kick from Mai, Naruto attempted to punch Mai in the side, which was left exposed after she missed him. But before he could hit her, Mai blocked the punch with her right hand, where in a feat of incredible acrobatics. She used Naruto's outstretched hand like a pedestal to spin around and deliver a one-eighty spin kick right to Naruto's face, sending the young Senju skidding back several meters away.

Mai then quickly chased after Naruto attempted to hit Naruto with a straight forward punch, which Naruto easily ducked under, and delivered a sharp rising knee kick, right to Mai's chin, sending her a few feet into the air. Upon which Naruto then fell backwards and used the ground to propel himself into the air and hit Mai in the gut, with a drop kick. Sending the young Kunoichi flying into the air, several meters back before crashing to the ground.

Naruto then attempted to end the battle, by chasing after Mia, where he then jumped into the air an attempted a falling axe kick. But before Naruto's kick could hit, Mai jumped onto her knees and caught the falling kick with her hands, where she then pushed Naruto back, causing the blonde to flip several meters back.

But when Naruto landed on the ground, Mai once again appeared in front of him a hit straight in the chest with a flying kick sending him the blonde flying backwards.

Mai then continued after Naruto where she appeared next to him and hit Naruto with a powerful rising, which sent Naruto up into the air, where the Ame Kunoichi jumped after him.

Once she was above him, Mai then delivered a powerful elbow to Naruto stomach that sent him hurtling to the ground and hit it with a loud thud, where he then skidded across the ground for several meters before stopping.

"_God, damnit, I getting pretty sick of being her punching bag…I'm going to end this now!_" thought Naruto as he spat out some blood as picked himself up.

Once Naruto was back on his feet, he did a single hand seal and released his **Fūinjutsu: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru **(Sealing Technique: Four Limbs Weighting Seal), causing his gloves and boots to glow blue.

-With the Spectators-

"About time the kid released them", commented Jiraiya, when he saw Naruto deactivating the **Shishi Omomizuke Shīru**.

"Excuse me Jiraiya-sama, but what is causing Naruto's boots and gloves to glow like that?" asked Sakura.

"The glow is being caused by Naruto deactivating special weighing seals that I placed on his boots and gloves, so to help improve his physical strength. Meaning with them being no longer active, Naruto will be much stronger and faster than he was before.

At this Sakura and the other Genin eyes widened in surprise, as Naruto was already pretty fast.

"_Hmmmm, so he uses the same kind of method that Lee uses, but instead of regular weights he uses weight seals_" thought Neji with interest, after hearing Jiraiya's explanation.

-With Naruto and Mai-

At the same time, when Naruto was deactivating his **Fūinjutsu: Shishi Omomizuke Shīru**. Mai (who had landed back on the ground), began to frown and wonder what Naruto was doing, "_What sort of trick is he up to now_."

But before she could think further on the matter, Naruto suddenly charged straight at her with a sudden massive burst of speed, where within the blink of an eye was right in front of her.

Mai had been so surprised by Naruto's new speed that she had been completely caught off guard by it, and couldn't block the sharp elbow strike to the side of her face from him, which was then followed by a rising knee kick to her chin, causing her to fall on her back.

Mai of course quickly recovered, where despite the pain she was feeling from her face, she spat out some blood that was in her mouth and flipped backward onto her feet. But as soon as she did, she was forced on the defensive, by a powerful roundhouse kick from Naruto, to the left side of her head, which she barely managed to block with her left arm, due to the strength and speed of the kick.

Seeing that his kick was blocked, Naruto then quickly used Mai's left arm to push his right leg away from her allowing him to spin himself around and deliver a powerful spinning back kick to the right side of Mai's head. That sent her flying sideways and nearly causing her to hit the wall.

Mai of course tried to steady herself as her head was still spinning from Naruto hits. But it just when the world had stop spinning for Mai that Naruto once again appeared in front of her. It was only because of the many years of intensive training that she went through, that her body was able to move out of the way of a strong forward punch from Naruto. Although when she tried a punch of her own, Naruto slapped her arm away and sent a strong elbow strike to her chest, right between her breasts. That knocked the Wind out of her, causing her to take a few steps back.

Naruto then quickly followed up with another forward kick, which Mai barely blocked with both her arms, although the kick was still strong enough to cause her arms to go slightly numb and make her skid back a small bit.

"_What the hell is going on, where did this sudden new burst of speed and strength come from? Did he use some kind of jutsu to do this?_" thought Mai, as she tried to understand what was happening.

But before Mai could dwell any further on the matter, Naruto came at her again; where when she tried to punch him with her right fist. He caught it and then hit several pressure points on her arm with the tips of his fingers causing it to go numb.

Seeing this Mai then tried to punch him with her other fist, but Naruto avoid the fist and did the same thing to her other arm.

With both her arms gone numb, Mai then attempted to kick Naruto, but before she could hit him. The Senju heir ducked underneath the kick and spun to her side, where he then did a leg swipe and kicked her remaining foot off the ground. After which Naruto then hit a pressure point on her back and the kicked her up into the air.

Once Mai was airborne, Naruto then jumped after her, where once he was above her, he raised his leg up and cried out "**Gekikyaku **(Hammer Kick)!" where he delivered a powerful blow onto Mai's stomach sending her crashing to the ground.

Once Mai hit the ground, the match referee Hayate appeared next to Mai (since he had been keeping out of the way of the two Genin). Remarkably, when he kneeled down to her, Mai was still conscious, although was groaning in pain from Naruto last move, but even still it was obvious the girl could no longer fight.

It was at this point that he saw Naruto landed a few feet away from them and slowly walk towards him. The boy look fairly tried and had several bruises, cuts and other injuries on him, not to mention his outfit was fairly torn up. But all of this just proved how fierce the fight between the heir of the Slug Princess and the heir of the Salamander was.

Soon enough, Hayate stood up and spoke, "Hattori Mai is unable to continue the fight…the winner is Senju Naruto."

-With the Spectators-

"Yataaaa…! Naruto-kun won, I knew he would" cheered Ino.

"Yosh" stated Tsunade with a smirk, as she knew her son would win.

"_That move!_" thought Gai in surprise, as he thought about Naruto's last move, although it was very different, there were still strong similarities between his and Lee's moves to Naruto's. It of course did not take long for him to realize that Naruto must have copied Lee's moves slightly and changed it to fit his own style. This of course greatly impressed the elder man, as it took a great deal of skill and physical ability to perform the moves that Naruto did, especially since he had only seen it once when Sasuke fought Lee.

"Naruto-kun fought well" commented Haku, as she turned to her master.

At this Zabuza just nodded "The kid did good, it was a pretty close match, as the girl was no weakling."

"Naruto-kun" muttered Hinata quietly as she smiled at the blonde boy winning his match

"_Nice going Naruto_" thought Omoi with smile.

"_As expected_" thought Yugito with a slight smile.

"Awwww yeeeeeeah…! He pulled it off like a wisdom tooth!" stated Bee with a smile.

"_I don't believe it! Mai loss_" thought Kandachi with utterly disbelief, who was joined by the rest of his team, as Mai was the strongest amongst them.

"_Hmph! I have to admit he's pretty good…I didn't think he would win_" thought Temari.

-With Naruto and Mai-

Once Hayate had announce that the match was over and that Naruto had won, the young blonde let out a sigh of relief, as he was pretty sore after that fight. Not to mention fairly tired, as he didn't have much time to rest from finishing the forest of death to his match with Mai.

As Naruto was about to walk up to the Catwalk and join his family and friends, he suddenly heard her Mai cough harshly, when he turned to Mai he saw the she had spat out some blood and was struggling to breath.

Seeing this Naruto quickly walked over to her and kneeled down next to her and started to take out some things from his pouch.

When Hayate asked what he was doing, Naruto explained he was going to help her treat her injuries.

Hayate of course told Naruto that they had medics here to help her and told him that he didn't have to. But Naruto stated he could handle it himself, where the sickly Shinobi just nodded and backed away so to allow Naruto to examine and treat Mai.

When Mai turned and saw Naruto sitting next to her, the young Kunoichi glared at the blonde, "Come to gloat Senju?...Cough, Cough."

"Hardly" replied Naruto, where she stared to gently touch Mai's sides.

"W-What the hell do you think you're doing?" cried the outrage girl, with a hit a blush, which Naruto found funny. Given the outfit she was wearing, he didn't think Mai would be so embarrassed of a boy touching her.

"I'm treating you" explained Naruto, where before the girl could respond, she hissed in pain as Naruto touched her tender sides.

"As I expected, you've a few cracked ribs, probably caused by my last hit…Although I'm amazed that's all you got" stated Naruto before he went and took out a small pill bottle and took out some pills and brought them to Mai mouth.

"What are they?" Mai asked.

"They're pain killer pills, to help numb the pain from your ribs" Naruto explained. But as soon as he said this, Mai turned her head away stubbornly.

"I refuse"

"Huh, But why?"

"I' am a Shinobi of the Hattori Clan, where to accept help from an enemy, is a sign of weakness and I will not insult my pride by letting you help me" stated the girl stubbornly.

"Well that's about the stupidest thing, I've ever heard", Naruto commented.

"What?"

"You heard me, why let yourself go through all this pain over a silly thing like that?"

"Tsk, you wouldn't understand" replied Mai angrily.

"Maybe not, but whether you like it or not, I'm going to treat you. Now you've two choices, you can make things easy for yourself and do what I tell you, or you can make things hard, where I force you to take these pills."

"You wouldn't da-AHHH!" spoke Mai before she cried out in pain, when Naruto touched one of her cracked rips, where he then poured the pills into her mouth causing her to swallow them.

"Well that wasn't too bad, now was it?" asked Naruto with an all too sweet smile, one that was all too familiar to many people. As they had seen the exact same smile on his mother face all too many times.

"Damn you…" growled Mai angrily, "…if could just move, I woul-" spoke Mai but was interrupted by Naruto before she could finish her threat.

"Well you can't so deal with it…but if you behave, I'll free you from the effect of the pressure points."

At this, Mai just grunted and allowed Naruto to finish treating her.

-With the Spectators-

"Heh! Looks like the brat also inherited your bedside manner" joked Jiraiya, as he glanced over at Tsunade.

"Ha…ha…laugh it up pervert, next time you come to me to treat your injuries after one of your _research missions_. I won't be half as nice to you" replied Tsunade, which caused to toad sage to worry slightly.

"Why is Naruto even helping that chick? She tried to kill him!" stated Kiba, who had awaked from his unexpected _nap _not long after Naruto's match began.

"The brat is weird that way; he did the same kind of thing for me and Haku" commented Zabuza.

"What do you mean?" asked Shino.

"During our battle in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country), Kakashi had me and was about to deliver the final blow. Haku of course tried to protect me by shielding me with her body, but before Kakashi's attack could hit, the brat stopped him."

"Why on earth would Naruto do that?" asked Ino.

"Well the kid simply stated that he didn't believe either Haku or I deserved to die" replied Zabuza with a slight snort. Since given the things he did in his past, many would think that he did deserve to die.

"That was a very reckless thing to do" stated Kurenai with a slight frown.

"Yeah well, that's what happened, he even somehow convince Kakashi and the others to bring us back to where they were staying and let him treat us, despite the fact that we tried to kill him and the others. Even now I still do fully understand why he did" said the Demon of the Mist.

"It's because Naruto-kun is a very kind person" answered Haku with a found smile, where at this Tsunade, who was listening to conversation could only nod in agreement. Since Naruto had always been a kind boy, too kind at times.

-With Naruto and Mai-

For the next few minutes Naruto continued to treat Mai's injuries, where he soon took out and opened a small jar of cream and explained to Mai that it was healing cream that would help reduce the swelling that would come later.

When Naruto added the cream, the girl hissed in pain, as the cream was cold and her sides were very tender. Soon after though, the pain lessened as Naruto continued to gently rub the medical cream on Mai's sides.

As Naruto continued to do this, the girl couldn't help but notice, as Naruto rub the cream on her sides, that he had very gentle hands. The thought of course made the girl blush slightly, which thankfully Naruto didn't notice.

Soon after though the Ame Kunoichi decided to ask Naruto a question, "Why are you even helping me? I was your enemy."

"The match is over, so we aren't enemies anymore" stated Naruto.

"But I tried to kill you!"

"Well that was then and this is now and besides you're not the first one to try and you certainly won't be the last one to. Also, what happened then is now in the past and it doesn't mean we can't become friends now" replied the Senju heir.

"Friends?" repeated Mai where she looked at Naruto like he was insane.

"Yeah, I have two other friends now, up there watching us, who I met on a mission a while back and like you they were my enemies for a while. But once the battle was over, we became friends."

At hearing this Mai just shook her head in slight disbelief, "Tsk, you're a weird guy Senju Naruto"

Naruto just smirked at this and said "So I've been told."

After a few minutes though, Naruto finished spreading the cream on Mai's sides and took out some bandages and slowly rapped them around her waist. Once the bandages were tightly around Mai's waist, Naruto took out another small pill bottle from his pouch and took out a large round pill the size of a gumdrop.

"What's that?"

"A medical pill my Kaa-chan developed, it temporally floods your body with Chakra and accelerate your own natural healing, although it doesn't heal you completely. It should heal you just enough so that you can move around without trouble, but later you should go to a medic to be fully treated", explained Naruto.

"And if I were to refuse that pill?" asked Mai.

"Well…you know what happened last time" answered Naruto with a smirk, which annoyed Mai, but agreed and opened her mouth to take the pill.

Within a minute or two after taking the pill, it took effect, where Mai could feel the Chakra surge throughout her body and could see her injuries starting to slowly heal.

Once the pill did its job, Naruto then tapped the pressure points in her arm joints to allow her to move her arms again. He then hit another pressure point just above her breast, to allow her to move the rest of her body.

"I can move again!" declared Mai, as she moved arms about, although her body was still sore and ached a little, she was a lot better than she was before.

"Told you I would but don't move too much, as you're not a hundred percent yet and won't be for a while." said Naruto, where Mai just nodded.

"You're a strong Kunoichi Mai, I mean that…and I really hope that we can be friends. Maybe we can have a friendly fight later on once the exam is done with", spoke Naruto as he held out his hand in friendship, as well as to help her up.

But instead of taking Naruto's offered hand, Mai grabbed his green zip-up top and pulled him down to her and kissed him.

-Enter Naruto OST 1 Sexiness-

Now this wasn't your ordinary everyday kiss on the cheek or a quick and simple kiss on the lips. This was an open-your-mouth-so-our-tongues-can-play kind of a kiss.

Naruto of course had been so shocked by what had happened, that he didn't know what to do and by the time he realized what was going on, his brain went on shut down mode because of Mai's kiss.

-With the Spectators-

Naruto wasn't the only one who was caught off guard by Mai's kiss, as everyone else who had been watching the fight was caught completely off guard, where their reactions varied from one another.

Upon seeing this, both Kiba and Kankuro were launched into the air by massive nosebleeds, where they once again crashed into the walls behind them.

Many of the boys and girls like Lee, Karui, Choji, Hinata, Chōjūrō, Sakura and Omoi turned bright read at the sight.

At seeing Mai kissing Naruto, Jiraiya immediately started cheering for Naruto, yelling out "Way a go Kid!" and "That a boy!" At the same time, he began writing everything down on his notepad, thinking it would make a great scene for his next book.

Tsunade although didn't take the sight as well as Jiraiya did, for as soon as she saw it, she went postal. Both the Sandaime and Shizune quickly grabbed hold of the woman and prevented her from jumping down into the arena and killing Mai. But that didn't stop her from screaming out "Let him go you little wench!" and "I'll Kill her!" as she struggled to get out of her sensei and student's grips, who were now assisted by Anko and Ibiki.

Tsunade was of course not the only one who took what Mai did badly. When Ino saw Mai lip lock with Naruto, she immediately cried "Bitch!" She was so angry, that her Sensei Asuma had to hold her back from jumping into the arena and trying to tear Mai a new one.

Even Haku, seemed "_irked_" by the sight, as when she saw Mai pull Naruto into the kiss, a dark aura formed around her and an evil looking glint appeared in her eyes, which caused her team-mates to slowly step away from her in fear.

"Zabuza-sama, I believe I have finally found someone I wish to kill" spoke the female ice user dangerously, where she took out a set of Senbon needles from her pouch.

"_Don't tell me Haku __**likes **__the kid and is __**jealous**_!" thought Zabuza, when he turned to his student and raised his non-existing eyebrows in surprise and was slightly worried that Haku might actually try and kill Mai.

"Well they certainly didn't have this, back when I did the Chunin exam" commented Kakashi.

"This is going be troublesome" muttered Shikamaru, seeing Tsunade, Ino and Haku's reaction to the scene.

"_Damn Naruto_" thought Omoi in surprise and some admiration for his blonde friend.

"Good Stuff man!" cheered Bee, although both Samui and Yugito were slightly annoyed by what Mai was doing, although neither of them knew why they were bothered by it.

"Well...I certainly didn't see that coming" commented Kushina.

As Mai continued to play with Naruto's tongue, Jiraiya started to cry anime tears.

"Why couldn't something like that happen to me when I did the exam?…GAH!" cried Jiraiya, before Tsunade backhanded him right in the face, slamming his head right into the wall, where it got stuck.

-End Naruto OST 1 Sexiness-

-With Naruto and Mai-

Eventually though Mai released Naruto from her lip lock, although still held onto his zip-up top.

When Mai let go of him, Naruto was left red faced and in a complete daze, as that had been his first real kiss, and what a kiss it was. (4)

"Marry me Naruto-kun" spoke Mai suddenly, which immediately woke Naruto from his daze.

"M-M-Marry you!" repeated the wide-eyed and red face Naruto in shock.

"Yes, you are the only person other than my Grandfather to have defeated me in battle, together you and I would be unstoppable. You're the only one worthy of being my husband and bear children with", spoke Mai.

"C-C-Children!" repeated Naruto, where his eyes widened even further.

"Yes, as when our two bloodlines (5) combine and with us as their parents our children would be unstoppable. So how about in Naruto-kun?" asked Mai seductively, where she had a predatory look in her eyes, which made Naruto very nervous.

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" roared Tsunade, who had broken free of the Sandaime's and the others grip and jumped down to the arena and grabbed the back of Naruto's collar and pulled him away from Mai.

After Tsunade pulled Naruto away from Mai, the Granddaughter of Hanzo, quickly got onto her feet and glared at the female Sannin.

"You can't stop us!" stated Mai.

"The fuck I can't, I'm his mother!" yelled the furious Tsunade.

"Could've fooled me, since your old enough to be his Grandmother" retorted Mai.

"Oh dear" muttered the worried Sandaime, when he and the others heard Mai's retort.

"What did you, just say you little hussy!" hissed Tsunade angrily, where her eyes went ablaze in fury and gave Mai a look that would've made most Shinobi cower in fear, which was only highlighted when she started to crack her knuckles. But then again Mai wasn't like most Shinobi.

"You heard me, or is your hearing going in your old age" sneered Mai.

"Oh shit!" cried Jiraiya, (who got his head free from the wall) as he knew what was to come next.

"WWWHHHHAAAATTTT!" roared the Tsunade as flames a fury erupted around the female Sannin.

"Why me?" asked Naruto to himself, as he stood between his mother and Mai.

"Even Buddha could only forgive you once!" cried Tsunade as she raised her fist in rage, after being insulted once again by Mai.

Fortunately though, before things could get further out of hand, Jiraiya and Shizune suddenly appeared behind Tsunade and grabbed hold of her, preventing her from splattering Mai on the wall.

"Let me go Jiraiya...Shizune...I am going to kill her!" yelled Tsunade as she struggled to free herself from Jiraiya and Shizune's grips, who were barely holding the furious woman back.

"Just try it you old hag" goaded Mai, which added fuel to the woman's fury, where Tsunade was on the verge of a meltdown and about ready to bring the whole tower down.

"Please Tsunade just calm down, this is all just a grave misunderstanding" spoke the Sandaime as he bravely stood between Mai and Tsunade, to prevent Tsunade from killing Mai and starting an international incident.

"There is no mistake about it; Naruto-kun is my Fiancé" declared Mai.

"And what the hell gives you that idea" rounded Tsunade, as she was still being held back by Jiraiya and Shizune

"Clan tradition and law" answered Mai.

"Huh!" said Naruto with a confuse look.

"Excuse me?" asked Sarutobi, not fully understanding what the young girl was saying.

At this Mai just smiled, "There is a long standing tradition among the Kunoichi of my Clan. Since we hold the responsibility of bearing the next generations of our Clan, we are obligated to make sure that those children are strong, so that our Clan remains strong. Because of this, the women of our Clan are trained to be as strong as the men are, so that we can fight against any enemies alongside them, as well as bear many strong children. It's also because of this tradition, that the women of my Clan only accept strong men to be our husbands and fathers of our children. Hence if a Kunoichi of my Clan is defeated by a much stronger male Shinobi and if said Kunoichi finds him acceptable, then he must marry her", explained Mai.

"That's ridiculous! You're making this stuff up!" exclaimed Tsunade.

"Actually Tsunade, she isn't…" stated Sarutobi, gaining the groups attention, "…as I've heard of the Hattori Clan having such a tradition."

"Well even if there is, there's no way I will allow it to happen, as I forbid it" declared Tsunade.

"You have no say in this hag" responded Mai.

"He's only twelve and I'm his mother, so I do have a say" rounded Tsunade angrily at Mai calling her a hag again.

"That may be true, if he was just a civilian, but once he became a Shinobi he is regarded by law as an adult", retorted Mai, which caught Tsunade by surprise. Since technically Mai was correct, as by law, when Naruto became a Shinobi of Konoha, he was recognized as an adult.

"That may be true Mai-san, but even so, there is an age limit to marriage, where Naruto cannot get married until he is eighteen years old. Even then arrange marriages similar to the likes that you're suggesting or any other like them can only be accepted by his Mother. Since she is not only his mother, but also the head of the Senju Clan, since he is her heir. Not to mention that this is not Amegakure and your clan is not part of our village, hence your clan's traditions and laws are not acknowledged here" explained the Sandaime.

Upon hearing this Tsunade, smirked believing that her sensei had put the girl in her place. But her smirk soon died down, when Mai didn't look the least bit angry or upset.

"Mere technicalities Hokage-sama and they can be overcome given enough time, as for Naruto-kun not being legal age for marriage. I believe I can wait a few years" answered the girl, where she turned and started to head for the catwalk, where her team was located. But before she walked off she turned to Naruto and gave him a seductive wink, which made the blonde blush red, due to the kiss still being fresh on his mind. Not to mention the fact that he could still taste Mai's lips on his own.

"I'll be seeing you soon...Naruto-kun", said Mai before walking away

At seeing Naruto blush, Tsunade growled angrily, and struggled slightly with Shizune and Jiraiya, muttering "let me at her", but eventually stopped.

Naruto and the Sandaime of course just sighed, as both of them had slight headaches caused by the past few minute's events, which would only grow later on.

It was almost at the same time, that both Naruto and his surrogate Grandfather Sarutobi sighed inwardly and thought the exact same thing at the exact same time "_Women!_"

-With the Spectators-

"Damn and I thought our family was screwed up" commented Kankuro, who had regained consciousness.

Temari of course just nodded at this, although she then smacked the back of her brother's head when she saw him staring at Mai's chest and rear, when she walked by them to go to her team.

"_KuKuKuKu…Very impressive Naruto-kun, very impressive indeed_" thought the Snake Sannin, with a small smile.

Once the excitement of the match and the aftermath of the match ended, the Sandaime decided that they had delayed the next match long enough, and told Hayate to begin the next selection. He also told Tsunade and the others that they should go up to the catwalk, where Tsunade could treat Naruto injuries.

Tsunade of course insisted that they go now and seal away the curse mark, but the Sandaime said they couldn't, at least not yet. Since everyone needed to stay here until the preliminaries were done, since one of the Genin would have to fight twice.

Tsunade, Sarutobi and Jiraiya, along with Naruto quickly **Shunshin'd **(Body-flickered) up to the catwalk, while Shizune stayed behind to get Naruto's Katana before joining them up.

Once everyone was up on the catwalk, Tsunade told Naruto to sit down against the wall so that she could examine him and treat his injuries. This was of course not an order Naruto had problems following, since he was pretty sore and tried.

As Tsunade began to heal Naruto's injuries, Haku, Hinata and Ino all came over to see how Naruto was and if they could help her treat Naruto's injuries.

"Sumimasen (6) T-T-Tsunade-sama, but will Naruto-kun be alright?" asked Hinata nervously.

Tsunade of course did not miss the Kun suffix that Hinata used, but decided to leave the matter for another time.

"Yes he should be fine…I've trained him hard enough, so that injuries like these would be nothing to him" answered Tsunade.

"That's the understatement of the decade", muttered Naruto, since his fight with Mai was nothing compared to the hellish training that his mother put him through when he was younger.

"What was that Naru-chan?" asked Tsunade with an all too sweet tone and smile.

"Nothing!" Naruto replied quickly, since his mother was not in the best of moods after her argument with Mai. Hence she was just looking for an outlet for her frustration and that was something he had no intention of being.

"Good" stated Tsunade, where she then continued to treat Naruto.

"If I may Tsunade-dono, I can help" offered Haku.

"So can I" stated Ino.

"I-I–h-have s-s-some healing cream, that-c-c-could help" stuttered Hinata.

"_Well, Well, Well looks like you've been busy brat_" thought Jiraiya with a cheesy smirk, when he saw the three girls all offering to help Naruto.

Seeing this, Tsunade frowned at the girls willingness to help Naruto, and began to wonder what their relationship with her son was.

"Thank you, but I can manage" answered Tsunade, where the girls just nodded.

Soon enough though Tsunade had treated most of her son injuries, where as she was finishing up, she glances back over a Haku.

"You're Haku correct?" asked Tsunade, where the female Ice user just nodded. "Then I guess I owe you my thanks, Naruto told me that it was you and your team that found and cared for him and protecting him from that _hussy_."

At hearing Tsunade thanking her, Haku simply told her she was welcome, and that she was happy to do so.

Once Tsunade had finished healing Naruto, Jiraiya decided it was time to have a little fun at his godson's expense, after all the pranks he did to him over the years.

"So brat, how are you feeling?"

"Still a little bit sore, but a lot better"

"Ah well, if you're not feeling any better later on, I am sure that these three girls here, would be more than happy to help you. Since they were so eager to _heal _you" said Jiraiya, while emphasizing the word heal to indicate more to the meaning.

At hearing Jiraiya's comment and catching the meaning, Ino blush a bit, while Hinata turned cherry red. Haku on the other hand remained perfectly expressionless. But if one were to look closely enough, they would've seen a hint of pink on her cheeks.

"It's nothing like that!" retorted Naruto, with a slight glare at his Godfather, "We're friends that's all!"

"Well you sure do have a lot of pretty female friends' brat, something I sure as hell wouldn't mind having" responded Jiraiya, with a perverted grin, causing Naruto to glare at the man more.

"Oh please, those three are nothing compared to the horde of fan girls that are aft-oops!" spoke Kushina before she realized that she said that out loud.

"A HORDE OF FAN GIRLS!" cried an outraged Tsunade, where she glared angrily at her son, who was wishing right now that the wall behind him would just swallow him up whole.

At the same time he glared murderously at his female Sensei, who blushed embarrassingly, since Kushina the blabbermouth had done it again.

"It's not what you think Kaa-chan, I swear, they just won't leave me alone, hell I don't even know half of them" explained Naruto quickly. Although it did little to lessen his mother's anger, in fact it actually increased it, where she then turned to Jiraiya and grabbed him by the collar and began to shake him like a rag doll.

"This is all your fault…!" cried Tsunade angrily, as she rang her former team-mate's neck, "…I should've known that your perverted behaviour was contagious and would infect my son!"

"B-B-But I didn't do anything, I swear" cried Jiraiya as Tsunade continued to shake him.

"I would go easy on _Ero-sennin _if I were you Tsunade, as I don't think this is his fault, as if he really was influencing Naruto, then Naruto would be having the opposite effect with girls", spoke Kushina.

"Damnit brat, now you got her calling me by that name!" cried the annoyed Jiraiya, after Tsunade let him go.

"Huh, when the shoe fits" Naruto replied simply.

"And what the hell do you mean by having the opposite effect with girls, the ladies love me, they flock from all over and can't get enough of me" declared Jiraiya, when he turned to Kushina.

"Really and what world would that be in?" asked Kushina with a smirk, when she saw the outraged look on Jiraiya, while seeing everyone else smirk and snicker.

"I think I know who Naruto is really taking after", stated Kushina with a knowing look to Tsunade, which caused Tsunade to frown slightly, knowing that Kushina somehow knew about Naruto's father.

"Well regardless, when the preliminaries are all over, and the sealing is done, you and I are going to have a long _talk _about this Naruto", stated Tsunade as she stared intently at her son, who was not looking forward to that conversation.

"_Ahhhhh mmmaaaan, I should've just let Mai kill me_" thought Naruto.

N/A.

Well that's another instalment of Hope of the Senju Clan done; I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter, as well as the fight between Mai and Naruto. Now as you can guess the next Chapter will be the finishing off of the preliminaries, so there are still more fights to be had. Now for those of you who are wondering what's next, the next update will be my Rogue Shinigami story, which will be updated same time next week.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons

**Author's Note:**

(1). If you are having trouble in imaging what Mai looks like, go to my profile for the link to the picture.

(2). This technique is **Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water), for more information on it, go to Chapter fourteen.

(3). Go to the bottom of the previous Chapter for a more detailed explanation of this technique.

(4). On the lips that is, but if you want to get technical, Shion was Naruto's first kiss as she kissed him on cheek.

(5). She referring to how they're both related to powerful Shinobi and come from powerful Shinobi Clans, not actually bloodlines.

(6). More formal way of saying excuse me.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A).**Futon: Kyōfuu **(Wind Style: Strong Wind): This is a C rank move that is used by Mai. By freely manipulating the gust of Wind brought forth by her hand fan, the many air currents collide and create vacuum pockets. The opponent that is enveloped by this gust of Wind is assaulted by countless invisible blades, carving up their body. Also, the attack is strong enough that it will blow away all incoming projectile weapons and will blow the opponent off their feet and send the flying several meters away. The technique is also very useful when combined with projectile weapons like Kunai and Shuriken. As their speed, power, and ability to wound or even kill are all increased several times by the technique. It can also be useful in enhancing Fire elemental techniques.

(B).**Futon: Nibai Kyōfuu **(Wind Style: Double Strong Wind): This B rank technique is a more powerful version of the **Futon: Kyōfuu** that Mai uses. Many air currents collide to create vacuum pockets that slash the opponents, with enough power to slice down many trees in a forest or to slash up a large stone wall. This technique can deflect both physical and projectile attacks and attack at the same time, making it both an offensive and defensive technique. The only drawback to the technique is that it requires a large amount of Chakra; hence it is unwise to use it multiple times.

(C).**Futon: Senpuu **(Wind Style: Whirlwind): This C rank technique involves Mai using her fan to create many air currents and form them, to create a tornado to envelop and lift the user's opponent up into the air, trapping the opponent in the Whirlwind, while also cutting them several times from all directions.

(D).**Katon: Ryū no Hōkō **(Fire Style: Dragon's Roar): This is a C rank technique, where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and expelled from the mouth in a massive stream of roaring flame or as a continuous flamethrower. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered. The released flames will engulf their target, leaving only chard remains afterwards. The only flaw with this technique is that it requires the user to remain in one place, so to control the stream of fire, leaving the user vulnerable to attack from behind or the side.

**Omake:**

"Oh please, those three are nothing compared to the horde of fan girls that are aft-oops!" spoke Kushina before she realized that she said that out loud.

"A HORDE OF FAN GIRLS!" cried an outraged Tsunade, where she glared angrily at her son, who was wishing right now that the wall behind him would just swallow him up whole.

At the same time, he glared murderously at his female Sensei, who blushed embarrassingly, since Kushina the blabbermouth had done it again.

"Oh come on! Minato didn't have that many girls after-oops," Jiraiya said before he realized his mistake.

"Jiraiya! You fucking dumb ass!" Tsunade roared as everyone looked in disbelief at what they were hearing.

"_Must resist urge to kidnap Senju/Namikaze heir_." thought all the foreign Shinobi.

"Jiraiya of all the things you could have said," Hiruzen chided his student.

"Hey at least I didn't say that he had the Mokuton bloodline limit and the Kyuubi sealed in him... Oh, damn I'm gonna die," he groaned.

"Damn right you are, you dumb shit," Tsunade cracked her knuckles.

"_Must resist urge to kidnap Senju/Namikaze heir with the Mokuton Bloodline and the Kyuubi_." thought all the foreign Shinobi.

"Fuck the Uchiha! Fuck the secrecy! I'm taking him!" Orochimaru yelled as he went to grab Naruto.

But when he grabbed hold of Naruto, he found that the Naruto he had grab hold of was just an oversize pushy doll of Naruto, with a note that said "_Fuck you loser_."

When Orochimaru looked for where Naruto went, he saw him down in the arena bound and gagged and being carried off by Mai "Thanks for the souvenir morons! I'm sure Naruto-kun and I will be very happy together"

"Get her!" Everyone yelled as they ran after the girl, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone.

"Why does every want Senju? Why doesn't anyone want me?" Sasuke moaned.

"I want you Sasuke-kun, and I'll show it to you," Sakura said as she barred the double doors.

"Oh, FUCK NO!"

"There's no escape, Sasuke-kun, FuFuFuFuFuFu" the pink haired fan-girl said and started to giggle in a frightening way.

"Itachi, why didn't you just kill me?" Sasuke yelled as he ran for his dear life.

His attempts would later become futile and he would end up becoming even more traumatized than ever was before.


	23. Chapter 23

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-three: A Senju's Wrath**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju Talk**_"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

**Pervious on Hope of the Senju Clan**

"_Well regardless, when this exam is all over, you and I are going to have a long talk", stated Tsunade as she stared intently at her son, who was not looking forward to that conversation._

"_**Ahhhhh mmmaaaan, I should've just let Mai kill me**__" thought Naruto._

-Hattori Mai-

After her defeat at the hands of Naruto, Mai walked up the catwalk and headed for her team who were waiting for her.

"Care to explain yourself Mai?" asked the team leader and sensei Kandachi.

"Naruto-kun was much stronger than I anticipated" Mai answered simply.

"Naruto-kun?" repeated one of Mai's team-mates.

"Is there a problem?" asked Mai, as she turned to her team-mate and frowned.

"Your orders were to kill Senju not to make out with him and then propose to him" said the Ame Genin.

"Agreed, your Grandfather will not be pleased when he hears of your defeat Mai" stated Kandachi.

"You saw how skilled Naruto-kun was" stated Mai.

"Which makes your defeat and your actions after the fight all the more serious" responded Kandachi.

"My Grandfather will understand, he knows our Clan laws better than anyone and he cannot deny that Naruto-kun and I would be a fitting match."

"If you ask me, you're trying to cover yourself" stated the other member of Mai's team.

"What did you just say?" asked Mai as she turned to her team-mate and narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"You heard me", sneered the Ame Genin. "You dropped that ball and failed your mission and now you're trying to cover up your mistake by jumping Senju bones. Clearly you're not as strong as you think you are. Maybe should just step aside and leave this mission to someone competent and who can actually do the job?"

But as soon as the Ame Genin said this and before he could do anything, he suddenly found a Kunai pointed at his neck and facing a very angry Mai.

"I suggest that you watch your mouth…even on my worse day, I could kill trash like you with a simple flick of my wrist."

"That's enough both of you!" rounded Kandachi, glared at both Genin, "We'll talk about this again later."

Mai scoffed at this and then removed the Kunai from the Ame Genin's neck, who started to rub his neck and look at the Kunocihi nervously, as she glared coldly at him. Before she turned away and stared at the other end of the arena.

Seeing this Kandachi glared at the foolish Genin, as he knew how strong Mai was and she certainly didn't drop the ball. Naruto simply proved to be much more skilled than they expected him to be, which of course made things all the worse. Since if he was this skilled already, there was no doubt that he would become a formidable foe in the future.

As he turned to Mai, he saw the young girl staring at Naruto at the opposite end of the arena, who was being treated for his injuries by his mother.

"_This could complicate matters_" thought Kandachi.

-With the Suna Team-

As Mai was conversing with her team a certain red haired jinchūriki was staring at Naruto with a cold bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

Seeing this, Gaara's sensei and siblings began to worry, as they saw who he was staring at.

"_Yes, mother I hear you, you want his blood and I will give it to you soon, very soon, I promise_" thought the crazed jinchūriki.

"_I was afraid of this_" thought a worried Temari. "_The preliminaries have barely even started, but because of the intensity of Senju's and that girl's battle. Gaara is already on the verge of losing control and going berserk._"

"_Crap, Gaara is already going psycho, if I'm going against him in these preliminaries, I'm quitting, plan or no plan, he'll probably kill me if I do fight him_" thought the equally worried Kankuro.

"_Damnit, I didn't think he'd actually defeat someone as skilled as Hanzo's Granddaughter. It seems he's even stronger than we feared_" thought Baki, before turned to look at his student Gaara. "_And if Gaara isn't able to contain himself, he'll going out of control and will attack the boy and ruin everything._"

-With Orochimaru-

"_Kukukukuku….very impressive Naruto-kun, very impressive indeed_" thought Orochimaru, since he had been rather impressed with the fight. So much so that he was rather tempted try and find a way to win Mai over to his side.

But he quickly turned that idea down, since doing so would earn him some unwanted attention, or to be more precise, earn the ire of her Grandfather Hanzo. Who was someone Orochimaru had no wish to go up against again, at least not without some assurances.

-With the Kumo Team-

"_Hey __Hachibi something up?_" asked Killer Bee inside his mind as he could sense that there was something up with his Biju.

"_**Yes I sense another one of the Biju in here**_" replied the Great Ox.

"_No Joke?_" asked Killer Bee in surprise.

"_**No I sense it too**_" responded the Nibi as the cat Biju joined the conversation, using the telepathy skill that all Biju had to communicate with one another.

"_Which one is it?_" Yugito asked, as she looked around the Genin teams who were from the villages that had jinchūriki.

"_**It's **__**Shukaku, I can practically feel his bloodlust**_" stated Hachibi.

"_That means it's one of the Suna members_" Yugito replied in her mind, where she looked at the Suna team, who were to her right at the opposite end of the catwalk they were on.

"_Is it that guy with the gourd on his back and the slightly crazed look on his face?_" asked Yugito, as she stared at Gaara.

"_**That would be my guess, since **__**whenever Shukaku is sealed into its **__**jinchūriki**__**. He eats away at his host's personality, and influences him or her with his bloodlust behaviour whenever his host sleeps. This leads his host to develop **__**insomnia**__**, causing them to slowly lose their sanity**_" answered Hachibi.

"_**Also**_…" added the Nibi, "…_**I'm willing to beat that gourd on his back, is full of Sand, since Shukaku gives his host the ability to control Sand. Meaning if you have to face him Kitten, you should be careful, as Shukaku's hosts are extremely dangerous when they use their Sand.**_"

At hearing this Yugito just nodded and heeded her Biju's advice, knowing that the Monster Cat wouldn't say something like that unless it was true.

Soon enough, Yugito notice that Gaara was fixated on something, when she turned to the direction that Gaara was looking. She saw that the Suna jinchūriki was staring at Naruto, who had just been treated by his mother and was seemly being berated by her about something.

"_**Looks like Shukaku's host has his eye on your boyfriend kitten**_" commented the Nibi.

"_He's not my boyfriend Nibi, I told you that already!_" rounded Yugito angrily.

"_**Really, if that was true kitten, then why did I sense the slight urge to tear that girl's face off when she started playing twister with his mouth**_" answered the female Biju with an amused tone.

This answer of course irked Yugito, "_I was angry because of the fact that she was kissing him in front of everyone so __blatantly__._"

"_**Sure it wasn't because she got to do it before you did?**_" purred the Nibi, knowing it would annoy her host further.

"_I told you, I'm not attracted to Naruto!_" yelled Yugito in her mind. "_I simply respect him as a rival and someone I want to fight and defeat_!"

"_**Well that's how it starts kitten, then one day when you two are facing off against each other, you'll eventually get tangled up with one another, where your bodies would be pressed against each other and would be all hot, sweaty and sticky from fighting. Your clothes would be clinging tightly to your bodies, allowing you both to feel each other fully. Your faces would be so close together, that you could feel each other's hot breath breathing on your faces and you could feel each other's heartbeat beating faster…and faster…until eventually you both can't help bu-" **_said Nibi. But before she could continue Yugito suddenly started screaming in her mind.

"_Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, SSSHHUUTTT UUUPPPP!_" screamed the now red faced girl, who was starting to get mental images of her and Naruto together like that, thanks to Nibi's story. After which she started to grumble about her perverted horney Cat Demon.

"_Hehehehe…Little Kitty gotta all hot a bothered, __awwww yeeeeeeah! She dreaming of eyes like the sky and hair like the sun_" thought Killer Bee in rhymes as he joined in on the teasing.

"_How many times do I have to tell you people? I don't think of Naruto that way!_" hissed the furious Yugito inside her mind. Before she glanced over to her sensei, "_And you better watch it Bee-sensei, or I swear I'll be having fired Octopus and Beef for dinner tonight._"

"_**Alright that's enough from all of you**_" spoke Hachibi, knowing he was going to have to be the adult here.

"_**Ah come on Hachibi, we're just having little fun**_" said Nibi.

"_**Maybe, but we're moving away from the point of the matter, which is**_ _**Shukaku**_" spoke Hachibi.

"_You think the fool, willa act the fool?_" asked Bee in one of his bad rhymes.

"_**No, I don't believe so, since if we can sense him, Shukaku can certainly sense us and as strong as he is, he isn't stupid, he knows that he can't take us both on by himself. Although that doesn't go for his host, since as I said earlier. Given the effect Shukaku has on his hosts, the boy may not be entirely in his right set of mind to begin with and may attack us regardless**_" answered Hachibi.

"_**I doubt he will**_" stated Nibi,"_**Since like I told all of you earlier, his host seems to have his eye on kittens boyfriend over there**_"

"_I told you he's not my boyfriend!_" rounded Yugito. "_But do you think Naruto will be able to handle him?_"

"_**If he's not your boyfriend then why are you worried about him?**_" asked the Monster Cat in amusement.

"_I'm not_" retorted and slightly red Yugito. "_It's just that if anyone is going to defeat him it's me! …Besides if he kills or defeats Naruto, then our mission will have failed._"

"_**Whatever helps you sleep at night kitten, but sooner or later you're going to have to face reality**_" replied Nibi, where before Yugito could respond to this she continued on. "_**But I don't think you have to worry, your boyfriend there is pretty tough for a kid his age and he was able to defeat you back when you used my power against him. Granted you don't have the control you do now and the Suna kid has probably been trained to use his power to a high degree. But your boyfriend has proven that he can handle himself, if that fight of his was any indication.**_"

Before Yugito could respond to Nibi's remarks on Naruto being her boyfriend, Hachibi interceded so to prevent another argument between Nibi and her host.

"_**I agree given the skill the boy has shown already, I'm certain he can handle himself and if he cannot, I'm certain his mother or some of the other Konoha Shinobi will intervene and stop Shukaku's host, should he go too far. Besides there is also that strange power that he seems to emanate**_", commented Hachibi. As like Nibi when they first met Naruto, he felt a strange yet familiar power coming from Naruto.

"_Have either of you figured out what the power that you are sensing from him is?_" asked Yugito inside her mind, remembering the Nibi mentioning it before.

"_**No**_" replied Nibi, "_**But like I said last time, that power I'm sense, feels strange yet familiar at the same time. It's also faint, as if it's being suppressed by some other power that is also somewhat familiar yet different at the same time.**_"

This of course did not sit well with Yugito, as she was never a big fan of mysteries, yet Naruto was an enigma, who she couldn't quite figure out fully. She always felt that there was more to Naruto than meets the eye, even after learning that he was Tsunade's son and the heir to the Senju Clan. She still felt that there was still much more to Naruto than he was letting on, as if he was still hiding something from everyone.

Leaving the question, who was Naruto really?

-With Sasuke-

As Naruto was being treated for his injuries and being berated by his mother for having fan girls after him, a certain young Uchiha stared coldly at Naruto with a twig of jealousy and anger.

Sasuke had of course been watching the battle with everyone else and could not help but feel inferior when it was over. It was bad enough that he had lost to Naruto earlier on when he went out of control from Orochimaru's curse seal. But when he saw Naruto and Mai's fight, it made him feel even worse, as Mai's strength proved to rival even Naruto's, where Sasuke himself had to question his own chances, had he faced her, even if he was at a hundred percent.

The battle itself was comparable to even Kakashi and Zabuza's battle, where Mai used the** Suiryūdan no Jutsu **(Water Dragon Bullet Technique). She could even use multiple elemental Ninjustu and combined them, just like Naruto, as well as use one handed hand seals like Haku.

Yet despite his handicap Naruto had defeated Mai without the aid of his Chakra and even somehow improved his **Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash) technique, by making it more powerful.

"_Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me? Am I doing something wrong?_" thought Sasuke, as he tightened his hand into a fist in anger. Since like Mai and Naruto, he came from a Clan of powerful Shinobi, yet both of them were on a completely different level from him.

"_Could it be because of who trained them?_" Sasuke thought further, as he stared at Tsunade, who was still berating Naruto over his fan girls and Jiraiya who was grinning his ass off. After which, Sasuke turned to look at Mai, who had admitted earlier on, that she had been trained by her Grandfather Hanzo. Who according to Kushina was a legendary figure in the Shinobi World, who defeated all three members of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja) singlehandedly, back when they were in their prime and gave them their title.

Before he could think any further on the matter, he suddenly heard Kakashi speaking to him, telling him that he was up next.

Seeing his name on the screen, Sasuke saw that he was indeed next and nodded to Kakashi before walking down the arena.

"_If you can win your match without having to rely on your Chakra Naruto, then so can I_" the Uchiha thought as he walked down to face his opponent.

-With Team Gai-

Sasuke was of course not that only one who was staring at Naruto. Not far from Naruto on the opposite side end of the catwalk, one Hyuga Neji was staring at the young blonde Senji.

"_It seems my suspicions about you were indeed correct Senju Naruto, you are more than you appear to be and you may prove to be a challenge after all._"

At the same time Neji's female team-mate Tenten saw the Hyuga male staring at the Senju heir and could already guess what her team-mate was thinking.

"_Heh! _ _Last year, Hyuga Neji was the Genin to beat, but this year, it's Senju Naruto_"

"Yosh! That battle was truly inspirational, the flames of youth are truly burning brightly in Naruto-kun and Mai-chan!" cried Lee excitedly, who was now eager to begin his own battle.

"How right you are Lee, both of them are truly in the springtime of their youth, you too must keep training hard, so that your flames of youth may match theirs" declared Gai.

"Gai-sensei!" cried a teary-eyed Lee.

"Lee!" said an equally teary-eyed Gai, before the two of them hugged and a giant wave and sunset appeared in the background, after which Gai said "Yes this is Youth"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

This of course continued for several more moments until Tenten had enough and yelled, "Will the both of you just shut up!" after which she bashed both of them on their heads, slamming them onto the catwalk floor. Ending the accursed scene, (much to the relief of everyone else) and leaving two very large lumps on the two youth freaks heads.

-With Naruto-

After being healed by his mother and being warned of a very unpleased talk about what he has been doing for the past six months in Konoha. Naruto turned to his female sensei, who was speaking to him.

"So how are you feeling all better now kid?" Kushina asked, as she smiled down at her student.

"Better than I was before."

"Oh, so you're telling us that you didn't like a hot young girl like her, sucking you dry?" asked Kushina with a shit eating grin. That only grew when she saw Naruto and Hinata blush red and the annoyed looks on Ino's, Haku's and Tsunade's faces.

She also noticed that Kiba was looking at Naruto with some jealousy, no doubt wishing he had been in Naruto shoes.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?" asked Naruto, even though he already knew the answer.

"Probably not" replied a grinning Kushina.

"Well it certainly won't be something that will be forgotten anytime soon" remarked an amused Kakashi, where he chuckled slightly when he heard Naruto groan, and tried to hide his face in his arms as he lend against the railing.

"So tell us Naruto, you going take her up on her offer? As she is quite the looker" asked Kakashi with his traditional eye smile.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Naruto asked without raising his head, as he guessed this was payback from Kakashi for destroying his Icha Icha book after their team test.

Kakashi of course did not answer this and just continued to smile, which basically answered Naruto's question.

Fortunately for Naruto though, the teasing quickly came to an end, when Tsunade decided to intervene. As she didn't like them talking about Naruto and that "_tramp_" (Tsunade's new name for Mai) getting married, let alone the idea of it.

* * *

Soon enough, the focus of everyone's attention turned from Naruto to Sasuke where they preceded to watch Sasuke's match against one of Kabuto's team-mates. A Genin named Akadō Yoroi, who had the power to drain people of their Chakra by touching them.

The match was difficult enough for Sasuke, as like Naruto he was unable to using his Chakra or move properly, thanks to Orochimaru's curse seal. Despite his handicap Sasuke was eventually able to gain the upper hand, where he began to imitate some of Lee's moves. Showing that Naruto wasn't the only one that learned something from Sasuke's scuffle with Lee, but just when things were going his way. Sasuke's curse seal started acting up again, and stopped his body from moving, where it began to spread throughout his body

Seeing this, Naruto then yelled, "Is this all what the so-called mighty Uchiha Clan is capable of? I expected better of you teme! Are you going to let that thing control you or are beat this guy?" hoping that it would anger Sasuke enough to get him.

Thankfully it did work and motivated Sasuke force the curse markings back by sheer willpower, like Naruto, much to the surprise of many. After which he took Yoroi down with his **Shishi Rendan** (Lion Combo) technique.

After Sasuke had defeated Yoroi, Kakashi **Shunshin** (Body-flicker) down to Sasuke and picked him up and brought him back to catwalk to rest. Since forcing back the curse seal had taken a lot of him, added with all the injuries he took when he fought Yoroi.

With the fight between Sasuke and Yoroi over and Yoroi being taken away by the medics, the screen once again activated and went through the different names. It eventually stopped at Aburame Shino vs Abumi Zaku.

Seeing their names coming up, both boys walked down to the arena and faced off.

When Shino saw Zaku's arm was in a sling from his encounter with Sasuke, he advised the Oto Genin to forfeit the match. Zaku naturally refused, and instead attacked Shino with his one good arm. In attacking, Shino was given an opportunity to box in Zaku with bugs, forcing Zaku to choose between attacking him or attacking the bugs, leaving the other to attack Zaku from behind. Zaku chose to attack both, and pulled his other arm out of its sling, showing that he could in fact use both arms. Just as Zaku was about to blast the two opposing forces away, his arms detonated, where his right hand was blown off of his body, much to the horror of many like Sakura and Ino. As Zaku writhed, Shino revealed that the tubes in Zaku's arms had been filled with his bugs, causing the pressure of Zaku's attack to go outward when it couldn't escape.

Soon after, Shino walked back up to his team, while Zaku was taken away by the medics, along with his now blown off arm. When Hinata asked Tsunade if it was possible to reattach his arm, the female medic, stated it was unlikely given the damage that was done.

Naturally when hearing this, Naruto couldn't help but slightly pity the Oto Genin, despite the fact he had once tried to kill him and his team.

As the medics began the clean-up from the battle, Naruto notice Tenten glancing at his mother every few seconds, as if trying to work up the courage to speak to her.

Remember his promise to Tenten, Naruto called the bun haired girl over.

"Ka-chan, I'd like you to meet Tenten, she been wanting to meet you for a long time…"

When Tsunade heard this, she raised her eyebrow in suspicion and was curious if Tenten was another one of Naruto's "fan girls". But before she could say anything Naruto continued with his introduction.

"…In fact you are her idol, and she wants to be just like you."

As soon as Tsunade heard this, her suspicion quickly disappeared and smiled down at the young girl, who still looked embarrassed and nervous and didn't know what to say to her hero.

"Well…I am quite flattered, it's very nice to meet you Tenten-san" said Tsunade in a friendly tone, since she rather liked the idea of being the idol of young would be Kunochi's.

"H-H-Ha-Hai, I'm very honoured to meet you Tsunade-sama" answered the nervous Tenten, before Tsunade offered her hand, which she quickly took and shook it vigorously. Not believing that she was actually talking to and shaking hands with her idol, who was renowned as the strongest Kunochi in the Shinobi world.

Soon after, Zaku was taken away and the arena was cleaned up, after which the screen once again went through several names until it stopped at Kankurō and Misumi Tsurugi, the last member of Kabuto's team-mates.

Like Shino's fight, this fight didn't last very long, in fact it was even quicker. When the fight first started, Misumi quickly wrapped himself around Kankurō's body, in a way that reminded Naruto too much of the way that Orochimaru held him.

Once he wrapped himself around Kankurō, Misumi threatened to break Kankurō's neck if he did not forfeit. Much to people's surprise Kankurō refused, so Misumi made good on his threat and "killed" Kankurō. But before Misumi's could be declared the victor, "Kankurō" face began to crack and break, after which it was revealed that he was a puppet in disguise, while the real Kankurō was hiding where the puppet was supposed to be.

After revealing himself, Kankurō quickly made his puppet grab hold of Misumi and brutally constrict him, breaking his bones, without given Misumi a chance to surrender, which was something Naruto frowned on.

With the match done and Misumi being taken away, the screen activated again, where it went through several names until it stopped at Karui vs Haruno Sakura.

-With Naruto-

When Naruto saw the two names, he could only shake his head, knowing how this was going to end.

Sadly Sakura did not see this and believed this fight was a perfect chance to prove herself to Sasuke and show him that she was a strong Kunoichi. She even asked him to watch her fight.

Sasuke naturally just grunted where he leaned against the railing, as he was still worn out from his fight, despite Shizune healing his injuries at Kakashi's request.

As Sakura walked down to face the Kumo Kunochi, Naruto suddenly spoke.

"She would be better off just giving up"

"Now Naruto that's rather harsh don't you think? Sakura has a chance of winning this fight" stated Kakashi.

"No she doesn't, not against Karui" replied the Senju heir, "Trust me, I know from past experiences that Karui is no weakling."

"If you're so sure she would lose, then why didn't you try and tell her to quit?" asked Yamato.

"Because she wouldn't believe me even if I told her, and besides this will be a good lesson to her and make her realize how weak she really is."

"Naruto not everyone can be as strong as you, Sasuke and Sai and it is rather unfair to her to say that."

"Who's saying I'm comparing her to us, come Kakashi-sensei, you know as well as I do, that compared to others out there, Sakura is weak! How many times have you, Sai, Sasuke or I, have had to save her or protect her, because I can count quite a number of times", stated Naruto. "Hell she nearly got killed in the forest of death, as she wasn't even a challenge to the Oto Genin that attacked her and Sasuke. If it wasn't for Bushy-brow over there, arriving in time to save her, both she and Sasuke would be dead now. So trust me when I say, she will lose and hopefully by the end of this match, she realize just how weak she really is and start training harder."

Kakashi of course could not really argue with what Naruto was saying, since to be honest, he had a point. Sakura was indeed the weakest member of the team, sure she was quite intelligent and had excellent control over he Chakra and was decent in traps. But when it came to physical skills, like hand to hand or weapons she was average at the very best. Not to mention the girl's priority was on her looks and attracting Sasuke's attention and not on her Shinobi training.

But even so, Kakashi wanted to have fate in his student and believe that she could rise to the challenge.

* * *

Sadly though, Naruto's prediction came true, Karui easily defeated Sakura, in fact the fight barely lasted a full sixty seconds. For as soon as Hayate had shouted "Begin!" Karui charged forward and struck Sakura hard in the stomach and with such force and speed. That the pink haired girl had little time to even try and block the punch.

After the punch, Sakura bended over slightly and was fighting hard not to throw up. She of course had little chance, for as soon she bended over, Karui continued with her beat down, with a series of hard punches and kicks.

Sakura of course tried to defend herself, but the pink haired girl was no match for Karui's superior skill and speed.

Soon after, Sakura was sent skidding across the ground, covered in several red marks, which would soon turn into bruises and spitting up some blood. Karui had shown the pink haired no mercy; she even had been disgust with how weak she was and stated that she was a disgrace to all real Kunochi.

Luckily though for Sakura, Hayate called the match and declared Karui the winner, after seeing that Sakura couldn't get up and was fighting to stay conscious, which she soon lost.

Once Karui had been declared the winner, Kakashi **Shunshin** down to Sakura and picked her up and brought her to Shizune and asked her to treat his student.

As Shizune treated Sakura for her injuries, Naruto could not help but wonder if the pink haired girl knew how lucky she was. Since as bad as her injuries were now, they would be nothing if Karui had taken her sword out and fought with it.

At the same time the screen lit up again, and went through the remaining names, where it eventually came to a stop at Yamanaka Ino vs Samui.

-With Naruto-

When Naruto saw these names appear he could not help but sigh again, as like the pervious match between Karui and Sakura, Naruto already knew the winner.

Like Sakura, Ino did not notice Naruto sighing and believed this was a perfect chance to prove herself to her crush Naruto.

As she walked by him, she asked Naruto to watch her fight, where Naruto replied that he would. Before she left, he was tempted to tell Ino not to fight Samui and to forfeit, but just as quickly, he decided not to. As soon as she left, he turned to look over at her sensei Asuma.

"Asuma-sensei, I suggest you get ready to go down there and bring Ino up, since this battle won't last very long."

"Aren't you being a little harsh Naruto, I know Ino isn't expectly on par with some of the other girls here like that Mai girl you fought. But she has made some good improvements over the past few months."

"Maybe so, but that won't be enough, not against someone like Samui-chan, Ino stands even less of a chance than Sakura did when she faced against Karui."

"Is she that strong?" asked Choji with some worry for his team-mate.

"She's stronger, I fought her once a while back and trust me, she is not someone you should take lightly. More than likely she is even stronger than she was when I last fought her."

"If you knew all this, why didn't you stop Ino and tell her not to fight that girl? She would've listened to you" said Shikamaru.

"I didn't say anything, since I'm hoping that she will learn from this defeat and see that she neesd to get her priorities straight as a Kunoichi and realize that she needs to get stronger. All of you know as well as I do that as long as Ino and Sakura are in their fan girl set of minds, they'll be nothing more than a hindrance to their team."

"Isn't there an easier way, since I know Ino can be loud and troublesome, but I don't think she deserves a beat down like the one that other girl gave Sakura" stated Shikamaru.

"Look I'll admit it's not perfect, but it the best way and I won't deny, that I underestimated Karui's vicious streak and brutality and she may have gone a little far with Sakura. But this won't happen with Ino, as unlike Karui, Samui-chan is cool, collative and level headed. She won't defeat Ino the way Karui defeated Sakura, she'll make it as quick and as painless as possible, while revealing as little of her skill as possible."

"But, still don't you think that still going a little far?" asked Choji.

"I agree with Naruto" stated Tsunade suddenly, gaining most people's attention.

"Sometimes a hard dose of reality it the best way to make a person realize how foolish they are. It may seem cruel and harsh, but sometimes it's the best way, especially after seeing how poorly this girl did against that Kumo girl" spoke Tsunade, where she looked down at Sakura when she mentioned her. Who was still unconscious after her fight with Karui.

As Naruto predicted, the fight did not last very long, in fact it lasted half the time Sakura's match lasted, for as Naruto said. Samui wasted no time in taking Ino down, where in an impressive feat of skill and speed. Samui cross the distance between them in under a few seconds and then delivered a strong punch to the face followed by an equally strong knee to the gut and then a sharp chop the back of the neck to knock her out.

Once Samui was declared the winner, Asuma jumped down to his fallen student and picked her up and brought her back to the catwalk. There he propped her up against the wall next to the unconscious Sakura, who had just been healed by Shizune.

After Samui had re-joined her team, the screen began to go through the remaining Genin names. A few seconds later, the screen stopped at Haku and one of the Taki Genin.

Upon seeing her name on the screen, Haku prepared jump down to the arena to face her opponent. But before she did, Naruto turned to her and wished her luck in her match, which of course made the girl smile, where she thanked him.

Seeing this Zabuza frowned slightly, since given the way Haku was acting when Mai was kissing Naruto. It was obvious that the female Ice users had some feelings towards the young blonde.

Knowing this, Zabuza made a mental note to have a little "_chat_" with Naruto about Haku at a later time.

Soon enough, the match between Haku and the Taki Genin started; the match of course did not take very long. At the beginning of the match, Haku took out a set of Senbon needles, while her opponent took out a Kunai. For the first minutes Haku and the Taki Genin exchanged blows with one another with their weapons and as expected, Haku was winning the battle, thanks to her superior speed and skill.

Realizing that he was losing the battle, the Taki Genin quickly gained some distance from Haku, where he did some hand seals and spat out several large balls of water at the young Ice user.

Seeing the balls of water coming at them, Haku skilfully evaded the large glops of water, where they splattered against the wall behind her.

After she evaded the water attack, Haku then quickly used the water from the attack to form several dozen long ice needles and fired them at her opponent. Who could not evade all the needles in time and was hit in several points on his left arm and leg, causing them to go numb. After which she then finished the Genin off with a strong kick to the face, knocking the Genin out.

-With the Spectators-

With the Taki Genin knocked out, Haku was instantly declared the winner, after which when the knocked out Genin was taken away. The screen once again lit up, where it went through several names and stopped at Tenten vs Temari.

Upon seeing their names, both Kunoichi quickly jumped down onto the arena, where once they were ready Hayate shouted "Begin!"

Tenten makes the first move by throwing several kunai at Temari, who easily deflects them. Naturally when they saw this, team Gai were surprised that none of the weapons could even scratch or hit Temari. It was only as the fight dragged on, that it was revealed that she was deflecting Tenten's projectiles with her fan. Seeing this, Tenten tried another attack that Temari repelled again using wind from her Giant Folding Fan, before warning Tenten that if she sees all three stars in her fan, the fight would be over.

Eventually Tenten used her **Sōshōryū** (Twin Rising Dragons) technique. Uncovering the second star, Temari repelled the attack, where Tenten then used strings to re-use the weapons.

Seeing this, Temari uncovered the third star, where she repelled the attack again and trapped Tenten in a cyclone and propelled her into the air. Not unlike what Mai did when she fought Naruto. As the cyclone dispersed, Tenten floated in mid-air for a few seconds, her clothes in tatters and covered in cuts from the Wind attack. Soon after, Tenten began to fall to the ground, unable to do anything, due to her injuries.

As Konoha Kunoichi fell, Temari made it a point to position herself underneath Tenten so that she would land on the Suna Kunochi's closed fan.

Seeing what Temari was planning, Naruto acted quickly, where before his mother, Shizune or anyone else could stop him. He jumped onto the railing and propelled himself into the air and caught Tenten right before she could land on top of the closed fan. After which Naruto landed on the ground behind Temari, carrying Tenten in his arms, who was drifting in and out on unconsciousness.

-In The Arena-

Seeing this, Hayate quickly, called the match, "This match has ended, Tenten forfeits the fight due to outside interference, victory goes to Temari of Suna."

Hearing this, Temari smirked in victory, but when she turned around she saw Naruto glaring coldly at her.

"You got a problem?" asked Temari with an arrogant like smirk.

"Yeah I do, I don't like sore winners, you had already won the fight and could've of let Tenten fall and land on the ground. But instead you planned to have her land on your fan and injure her even further than was need."

"The fact you're even saying something like, proves how naive and how much of a kid you really are, as that is how we do things in my village" stated Temari with the same arrogant smirk on her face.

"Really? Well if that's the case, then it's no wonder Suna is at the bottom of the barrel and Konoha is at the top, especially with Kunoichi like you!" sneered Naruto.

When Temari heard this, she became infuriated and began to growl, "Why you!" before lifting up her fan. But before anything could start, Hayate intervened between the two Genin.

"Enough! There will be no unsanctioned fighting here, both of you will return to your respected teams now!"

After a moment or two of glaring at one another, both Temari and Naruto nodded.

"Huh, Fine! We'll finish this another time Senju" stated Temari.

"Anytime Fan girl" replied Naruto with a sneer, when he saw Temari glare angrily at him for the nickname he gave her, before she stalked angrily away to re-join her team.

Before Naruto could go up and re-join his mother and his sensei, Hayate suddenly spoke to him in a serious tone. "Senju Naruto, given how the battle between Tenten-san and Temari-san was just about over, I am willing to let your interference go. But should you ever interfere with another fight again, regardless of the reasons, you will be disqualified from the exam and you will lose your spot in the finals, am I clear?"

At hearing this Naruto just nodded, indicating that he did understand and then **Shunshin** back up to join her sensei and mother.

* * *

When Naruto re-joined his mother and his two sensei, he immediately handed Tenten to Shizune and asked her to treat the young girl.

As Shizune began to heal Tenten injuries, Tsunade began to berate Naruto about his actions and because it, he had jeopardies his place in the exam.

Naruto of course responded that he didn't care, since he refused to stand by and let a friend to be treated so callously and allow them to be serious hurt.

This of course made Tsunade frown and sigh, since Naruto had a nasty habit of acting rashly regardless of the consequences, especially when he believed he was in the right. Naturally she blamed this part of him on Minato, since the former Hokage was known to act in a similar manner when those around him were in danger.

As Tenten was being healed, Lee and Gai went over to Naruto and thanked the young blonde for going to Tenten's aid. Stating that they were about to do the same when they saw what was happening, naturally Naruto told them it was nothing.

Soon after Shizune finished healing Tenten, where the bun haired turned to Naruto and thanked him for saving her and apologized for the troubled she caused him.

Naruto of course responded by telling her it was nothing, and would've done it for anyone else, since he found such displays like Temari's, disgraceful and unnecessarily cruel.

Eventually, Naruto and the others turned to look down at the arena, where Shikamaru was facing against the Oto Kunochi Tsuchi Kin.

When the fight started Shikamaru tried his **Kagemane no Jutsu** (Shadow Imitation Technique), but Kin easily evaded and threw some Senbon needles with bells attached to them. Shikamaru recognized the trick and mocked her for using such basic techniques.

Kin then rang the bells using her strings to ring a previously thrown bell on the Senbon, starting her Genjutsu. When Shikamaru got caught in Kin's Illusion Bell Needles, he found that he was unable to move, while Kin proceeded to attack him with more Senbon needles. However, when Kin tried to attack again, Shikamaru countered by contracting his shadow and minimizing it under the string and into its shadow and then attaching it to a needle she threw, allowing him to connect with her Shadow and preventing her from moving.

After connecting with Kin's shadow, Shikamaru then threw a Shuriken at Kin, which she imitates. Naturally Shikamaru ducked backwards to evade it, which Kin imitated. This continued for a minute or two, where each time they would walk further and further back. Until when Kin was forced to imitate him again and dodged another Shuriken, she did not realize that she was too close to the wall, where she hit her head and knocked herself out, which made Shikamaru the winner of the match.

After Shikamaru re-joined his team and Kin and been taken away by the medics, the screen activated again, where after a minute or two it stopped at Nii Yugito vs Inuzuka Kiba.

-With Naruto and the others-

When Naruto saw the two names, two words popped into his head "_Oh boy_."

"Alright it's my turn to shine; I'm going to cut loose!" stated Kiba.

Before Naruto could even say anything, the young Inuzuka boy jumped down to the arena to face his female opponent.

"This isn't going to be pretty" muttered the young Senju.

"Isn't she the one?" stated Jiraiya, where Naruto just nodded, confirming what Jiraiya had guessed.

"What exactly do you mean Naruto-san?" asked Shino not fully understanding what Naruto was talking about.

"What I mean is that Kiba is about to get ass seriously handed to him by Yugito-chan" replied Naruto.

"How can you be certain of this?" asked Shino.

"Because Yugito-chan and I crossed paths a while back and trust me, I know what she is capable of. Kiba doesn't stand a chance of winning" stated Naruto.

"Even if she is as strong as you say, Kiba has improved a great deal and I still cannot see why you are so certain that he will lose" Kurenai commented.

"With all due respect Kurenai-sensei it won't matter, since Yugito is stronger and is without a doubt the strongest Kunoichi in this exam" answered Naruto.

"That is a rather bold remark to make Naruto, what makes you so certain of this?" Kurenai asked.

"Because she is like me", the blonde boy answered.

When the others heard this, the Genin were naturally confused by what Naruto meant, but Kurenai quickly realized what Naruto was really saying.

When he did, her eyes widened in surprise, as did Asuma's and Kakashi's, where they remembered the topic of their earlier conversation with Kushina, when they were waiting for their Genin during the first exam.

Upon realizing that Yugito was in fact the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat). Kurenai finally realized why Naruto was so certain that Kiba would lose and began to worry for her student. Since if Yugito could use even a fraction of her Biju's power, then Kiba would stand no chance of winning.

-Down in the arena-

As the two Genin faced off against one another Kiba grinned as he was confident that he could take Yugito.

"I suggest that you do yourself a favour and give up, just because you're a girl, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you" said Kiba, since despite the fact he found Yugito hot. He could not help but feel animosity towards the girl, due to her village's past deed towards his female team-mate and because he could smell cats coming off the girl.

Naturally Yugito did not take this comment from Kiba well, as she narrowed her eyes in anger.

At the same time, a certain spiky haired blonde groaned and slapped his forehead, as he knew how much Yugito hated comments like that and what would most likely happen to Kiba now.

As soon as Hayate began the match, Kiba used his **Shikyaku no Jutsu** (Four Legs Technique), where he then fell onto all fours. His appearance also changed, where he began to emanate Chakra, his eyes became silts and his toes, hands and canine teeth became claw-like in length.

Once he transformed, Kiba then disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in front of Yugito and attempted to deliver a sharp elbow strike to her stomach.

But before the strike could make contact, Yugito disappeared in a blur, not unlike Kiba and then reappeared to his left.

"Not bad, but you're still not fast enough to keep up with me!" spoke Yugito as she reappeared and attempted to swipe at Kiba exposed side. Fortunately for Kiba, he was able to avoid the attack by flipping sideways to the right, thanks to his enhance reaction and speed from the **Shikyaku no Jutsu**.

After avoiding the attack, Kiba looked at his side for any injury.

Luckily there was none, but he did notice that were claws marks on the side of his coat. When he looked back at Yugito, he saw that her fingernails and toenails had become much longer and were now claw-like, like his own.

"Surprised? As you can see you're not the only one who can turn their hands into weapons."

Seeing this, Kiba narrowed his eyes and decided to go for a different approach, where he took out and threw several smoke bombs at Yugito. After which he then sent Akamaru into the smoke to attack, knowing that Akamaru could find and attack Yugito through the smoke, by smelling for her, while she would be blind.

After sending his K-9 partner in, Kiba was confident of Akamaru dealing with Yugito, believing he had the advantage in the smoke. But much to his surprise, Akamaru was sent flying out of the smoke within seconds of entering it, where the poor pup was sent crashing into the wall instead.

"Akamaru!" cried Kiba, but could do little, as right after Akamaru, several Kunai and Shuriken flew out from the smoke. Forcing the young boy to jump to the side to avoid them, but as soon as he did this, Yugito appeared in front of him and delivered a strong knee to the gut.

This was then followed by a strong spinning reverse heel kick to the face, that sent Kiba flying backwards and crashing into the wall behind him.

"Tsk, that better not be it runt, because I haven't even gotten warmed up yet!" spoke Yugito angrily.

-With the Kumo team-

"Damn, Yugito sure isn't messing about" muttered Omoi.

"Well it is hardly surprising" commented Samui, "Since you're aware how Yugito reacts to comments like the one that boy made."

"Humph, bastard is getting what he deserves" remarked Karui, as like Yugito, she had taken insult to Kiba's earlier comment.

-With Yugito and Kiba-

After struggle a bit to get back up on his feet, Kiba was soon joined by Akamaru, who was limping after crashing into the wall.

Seeing the state they were in, Kiba knew he had to go all out, where he then quickly took out some food pills and gave one to Akamaru and then took one himself.

Once he took the pill Akamaru fur turned red and the little dog suddenly became fiercer and growled angrily at Yugito. After which, he jumped onto Kiba's back when he went on all fours again where Kiba did a single hand seal and then cried "**Jūjin Bunshin** (Beast Human Clone)!"

As soon as Kiba did this, the little dog transformed into a perfect copy of Kiba, making it impossible for Yugito to tell the difference between the two of them.

After Akamaru transformed, the two Kiba's suddenly jumped forwards and attacked Yugito, intending to finish the fight quickly.

Acting fast, the young Kumo Kunoichi flipped backwards to avoid the attack, while at the same time throwing several Shuriken at them. Forcing them to jump away and break apart.

Not to be deterred, the two Kiba's charged forward and attempted to attack Yugito from different directions.

The first Kiba attempted to swipe at Yugito from the left, which Yugito easily sidestepped, after which she then sidestepped an attack from behind from the second Kiba. Who attempted a claw strike from behind, where she then caught the outstretch arm between her right arm and side. After which she then swung him around and sent his crashing into the first Kiba who had turned around and tried to attack her again with another slash.

Still determined, the two Kiba's attack together, where the first Kiba attempted and swipe, which Yugito quickly ducked under and delivered another strong knee to the gut.

Acting fast the second Kiba charged forward and like the first Kiba, attempted a series of slashes at Yugito with his claws, which Yugito skilfully evaded without much difficulty. Proving that her speed and reactions were on greater than the two Kiba's, despite their enhancements.

Soon after, the two Kiba's charged together again, but this time they began to spin around and move forward like two high speed drills, where they both yelled "**Gatsūga** (Fang Passing Fang)!"

Surprised by this, Yugito barely avoided the two attacks by jumping up into the air.

Acting fast, the two Kiba's turned around and attacked Yugito again, who once again skilfully evaded the attacks.

Seeing that a direct approach wasn't working, the real Kiba took out some smoke bombs and threw them at Yugito. After which they once again used their** Gatsūga** to attack Yugito from multiple directions, who could barely avoid the attacks due to her lack of sight from the smoke.

As the smoke dissipated, those watching the fight could see that Yugito's uniform was cut up torn up a bit and she had a few light cuts on her body.

"_Damnit how can I fully avoid their attacks, when I can't even see from what direction they are coming from_" thought Yugito angrily. The only reason why she was even able to avoid the attacks to the extent she did, was because of several years of intensive training that she went through, where she developed good reaction, speed and timing.

Knowing that they had the advantage, Kiba threw several more smoke bombs at Yugito and prepared to attack.

"_Shit not again, how the hell can they even find me in this smoke? Since if I can't see them, they can't either_" thought the frustrated Yugito, until inspiration suddenly hit her. "_Yes that's it!_"

As the two Kiba's prepared to attack, they suddenly saw a hail of Kunai flying out of the smoke through the air in multiple different directions from all sides. Some of them even nearly hit some of the spectators, before they imbedded themselves into the wall.

"_Heh, she's getting desperate, she's throwing her Kunai blinding in all directions, hoping that one of them will hit us_" thought a confident Kiba, believing her had this match in the bag.

"Alright Akamaru, let finish this!" cried Kiba, before he and his partner jumped up into the air and used their **Gatsūga** to attack again.

But what Kiba and Akamaru didn't know was that this was all part of Yugito's plan, for as soon they entered the smoke filled area. They suddenly got entangled in a web of Shinobi wire, where the further the spun around, the more the wire tightened around them and pulled the Kunai Yugito threw earlier off the wall.

Eventually the two Kiba's came to a stop and fell to the ground in two tangled heaps, unable to move, allowing Yugito to strike, where she delivered a powerful kick to one of the Kiba's. Sending him flying into the wall, where after hitting it, he exploded into a puff of smoke and turned Akamaru, who was no unconcious.

-With the Spectators-

"Very impressive" commented Kakaskhi, as he was quite impressed with female jinchūriki.

"What did she just do?" Sakura asked as she had just woken up.

"It's actually quite a clever plan" Kakashi replied. "As you know the smoke screen covered the area around the girl, which prevented her from seeing what direction Kiba and Akamaru were coming from. Kiba and Akamaru on the other hand could still locate her, thanks to their heighten sense of smell. But even with this, they still would be unable to see inside the smoke and see what she was doing. Knowing this, the girl then set up a trap, where she tied Ninja wire to her Kunai and threw them different directions. All she had to do from then on, was to wait for Kiba and Akamaru to attack and like a fly, flying into a web. They flew right into the Ninja wire, where their high velocity and spinning caused them to get caught in the wire and be tangled up in it, since as you known Ninja wire is highly durable and cannot be easily cut. Had Kiba paid closer attention to the Kunai that she was throwing, he might have notice the Ninja wire tied to them and realized what she was planning"

"_She definitely has good tactical skills_" thought the copy-nin after he finished explaining to Sakura what Yugito had done. As he was quite impressed with Yugito, since despite her situation, she remained calm and focused and used Kiba's own smoke screen against him and lured him into a trap.

"_Not bad Yugito-chan, not bad at all_" thought a smirking Naruto, who stood over a tangled Kiba, who was still trying to free himself.

Eventually though, Hayate called the match and declared Yugito the winner.

* * *

After Kiba and Akamaru were freed from the ninja wire and returned to their team, the screen lit up again and went through the remaining names until it stopped at Hyuga Neji vs Hyuga Hinata.

"_This is an interesting matchup_" thought the Sandaime when she saw the names.

When the members of team eight saw this, a worried look appeared on the members faces.

"_Hinata_" thought a concerned Kurenai and Shino.

"_Damnit…of all people, it had to be him!_" thought Kiba as he knew what this meant for his female team-mate.

The members of team eight weren't the only ones worried, since Neji's sensei Gai was equally concerned since he knew Neji's feelings towards the members of the main branch.

"_This could be trouble_" thought Naruto, as after meeting Gai and Lee, Naruto had asked around some things on them and their team. From what he had heard, Neji was Hinata's cousin, as both their fathers were twin brothers. But since Hinata's father was the eldest of the two, he was made a member of the main family, while Neji father became a member of the branch family. Also according to rumours Neji was considered a highly gifted prodigy, he graduated as the rookie of the year, the year before and was said to be the most gifted member of the Clan to be born in over a hundred years. It was even said that there was some kind of infighting between the two branches of the Clan, although reasons for it were exactly clear, it was believed to be because of some old traditions of the Clan, that favoured the main branch family.

After seeing her name appear Hinata slowly walked down the catwalk to the arena, when she went by Naruto, he turned to her and said. "It doesn't matter if you win or lose Hinata-chan, just do your best, ok"

"Arigato Naruto-san" replied Hinata with a small nervous before moving down to the arena.

When Hinata and Neji were facing one another Neji told Hinata that she should forfeit, stating that she wasn't suited to be a Kunochi of the village.

Hinata of course denied it and said she wanted to become a Kunoichi of the village so that she could become stronger.

But Neji countered this by saying people could not change and that their fate was always decided from the moment they were born up until they died and that his Byakugan could see that she was still weak and afraid.

After hearing this Hinata's already fragile confidence began to crumble, seeing this, Neji continued with his verbal assault, slowly breaking Hinata's will to fight. But before he could deliver the final blow, Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"Don't this listen his garage Hinata-chan!" yelled Naruto, gaining everyone's attention. "He doesn't know what he is talking about, he doesn't know you, he doesn't know the real you. Your stronger than this, I know it and he's wrong, people can change and become stronger. All you've to do is believe in yourself like I do in you, you can show him and everyone else how much of a retard he really is."

When Neji heard this, he gave Naruto annoyed glance and thought he was being nothing more than a fool. But when turned back to Hinata, he was surprised to see that Hinata had now activated his Bakyugan and fallen into a fighting stance. As somehow Naruto's little speech had restored Hinata's confidence in herself.

When Kurenai and some of the others saw the sudden change in Hinata, many couldn't help but be slightly amazed by it. As only moments ago the young Hyuga girl was on the verge of giving up, but after Naruto finished speaking to her, she suddenly regained the will to fight.

Seeing this Tsunade couldn't help but smile slightly, as for some strange reason Naruto could always change people for the better, whether by simply talking to them or by just being around them.

Seeing that Hinata intended to fight, Neji activated his own Byakugan and fell into a similar stance as Hinata.

After falling into their stances, Lee went on to explain to Sakura and Ino, (who asked what they were doing) that the stances they were taking were from the Jūken (Gentle fist) fighting style.

He then went on to explain that the style was used solely by the Hyuga Clan and was their signature fighting style and that it allowed the user to inflict internal damage to an opponent through the body's Chakra Pathway System. According to Lee, even the slightest tap could cause severe internal damage, hence the name Jūken."

After exchanging Jūken-style blows, for several minutes Hinata seemed to be on the verge of defeating Neji, only for Neji to reveal that he had plugged up Hinata's chakra points, rendering her Gentle Fist useless. He also hit a chakra point close to one of Hinata's vitals moments beforehand, which resulted in Hinata falling to her knees and spiting up blood, putting her in a critical condition.

Naturally when Naruto saw this, he didn't take it well and was about to jump in a stop the fight, but before he could. Both Yamato and Kushina grabbed hold of the blonde and stop him and told him he could not interfere or else he be removed for the exam.

Naruto of course retorted, saying he couldn't stand by and let a friend be hurt.

At this Kushina responded that she wouldn't let him interfere, as this was Hinata's battle and she had to fight this one by herself.

Before Naruto could reply to this, he saw the young Hyuga girl slowly get back onto her and prepared to continue the fight. Neji of course told her that fighting her any further was pointless and that she had already lost. However Hinata refused to back down, insisting that Neji, not she, was fighting against what could not be changed.

When the young Hyuga boy heard this he became enraged and charged at Hinata, intending to deliver a Killing blow.

Seeing this, Naruto was able to jump over the railing only to be stopped by his Yamato, who grabbed hold of him again.

Just when Neji was only a few feet from Hinata, he was stopped by Hayate, Kakashi, Gai and Kushina, while Kurenai stood behind Hinata and caught her as she collapsed from the pain of her internal injuries that finally became too much for her to handle.

"Neji stop this at once!" spoke Gai as held Neji back from behind and spoke in a tone with unusual seriousness. "You swore to me that you would not let you issues with the main family get to you."

"Why did you and the other Jonins come out?" Neji asked angrily, after being stopped from finishing Hinata off. "Does the main family receive special treatment?"

After seeing Hinata collapse in pain, Naruto finally broke free of his sensei's grip and jumped down to the arena and was quickly followed by Shizune and his mother. Who saw the state Hinata was in and went to help her, knowing the injuries she was suffering from.

When they got to Hinata, Shizune and Tsunade quickly began to use their **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystic Palm Technique) to heal the girl's internal injuries.

"Naruto-kun...did…did I…get…stronger?" asked Hinata weakly when she saw Naruto standing kneeling next to her, as she fought to stay conscious.

"Yea, Hinata you did… you did great" answered Naruto with a kind smile, which in turn made Hinata smile before finally losing consciousness.

After Hinata lost conscious, he turned to his mother. "Will she be alright?"

"Her internal injuries are severe, but there nothing we can't handle so she should be fine in a couple of days, with enough time and rest."

Naruto just nodded after hearing this, as he was pleased with hearing the news that Hinata would be ok.

However his mood quickly changed, when he stood up and turned to look at Neji, who had a cold uncaring look on his face, after being let go by the Gai and the other Jonin.

"You look like you've something to say" spoke the Hyuga Prodigy as he looked at Naruto, who was glaring coldly at him

"Why did you do this? Why did you go so far on Hinata? Aren't the two of you from the same Clan? She's your Cousin for god sake! Does family mean so little to you?" asked Naruto angrily.

"She's was weak and a drop out is a drop out, they can never change" replied Neji coldly. "I don't see why you even care, she wasn't like you or I Senju. She was born weak; I don't even understand why you should care so much about a failure like her. She may have been born of the main family, but fate decided long ago that she was to be born weak, just as it decided that we would face one another in the exam, and that I would win."

At hearing this many of the other Jonin couldn't believe how callously Neji was acting towards Hinata. Tsunade herself frowned at hearing how coldly one member of a family was towards another, but quickly remembered that the Hyuga Clan wasn't exactly the warmest group of people. But still she could not help but glare slightly at Neji, as she could tell for the injuries Hinata was suffering, that Neji was indeed trying to kill Hinata.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Naruto angrily as he felt his temper rise up. "I am nothing like you! I would never try and kill a member of my own family. I would sooner rip off my own arm than do something like that. Fate had nothing to do with this match; you were just looking for an excuse to attack Hinata. Just because of some petty feud between your clan and if you know what's good for you, you will not insult her again!"

At this Neji frowned slightly, but quickly smirked coldly at Naruto, "She is worthless."

When Neji said this, Naruto lost it and charged at Neji with his fist raised.

Seeing this, Neji prepared to fight, but just when Naruto was three feet away from him, he was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks by Jiraiya. Who appeared in front of Naruto and grabbed his arm.

"Kid settle down"

"Get out of the way Jiraiya!" yelled Naruto, which showed how angry the boy was, since he rarely called Jiraiya by his real name. "This Bastard is going to pay for what he did to Hinata-chan!"

"Kid I understand how you feel, but you can't just attack him like this. You're already on a fine line with what you did with that other girl. If you attack him now, you could get booted from the exam" said Jiraiya as he tried to reason with his Godson.

"I DON'T CARE!" roared Naruto, as he struggled to free himself from Jiraiya's grip.

As Naruto continued to struggle, the Toad Sage could see the curse markings starting to slowly spread throughout Naruto's body, gaining strength from Naruto's anger. Who was too furious and high on adrenalin to notice the pain coming from the curse seal or see the markings spreading.

"He's gotta pay for what he did!" yelled Naruto as he glared angrily at Neji, who stood directly behind Jiraiya. "And I am not going to stop until he is a bloody smear at the end of my fist!"

Naturally at hearing this, many of those who knew Naruto, like team ten, the Kiri Genin, the Kumo team and the other members of team seven and eight, were surprised by the level of animosity that Naruto was showing Neji. Since Naruto actually looked ready to kill Neji.

Not far from them and looking down at Naruto, a disguised Orochimaru, could not help but be amused by the whole situation. He was especially amused by Naruto's rage and how violent he could be once angered and saw it as a possible way he could use to get to Naruto and have him join him (Orochimaru).

Seeing how furious his Godson was and how the curse markings were spreading, Jiraiya knew he had to calm Naruto down before he went out of control.

"Naruto, I know you're angry, but he isn't worth getting booted out of the exam" spoke Jiraiya. "Trust me when I say this, you'll get your shot at this shit stain, there is a time and place for this sort of thing, but not now. So for now just hold it, until the finals, where you can kick his ass in front of everyone. If not for your own sake, do it for the girl, I don't think she would want you getting kicked out of the exam over what happen to her."

After hearing this, Naruto slowly started to calm down, as he began to realize that Jiraiya was right. As Naruto calm down, the curse markings slowly retreated back, after which the mark started to hurt again, causing Naruto to cover it and hiss slightly from the pain.

Eventually the pain faded and Naruto slowly walked back to Hinata and the others, where they young Hyuga heiress was being loaded onto a stretcher by medics, who took her away to be treated further.

Seeing this, Naruto closed his fist in anger, where he then knelled down and dipped his hand in Hinata blood that was on the ground.

This of course caused several people like Tsunade and Jiraiya to frown and began to wonder what Naruto was doing.

When Naruto stood back up, he turned to stare at Neji with a harden look, showing how serious he was right now, where he stretched is arm out forward, with his fist closed and blood dripping from it. "This I swear in Hinata's blood, I will make you pay for what you did to her…I will defeat you and I won't stop until I've pounded you into the ground and shattered that so called belief of yours."

"Bold words" replied Neji calmly, unafraid of Naruto's vow "But can you back them up?"

At this Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared coldly at the Hyuga, and said "You've no idea what I am capable of teme."

At this remark Neji frown where the two Genin continued to glare at one another until their respected Sensei placed their hands on their shoulders and led them away back up to the catwalks so that the next match could begin_._

N/A

Well that's it for that update; I hope you all enjoyed it, now as you can guess the next Chapter will be about the finishing up of the preliminaries and sorting out of the finals. Now before any of you ask, the next Chapter will come when it is ready, so please be patient.

I also hope that you enjoyed some of the humour in this Chapter as well as see Naruto angry side.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Omake**

"Bold words" replied Neji calmly, unafraid of Naruto's vow "But can you back them up?"

At this Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared coldly at the Hyuga, and said "You've no idea what I capable of teme."

"Try me," Neji continued to taunt the Senju heir.

Unfortunately, when Naruto's face contorted into a shit splitting grin, a grin Jiraiya was all too familiar with, the Hyuga prodigy started sweated a bit.

"Why do I have the sudden urge to run for my life?" Neji thought to himself, a rare act as never before had he done such a thing.

Before he could act, a series of trees shot out of the earth and proceeded to bind and wrap themselves around Neji's entire body. The act was done so swiftly and so suddenly that he had no time to escape before it was too late.

Neji struggled to get out of the the trees tight grasp before all of a sudden he found himself in the spread eagle position.

"Senju! Let me down!" Neji yelled furiously, only for Naruto to perform a set of hand seals.

"That seal... Thats!" Kakashi thought wide eyed.

"Senju Naruto-Ryu: Mokuton no Sennen Goroshi (Senju Naruto Style: Wood Release's One Thousand Years of Death)!"

No sooner did he yell out the technique did a large pair of wood made hands with narrow finger nails the size of ones fist form into the tiger seal before thrusting upwards. The instant it made contact with the now screaming/crying, and butt clenching Hyuga prodigy's anus it sent the poor, though deserving, in Naruto's mind, Hyuga flying through the air.

Unfortunately his suffering had only begun as despite the speed he was sent soaring, Neji's body soon found himself hitting the stone wall with a sickening crash. Slowly but ever sure, his body began to peel off the wall and to fall right onto the railing, performing and staying in a perform an unvoluntary 180 arc.

"This is even more painful than it looks," Neji whimpered his body racked with agony.

"Humph, Now you really do have a stick up your arse" said Naruto with a sneer

From that day on, no one messed with Naruto. And Jiraiya was forced to stay 50 yards away from Naruto and Tsunade. No one knew the full story, only that Tsunade was tired of her son being corrupted by the pervert and his stupid ideas.

Kakashi on the other hand, thanked whatever gods there were that Tsunade didn't know that her son learned it from him. He also made it a point to remember to send Jiraiya a sorry card someday.

Emphasis on "_someday_".


	24. Chapter 24

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-four: Emergence of Talent**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

**Pervious on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_When Naruto stood back up, he turned to stare at Neji with a harden look, showing how serious he was right now, where he stretched is arm out forward, with his fist closed and blood dripping from it. "This I swear in Hinata's blood, I will make you pay for what you did to her…I will defeat you and I won't stop until I've pounded you into the ground and shattered that so called belief of yours."_

_"Bold words" replied Neji calmly, unafraid of Naruto's vow "But can you back them up?"_

_At this Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared coldly at the Hyuga, and said "You've no idea what I am capable of teme."_

_At this remark Neji frown where the two Genin continued to glare at one another until their respected Sensei placed their hands on their shoulders and led them away back up to the catwalks so that the next match could begin._

-The Arena-

After the incident between Hinata and Neji had settled and everyone had returned to Catwalk, the next match soon started, which was between Gaara and one of Mai's teammates.

When Mai's teammate faced off against Gaara, he took off his cloak and revealed himself to be average looking boy wearing a standard shinobi uniform with brown hair a small scar on his left cheek. On his back he carried six folded up umbrellas.

When Hayate started the match, the Ame Genin threw his umbrellas into the air and did a single hand seal before yelling out "**Jouro Senbon** (Senbon Shower)!"

After which a hail of Senbon needles fell from above, where the Ame Genin then used his Chakra to control the Needles and had them attack Gaara from every direction.

"This match is mine; you cannot avoid my attack no matter what direction you take" the Ame Genin declared as the hail of needles fell on Gaara.

But, just as the needles were about to hit Gaara, a large amount of Sand suddenly came out of his Gourd and surrounded him and acted like a shield, protecting him from the needles.

-With Naruto and the others-

"_It's exactly like that nightmare before_" thought Shino with fear, where he could see his team-mate Kiba sweating profoundly and his partner Akamaru whimpering in his jacket.

"_Shit he can use sand, but then that means…_" thought Naruto with shock, as he remember what he read during in visit to the Fire Daimyo private Library, (1) before he turned to his mother and the others.

"Kaa-chan I think that guy is like Yugito-chan and Killer Bee"

When Tsunade and the others heard this their eyes widen in surprise, "Naruto are you sure of this?"

"Positive" replied the boy.

"_If this is true, then things have become even more complicated_" thought the Sandaime.

"_I knew there was something up with that Kid_" thought Ibiki as he stared down at the Suna Genin.

"_Damnit, what the hell is Suna thinking letting a kid like him entering this exam?_" Jiraiya thought, as he had heard the stories how the jinchūriki of the Shukaku would often go insane.

"_Shit, as if things weren't complicated enough with the Kumo-nins and Hanzo Granddaughter here. Counting Naruto, there are now four __jinchūriki in the arena right now_" thought Kushina with a frown. As she could not help but wonder if this was come kind of omen, since whenever more than one jinchūriki appeared in the same place at the same time, disaster was never far behind.

"_Could that boy be after Naruto? Like Hanzo's Granddaughter and the Kumo-nins_" Tsunade wondered. Since like Kushina she found it all too coincidental for Gaara and the Kumo-nins to be in this exam with Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, what do you mean by that? How is that guy like those Kumo Shinobi?" Ino asked, as she stood next to Naruto after the end Hinata's match.

Sadly though Ino never got an answer, as Naruto was focused solely on Gaara and remained silent.

Before Ino could even try to ask again, her attention was suddenly caught by what Gaara did next.

-Down in the Arena-

"Impossible!" cried the Ame Genin in shock, as he could believe his attack had been so easily blocked by Gaara's sand that there wasn't a scratch on him.

"I've have already see this technique, is this really all you can do?" asked Gaara in a board like tone.

"Not even close!" yelled the Ame Geni, before he launched another barrage of Senbon needles at Gaara, which he block, by maintaining his sand wall. But unlike the last time, the Ame Genin had thrown several Senbon needles along with the ones that came from the umbrella. Attached to them were some exploding notes, which he activated as soon as they hit Gaara's Sand wall.

When the notes exploded a large cloud of dust appeared and enveloped Gaara.

"Ha! How do you like that teme?" yelled the Ame Genin in victory.

Sadly though, the Genin's victory didn't last very long, for when the dust from the explosion dissipated, he saw a large sphere of sand, which soon fell apart and revealed and unharmed Gaara.

"N-N-No way!" cried the Ame Genin in disbelief.

"I'm bored with you" spoke the red headed Genin with a dull tone, before he extended his arm and cried "**Sabaku Kyū** (Sand Binding Coffin)!" After which Gaara's Sand shot forward and enveloped the Ame Genin, where within seconds the Genin was covered in a cocoon of Sand, unable to move.

"I could easily leave you like this and allow the referee to declare me the winner, but that would be too easy…and too boring" spoke Gaara and he had his sand raise up into the air.

Once the Genin was high enough in the air, Gaara closed his hand and cried "**Sabaku Sōsō** (Sand Waterfall Funeral)!" which caused the sand cocoon to implode, killing the Ame Genin instantly and causing a small shower of blood, which covered the arena floor.

-With the Spectators-

After seeing this spectacle, most of the spectators, where left in complete shock and horror.

Most of the Genin were horrified by what they saw; even the likes of Neji and Sasuke were stunned by the brutality of what Gaara did.

Those like Sakura, closed their eyes just Gaara crushed the Ame Genin, while others like Ino turned away, where she covered her face into Naruto's chest, not wanting to see it.

Naruto of course did not try to stop Ino when she placed her face into his chest. In fact he tried to comfort the blonde girl, as like her, he was horrified by what he had seen.

"_Flawless victory as always Gaara_" thought Baki.

"_That idiot never stood a chance_" thought a smirking Kankuro.

"_Damn, that is one brutal kid_" thought Zabuza, since he could see by looking in Gaara's eyes that he was a stone cold killer. He also couldn't help but notice that in many way Gaara was just like him when he was Gaara's age, back when they still had the final exam in Kiri.

"_Such brutality_" thought Sandaime sadly, who guessed that Suna had raised him to become an emotionless killing machine. The same thing that Danzo wanted to turn Naruto into after the Yondaime sealed the Kyubi into him.

"_Just as I feared, this kid is a complete sociopath_" thought Jiraiya as he looked at the young red headed boy.

"_So he is the famed ultimate weapon of Suna_" thought Kandachi, who was rather impressed with Gaara's power and was completely unaffected by the death of one of his Genin.

"_He is clearly no order Genin_" Mai thought with a frown, after seeing Gaara's display of power.

Even the likes of Danzo frowned when he saw what Gaara did, although for completely different set of reasons.

"_Hmm, interesting, so that is the famed Sabaku no Gaara, but why has Suna sent it's __jinchūriki into this exam, is it because of Naruto or for another reason?_"

"That guy's a monster" muttered Omoi, with disbelief and was actually fearful of having to go against him.

Yugito of course did not take offense to Omoi's comment, in fact she actually agreed with him, as what Gaara did was indeed brutal. She also had to acknowledge that the Nibi was right about the jinchūriki of Shukaku, he was indeed dangerous.

* * *

Soon after being declared the winner by Hayate (who needed a moment or two to recover), Gaara began to make his way back up to his team. But before he walked away, he turned to look up at Naruto and Sasuke, who had just recovered from the shock of what they had seen. When Gaara looked up at them, he gave them both a cold piercing look.

Seeing this, both Sasuke and Naruto stared right back at the sand wielding Genin, showing that they were not afraid of him.

When Gaara saw that neither Sasuke nor Naruto were afraid of him. The crazed boy actually smiled, as if pleased that his new "_prey_" was unafraid of him. For as far as he was concerned, it made his future battles with them, that more exciting, where he would enjoy seeing the look of fear and horror in their eyes, right before he killed them.

Not long after Gaara re-joined his team, the screen lit up again, where it went through the remaining names to see who was next to fight. After about a minute or two, the screen stopped at Choji vs Dosu.

* * *

Seeing this Chōji began to feel hesitant about fighting, given what he saw a few minutes ago. Seeing that how nervous his student was Asuma decided to encourage Choji by promising to treat him to barbecue if he won, and to intervene if he was in danger.

Naturally upon hearing the offer of a free lunch, Choji regained his fighting spirit and jumped down to the arena, eager to fight.

When Hayate started of the match, Ino suddenly yelled to him that he was fat, so that he would be spurred into fighting even more.

As expect, Ino's tactic work, as Choji was now in a frenzy and transformed into his Human Bullet Tank form and charged straight at Dosu.

Sadly the Oto Genin avoided Choji's attack by jumping into the air, where Chōji then got lodged in the wall behind Dosu.

With Chōji unable to fight back, Dosu landed on top of the large boy and used his melody arm to send a blast of sound into Chōji's bulk, where its effectiveness was increased as a result of Chōji's increased size, thus defeating Chōji.

Once Asuma picked Choji up and brought him back to the catwalk, the screen activated again and went through the names, where it stopped at Omoi against the last remaining member of Mai's team.

-Down in the arena-

When Omoi and the Ame Genin stood opposite each other, the Ame Genin took off his cloak revealing him to be an average looking young man in his late teens with short blonde hair, wearing a typical Ame Shinobi uniform.

After Hayate began the match the Ame Genin started things off by throwing a Kunai at Omoi who easily evaded the Kunai by sidestepping it.

But as soon as the Kunai flew by him, it turned around and went to hit Omoi in the back.

Fortunately though, Omoi did not miss this and quickly took out his long Katana and deflected the Kunai.

Naturally the Ame Genin was surprised by this, as he was certain Omoi wouldn't notice it.

"I suggest that you do not underestimate the Shinobi of Kumo, as I won't fall for such cheap tricks" spoke Omoi calmly with a hint of seriousness.

"I see, Well then, let's get started" spoke the Ame Genin, where he threw several more Kunai at Omoi. Who easily deflected them with his Katana and then charge forward at the Genin and slashed at him, forcing the Ame Genin to jump backwards to avoid the attack.

"That was rather close, but now try these!" yelled the Ame Genin as he threw six Kunai at once at Omoi, who easily sidestep them.

Seeing this, the Ame Genin frowned and threw another six Kunai at the Kumo-nin, but like before avoided them by sidestepping them.

Annoyed by how easily Omoi was evading his attack, the Ame Genin decided to up the game a bit. He then took several dozen Kunai and threw them into the air and did three quick hand seals and yelled out "**Sōshūjin** (Manipulating Attack Blades)!" causing the Kunai to stop in mid-air, where he then sent the barrage of Kunai speeding forward.

Knowing he couldn't avoid all the Kunai, and that he didn't have much time, Omoi immediately swung his Katana in a large crescent-moon shape arc. While yelling out "**Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri **(Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading)!" allowing him to deflect the two Kunai that were about hit him. At the same time he allowed the rest of the Kunai to fly by him, where they embedded themselves into the wall behind Omoi.

After the remaining Kunai flew by him, Omoi charged forward hoping to finish the battle quickly. But as he moved forward, he felt a sharp pain in both his arms, when he looked at them, he saw that the sleeves of his shirt were torn and saw small shallow cuts on his arm.

Seeing this, Omoi narrowed his eyes and finally saw the thin lines of steel string that now surrounded him.

After seeing this, Omoi realized that his opponent had tied the steel string to the end of his Kunai so to limit his movement. It also explained how he was able to control the movements of the Kunai that he threw at the beginning of the fight.

"Heh, looks like I have you now!" said the Ame Genin with a smirk. "There's no way you can avoid my attacks any longer with my wire surrounding you. Nor can you use that long Katana of yours properly, given the limited space you have."

Omoi of course did not respond to this and maintain a blank look.

After getting no response from Omoi, the Ame Genin decided to finish the battle, where he took out three more Kunai and threw them at Omoi.

Knowing that he couldn't avoid the Kunai or block them with his Katana, due him limited space he had. Omoi was left with one course of action, where in a remarkable feat of skill, he caught the first Kunai in his left hand (his free hand) and immediately deflected the other two Kunai with the Kunai he caught.

Naturally the Ame Genin was surprised by this, while everyone else watching the fight was rather impressed with Omoi skill level.

"Hmph! Not bad, but is still doesn't change anything, you're still trapped inside my wire and you can't cut it with your Katana, as my wire is too strong."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" Omoi answered, where he began to channel his Lightning Chakra into his Katana and in one swift motion, sliced right through the surrounding wire.

"No Way!" cried the Ame Genin in shock at seeing his Steel wire being cut by Omoi's Katana with ease.

-With the Spectators-

When those watching the fight saw this, many of the senior Shinobi were surprised and impressed with a Genin knowing an advance Chakra flow technique.

Sarutobi Asuma was especially impressed with Omoi's skill. Since with the exception of Naruto, Omoi was the first Genin he had seen able to use an advance Chakra flow technique like that.

"_Pretty impressive, Kumo is sure as hell not playing around by sending this team into the exam_" thought the Hokage's son. As he had to admit that Naruto was right about the Kumo Genin being a skilled group.

"_Pretty good Omoi_" thought Naruto with a smile, since it was obvious that his friend and improved a lot since they last met.

-In the Arena-

With the steel wire surrounding him now gone, Omoi then raced forward, intending to finish the fight.

Seeing this, the Ame-nin quickly leaped backwards to keep some distance between the two of them, where he then threw four more Kunai at them.

Like earlier, Omoi easily evaded the Kunai and continued to race towards the Ame Genin, but like at the beginning of the fight. The Kunai were being controlled by the steel Ninja wire, where they turned around and flew towards Omoi's back.

But just as the Kunai were about to stab Omoi in the back, the dark skinned teen suddenly spun around and yelled "**Kumo-Ryū Uragiri** (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading)!" where he avoid the Kunai and cut through the steel wire, causing the Kunai to fall to the ground.

After dealing with the Kunai from behind, Omoi then continued to race forward towards the Ame Genin who was too shocked by what happened to even try and defend himself. By the time he came to his senses, it was too late, where Omoi delivered a large diagonal slash across the Genin's chest, causing the Genin to collapse onto the ground.

When Hayate saw this, he immediately called the match to an end and declared Omoi the winner.

* * *

With Omoi's match now over and Mai's last remaining team-mate being taken away, the screen once again lit up and began to go through the remaining five names.

Eventually after about thirty seconds, the screen came to a stop at Chōjūrō and the last remaining member of the Taki team.

Like many of the matches, the match didn't last very long, where the Taki Genin tried to keep his distance from Chōjūrō, knowing that if he got too close to the Kiri Genin, he would be finished.

At the beginning of the fight, the Taki Genin threw several Kunai and Shuriken at Chōjūrō, who easily blocked them with his wrapped up sword.

Seeing this, the Taki Genin immediately used a low level Water Ninjutsu and fired several glops of Water from his month.

Like with the projectiles that the Taki Genin threw earlier, Chōjūrō easily blocked the water attack with his sword and unwrapped the bandages that were around his sword and yelled "**Hiramekarei Kaihō **(Hiramekarei Unleashing)!" After which a large blast of Chakra erupted from the sword and took the shape of a large hammer. The attack was so strong, that when it slammed into the Genin, it sent him flying into the wall behind him, knocking him out and making a large dent in the wall.

Naturally when Naruto saw this, he cringed slightly as he knew from first-hand experience that getting hit by Hiramekarei like that was not pleasant.

Sure when he was hit, he was able to block it and didn't take much damage, not to mention he had Orochimaru's curse seal enhancing his strength and durability. But if he had been caught off guard and hit by that attack, he was certain he would be in a sorry state.

* * *

Once the Taki Genin had been carried off and Chōjūrō had returned to his team, the screen lit up and went through the three remaining, where it soon stooped at Sai vs Saito.

After seeing the names, Naruto decided to pay close attention to the match, believing that it would be an interesting to watch, since he knew that neither Sai nor Saito were weaklings and were quite skilled.

Upon seeing their names on the screen, both boys jumped down to the arena to face one another, where once they were ready, Hayate began the match.

-Down in the Arena-

As soon as Hayate began the match both boys drew out their individual swords and engaged one another in close combat. For the first few minutes of the match the two Genin traded attacks with each other, where they would block or dodge the others sword slashes or strikes.

For the first few minutes of the fight, both Saito and Sai proved evenly matched with one another, but as the fight continued, Saito slowly gained the advantage thanks to his superior sword training under Zabuza.

Realizing this, Sai decided to gain a little distance between him and Saito, where he jumped backwards into the air and threw several Shuriken at him, forcing Saito to deflect them.

With Saito momentarily distracted, Sai took out a special drawing scroll and opened it, then threw it into the air and took out his brush and painted two Ink Lions to attack Saito.

Seeing the Ink Lions coming at him, Saito immediately dropped his Katana and did some hand seals and thought "_**Suiton: Teppōdama**_ (Water Style: Gunshot)!" and shot two glops of water at the Ink Lion, which reverted into puddles of Ink after they were hit.

Once the Lions were taken care of, Saito then took out a set of Shuriken and threw then at Sai, who had just landed back on the ground.

Acting fast, Sai immediately jump to the right to avoid the incoming projectiles, and was force to move again, when Saito threw several Kunai at him.

"_I see_" thought Sai, "_He's trying to prevent me from using my Super Beast scroll and drawing any more of my beast._"

"_But I'm afraid that won't work with me_" thought the ROOT agent further before he threw a smoke bomb to the ground and two more to the left and right of him. Causing much of the arena to be filled with smoke and obscuring Saito's line of sight.

"_Shit_" thought Saito angrily, as he realized what Sai was doing, where he quickly picked up his Katana and fell into a defensive stance and prepared for Sai's eventually attack.

The attack soon came, where a flock of small Ink birds emerged from the smoke.

Upon seeing the Ink Birds, Saito immediately prepared to defend himself, where he raised his Katana up and defended himself from the birds Kamikaze like attacks.

As soon as the Ink birds were all destroyed, Saito began to use his sensory skills to try a find Sai in the slowly dissipating smoke. But just as he was sensing for Sai's Chakra, he suddenly sense a small Chakra signature coming behind him. Thinking that Sai was suppressing his Chakra so to keep himself hidden, Saito immediately spun around and found Sai emerging from the smoke with his Tanto sword in hand.

Acting fast, Saito quickly sidestepped Sai's stabbing attack and then spun around behind the pale face boy and slashed at his back.

"Heh! Not bad, but not good enough, you underestimate the Shinobi of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist), as fighting without sight is a speciality of ours" stated Saito with a smile. That soon faded when he saw "Sai" revert into a puddle of Ink.

Once he had realized that the Sai he had hit was a clone, and that it was the Chakra that made up the clone, that he sensed. Saito began to expand his senses outward again to try and find the real Sai.

Unfortunately, by the time he did this, a large number of Ink Snakes that had been slowly slithering across the ground toward him where on top of him. Once they were close enough, the Snakes quickly wrapped themselves around the young Kiri Genin, binding his legs together and his arms to his body and causing him to fall to the ground.

As Saito struggled and tried to free himself, he suddenly saw Sai standing over him with his sword pointing right at his face.

"Looks like you're the one who underestimated me Shithead" said Sai, with his usual fake smile.

It was at this point, that Saito realized that the smoke; the Ink Birds and the Ink Clone were all a distraction from Sai. So that he would not pay attention to his surroundings and fail to notice the Ink Snakes slither up to him. Thereby allowing them to wrapped themselves around him (Saito) and bind him.

* * *

Once the smoke had fully dissipated and after seeing that Saito was bound and unable to fight any longer, Hayate declared Sai the winner. After which the ROOT agent had his Snake revert to Ink, thereby allowing Saito to move again.

When Sai was making his way back up to the catwalk and to his team, the young man glanced over to his master. Who was watching from the catwalk at the other end of the Arena, with the other Shinobi Elders and the most of the foreign Genin teams. From there Danzo gave him a barely seen nod of approval, which was only notice by the Sandaime and his two former students Jiraiya and Tsunade.

After Sai and Saito had returned to their respected teams, the Screen lit up again, where the first name stayed on Rock Lee, since he was the only other remaining Genin, who had yet to fight. While the bottom part of the screen, began to run through all the names of the other Genin.

As the screen race through the names, many of the Genin were waiting with baited breaths, wondering if one of their names would appear and allow them another chance of participating in the finals. Those who had won their matches, also waited with baited breaths, since if one of their names appeared, they would be risking their place in the finals.

Eventually though, the bottom screen came to stop at a name, where there was a gasp of surprise from most people when they saw the name of the person that would be fighting Lee.

None of course were more surprised than Lee and his opponent, when they saw the screen, which read "Rock Lee vs Senju Naruto."

When Naruto saw his name he didn't know whether he should feel lucky or unlucky, since on one hand he was getting to fight Lee. Someone he had wanted to fight ever since his battle with Sasuke, who was not only strong, but a highly skilled Taijutsu fighter. Yet on the other hand, he wasn't at hundred percent, he couldn't use any of this Chakra and was still quite sore from his earlier fight with Mai. Even though this technically put him and Lee on even footing, Naruto was fairly certain that Lee still had the advantage. Since Lee trained primarily is Taijutsu, meaning he was more skilled, not to mention he hadn't fought yet.

But regardless of this fact, Naruto couldn't wait to get started since he enjoyed the challenge and he was determined to win this battle and move to the finals to face Neji and pay him back for what he did to Hinata.

"Yosh I am all fired up, now at last I can face a worthy opponent and prove that I have become a splendid Ninja" declared Lee excitedly.

"Well-spoken Lee, but let me give you some good advice, do not underestimate your opponent. Also I don't think anyone has notice yet, but Senju Naruto seems to very skilled with his sword" said Gai.

"Yosh that is good advice Gai-sensei I'll write it down" replied Lee as he took out a pad and pencil and began to write down.

"Don't write it down! You won't have time to read it when you're battling" scolded Gai

"Ah I see…more good advice" replied Lee, where he continued to write down what Gai was telling him.

Naturally this caused everyone to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads and look at the two with disbelieving looks.

"_They didn't notice?_" thought Kakashi, who fought the urge to slap his forehead.

Naruto of course just smirked at their antics, before he took off his sword and sling off and handed it to Shizune.

"Here Nee-chan take this."

"Naruto, why are you giving Shizune you Katana? You're going to need it" spoke his mother, since without his Chakra Naruto was vulnerable enough. But without his Katana he was even more vulnerable.

"Because I won't need it, not for this fight" stated Naruto.

"Do you believe I am not a worthy opponent Naruto-kun?" asked Lee, who was slightly insulted by Naruto's comment, believing that Naruto thought he would not be a challenge.

"No of course, the reason I don't want my Katana is because I want this to be a fair fight, your Taijutsu against mine" explained Naruto.

At hearing this, Gai suddenly began to weep in Anime tears, "Such admirable youth, truly Naruto-kun you're in the springtime of your youth."

Lee soon joined Gai in his weeping, saying how Naruto was truly a splendid Ninja, at which point both Green were men were bought to envelope Naruto and have him join them in their deadly Sunset Jutsu and become the third Green beast.

Fortunately though for Naruto, before Gai and Lee could even attempt it, the Sandaime Hokage intervened stating that Hayate was waiting for them, thereby saving his surrogate Grandson from being traumatized.

"The Hokage-sama is right Lee! Now Go! Yeaaaaaah!" roared Gai, after which flames of determination erupted from Lee and he jumped over the railing. All the while, everyone was looking at the two as if they were insane, which was very possible.

Soon after, a smiling Naruto joined Lee by jumping over the railing and standing opposite him

-In the Arena with Naruto and Lee-

"Before we begin Naruto-kun, I wish to say that I am very glad that I can fight you so early into the exam" Lee said as he fell into a fighting stance.

"Same here Lee, although I will admit that I was a bit surprise when I saw that I would be fighting you, but I not complaining and I suggest that you give this fight your all, as I intend to give you my very best" said Naruto, as he fell into his own fighting stance.

"I would have it no other way" replied Lee with a smile.

-With the Spectators-

"Well this will certainly be an interesting match" commented Kakashi, as he knew that even without his Chakra and Katana, Naruto was quite capable. But even still he could not help but wonder if Naruto's Taijutsu skill would be enough to match Lee's, since be knew that from training under Gai, Lee would he highly proficient in it.

Kakashi was of course not the only one, as Tsunade herself was slightly worried, since by giving up his Katana, Naruto threw away his one remaining edge over Lee. She of course blamed this on Naruto's strong sense of honour, since Naruto hated having an unfair advantage over an opponent, when not in a life or death battle. He had developed this sense of honour from his time training under Kensai, during their time at the Fire Daimyo's Estate. (2) Who taught Naruto, that defeating an opponent with an unfair advantage is a hollow victory and isn't worth having.

-In the Arena with Naruto and Lee-

Once both boys were ready, Hayate, who was standing between them, raised his hand and lowered it while saying "Now let the final match of the preliminaries…Begin!"

As soon as Hayate yelled "Begin" Lee raced towards Naruto at top speed and did a mid-air spinning kick while crying "**Konoha Senpū** (Leaf Whirlwind)!"

Acting fast, Naruto brought up both his arms and held his ground while blocking the kick, where he then pushed Lee away, causing the bowl cut boy to flip back and land a few feet back.

After blocking the kick, Naruto shook his arms around a bit, as they tingled a bit, since Lee's kick had been quite strong.

Soon after though, Lee attack again, where for the next few minutes the two boys fought in a fierce Taijutsu battle, blocking or dodging each other's attacks. Naruto was thankfully able to keep up with Lee's high speed due to removing his **Shishi Omomizuke Shīru** (Four Limbs Weighting Seal), when he fought Mai. In fact he was actually a good bit faster that Lee was right now.

As the fight continued Naruto blocked another spinning kick from Lee with his right arm and then attempted to punch Lee with other free arm.

Lee of course saw this and fell back to the ground and the spun around and did and high speed leg sweep. Naruto avoided this by falling backwards as well and using his right arm to push himself into the air and flipped backwards to that he would land of the ground a few meters away from Lee.

Not to be deterred Lee followed after Naruto, and attacked with a series of high speed rapid punches, which Naruto was just able to block. After which he disappeared right before Lee's eyes in a burst of speed and reappeared to Lee's right side and preformed a spinning back kick, while crying out "**Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick)!" (3)

Seeing the attack coming at him from the corner of his eye, Lee immediately brought his right arm up to block the kick, which proved to be almost as strong as Lee's **Konoha Senpū**.

Not letting up on his attacks and in an impressive feat of agility, Naruto was able to push himself off Lee's arm, and spun himself around Lee's unguarded left side and delivered a powerful forward mid-air spin kick. Hitting the left side of Lee's head and sending the green cladded boy flying into the wall, but was able to recover and flip himself around, before he could hit it.

As Lee stood back up, he rubbed the side of the head, where his left cheek was red from the kick. "Impressive move Naruto-kun, you're indeed a worthy opponent."

"Same to you Lee" Naruto replied, before he charged forward at top speed.

For several minutes, Naruto forced Lee to be on the defensive, by using his superior speed to his advantage. Although it did little to help, since despite being of the defensive, Lee suffered little damage, as he was able to block or dodge nearly all of Naruto's attacks, thanks to the intense Taijutsu training he went under with Gai. For as fast as Naruto was right now, Lee was still more skilled and experience in Taijust fighting than Naruto and therefore could take a few hits and wait for the right moment to strike, which he did. When an opening eventually appeared in Naruto's defences, Lee struck and delivered a powerful forward kick to Naruto that sent the blonde boy flying back.

Recovering quickly, Naruto landed back onto his feet, where he was forced to sidestep a forward punch from Lee and attempted a strong elbow strike to the left side of Lee's head.

Luckily though for Lee, he was able to bring up his guard in time and block the elbow strike. But when he did, Naruto used Lee's arm as type of springboard to push himself away and spin around behind Lee and struck him with a strong elbow strike to the back of the elder boy's head, causing the bushy haired boy to fall forward. (A) The strike was so strong, it nearly knocked Lee out, but luckily for him, he was able to stay conscious and rolled away from the young Senju.

Naruto immediately pursued after Lee, but the elder boy was able to keep his distance from Naruto and even jumped into the air to avoid a strong punch from Naruto.

He even took out and threw several Suriken at his blonde haired opponent, forcing him to jump backwards to avoid them, thereby increasing the distance between the two of them.

For a moment or two the two Konoha Genin continued to stare at one another, until eventually the two charged forward.

After dodging one of Naruto punches, Lee disappeared in a blur and reappeared to Naruto's left and attempted to punch him in the side. But Naruto caught sight of Lee appearing to his left, he was able to raise his arm up in time to block the punch, where he attempted a roundhouse kick to Lee's side.

Seeing this, Lee flipped up into the air and tried a falling axe kick on Naruto's head. Who quickly rolled out of the way to the right to avoid the kick, where he spun around and engaged Lee again in hand to hand fighting.

-With the Spectators-

"Most impressive" commented Gai as he watched his student and Naruto fight, he was quite impressed with Naruto's speed and skill as well as his reactions to Lee's moves, showing he had been trained well in hand to hand fighting. He was further intriged with Naruto's fighting style, despite how blunt and rough it was. In many ways Gai found it seemlier to the Goken (Strong Fist) style, where it relied on hard, fast hitting moves. Yet it also involved using ones agility to attempt risky moves and it involved using not only punchesand kicks, but also elbow stikes and knee strikes. "Tell me Kushina-san, what style is Naruto-kun using, I've never seen this type of Taijutsu."

"He isn't using any fighting style or at least not one with any name, as according to Naruto, he invented this style himself" answered Kushina.

At this Gai raised his eyebrow with fasciation, as he was not only surprised but highly impressed with Naruto. Since to develop one's own fighting style was very commendable in his book, but even more, since the style Naruto was developing had the potential to be quite powerful if developed correctly.

"Excuse Gai-sensei" asked Sakura, "but can you tell me why Lee-san is only using Taijutsu moves. I get that he specialises in Taijutsu's, but still fighting Naruto with Taijutsu alone will be difficult. Why doesn't he try any Ninjutsu?"

"It's not that he isn't using them, it just that he can't" answered Gai.

"Huh?" asked Sakura not understanding what Gai was saying.

"Lee has no talent in using Genjutsu or Ninjutsu.

"What! No way?" cried Sakura in surprise, where she was joined by Sasuke, who was equally surprised by this news.

"When I first met Lee, he had no talent in anything" stated Gai.

"_Impossible_" thought Sasuke, as he knew how strong Lee was from first-hand experience.

"Although it is very rare, there are Shinobi who are born unable to preform Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Knowing this, there was only one thing I could teach Lee to help him survive the Shinobi world and that was Taijutsu and although this can been seen as a disadvantage. It can also be seen as an advantage, where he could perfect his Taijutsu to a level that most Shinobi could never reach."

Before Sakura or Sasuke could ask Gai further, they notice that Naruto had gained the advantage in the fight and was forcing Lee back.

-With Lee and Naruto down in the arena-

After avoiding and strong kick from Naruto, Lee did a series of backwards summersaults to gain some distance from the young Senju.

But Naruto would have none of that this time, as he pursued Lee and threw several Shuriken at HIM. Forcing the Bushy haired boy to push himself up high into the air, where he landed on the stone hands.

After landing on the stone hands, Lee looked down, wondering what to do, but as he was strategizing, he suddenly heard his Sensei Gai call out to him.

"Lee! Take them off!"

Knowing what his sensei was reffering to, Lee turned to look at his sensei in surprise.

"But, Gai-sensei, I thought, that was only permitted, when protecting very important people" said Lee in surprise.

"Yes I know Lee, but this is an exception and I will allow it" replied Gai with a thumb up.

At hearing this, Lee got excited and began to laugh and started to take off his weights underneath his orange leg warmers.

"I guess_ I'm not the only one that uses this kind of training method_" thought Naruto with a frown, when he saw Lee taking the weights of his legs.

-With the Spectators-

"Are those…" muttered Ino

"…Weights?" finished Shikamaru

"_Weights?_" thought Tsunade with a slight frown.

"_This can't be good_" thought Jiraiya.

"_A little old fashion Gai, even Jiraiya-sama uses seals when it comes to this type of training method_" thought Kakashi as he glanced at his friend.

"_This should be interesting_" thought Kushina.

"Hmph, I don't see how losing some leg weights, is going to make that big of a difference" muttered Mai.

"_Now Senju, let's see how well you do against Lee without his weights on_" thought Neji.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"Yosh! That feels so much better, now I can move freely!" said Lee as he stood back up and lifted his weights up and dropped them. But when they hit the ground, there were two large crashes where the weights caused two small craters in the ground.

"What the fuck!" Naruto cried as he couldn't believe his eyes.

-With the Spectators-

When Lee's weight crashed to the ground, everyone in the arena was left stunned and wide-eyed by how heavy Lee's weights were.

"What the Hell!" cried Tsunade and Jiraiya together in shock.

"But how...?" said a stunned Shizune, who was squeezing poor Tonton in shock.

"Impossible" said Sasuke, who couldn't believe his eyes.

"This is off the chain Yo!" declared Killer Bee.

"How could he even move with that much weight on him" cried a surprised Sakura.

"_He can't be human_" thought a shocked Mai.

"_Gai you are too much_" thought Kakashi with a sigh.

"Talk about overkill" muttered Kushina.

"_This is insane!_" thought Yamato with a stunned look.

- With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"_This is nuts! What kind of sensei is Maito Gai? Not even Kaa-chan would do that to me and how can he move so fast with all that weight on him?_" thought Naruto, as he still couldn't believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.

-Enter Naruto OST Beautiful Green Wild Beast-

Before Naruto could even think more on the subject, Gai suddenly gave Lee the signal to go, where Lee responded with a "Yes Sir!" before he disappeared right before Naruto's and everyone else's eyes.

The next thing Naruto knew, Lee appeared right before him, when Naruto tried to defend himself and strike at Lee. He disappeared and reappeared to Naruto's right and delivered a powerful punch to the side of Naruto's face sending him flying.

Before Naruto could even realize what had just happened, Lee appeared again in Mid-air and gave him a brutal kick to the left side of his face, sending him flying in the opposite direction.

After the kick, Naruto tried to recover by getting his feet back on the ground, but as soon as he did Lee appeared again and punched him in the stomach. The punch was so strong, that Naruto felt like he had been kicked by a donkey and nearly fell to his knees.

This continued for the next few minutes, as Lee flew around Naruto, making the young Senju feel like a ping pong ball at being sent flying around the arena. He couldn't even defend himself as every time he tried, Lee would hit him before he could put his guard up and every time he tried to hit Lee. The green clad boy would disappear, and reappear somewhere else.

-With the Spectators-

"Unbelievable" said a stunned Sasuke, as he couldn't believe that Lee was this fast and that he held back this much from their fight.

"_So fast!_" thought Kakashi in surprise.

"_Amazing_" thought Kurenai

"Naruto-kun!" cried a worried Mai.

"That guy is too much, he's just too fast" said Shikamaru.

"I can't even keep up with up with him" said a stunned Choji.

"I never dreamed that anyone could be so fast" stated Ino in surpise and worry when she saw what was happing to Naruto.

"How in the hell can anyone be that fast?" said a shocked Kiba

"_Dammit_" thought Tsunade as she tightened her grip on the railing.

"_Shit, What the hell has Gai been doing to this Kid_" thought Jiraiya, as he couldn't believe that anyone around Naruto's age could be this fast.

"_Incredible, not even Gaara's Sand would be able to keep up with that kind of speed_" thought the amazed Temari.

"_No way_" muttered Omoi.

"What the hell is Konoha doing with these guys" yelled a shocked Karui

"Shit this kid is even faster than Haku" said stunned Zabuza

"No doubt" spoke Chojuro, who was joined by his team-mate Saito in agreement

Even Haku herself had to agree with them, as there was no point in denying it, although right now that was the least of her concern. Since right now she was fearful for Naruto, as the young boy was being thrown about like he was nothing by Lee.

Haku was of course not the only one who was worried for Naruto, since even Mai, Yugito, Samui, Omoi, Ino, Jiraiya, Shizune and his mother Tsunade were becoming more and more worried as they watch the fight.

"As I said even though Lee is unable to use either Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, we focused solely on his Taijutsu. Turning his disability into a gift, now he doesn't need those skills to win, since he has now become the foremost Taijutsu specialist and won't lose to anyone."

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After receiving yet another powerful kick from Lee, Naruto struggled to keep himself standing.

"_Shit! How the fuck is this happening? How can anyone be so fast?_" thought Naruto, as he spat out some blood and pant heavily. But before he could think any further on the matter Lee appeared right underneath Naruto and sent a powerful kick to his chin, sending him flying into the air.

Naruto of course recovered quickly thanks to his high tolerance for pain from his training with his mother and flipped himself over so that he would land on his feet.

But as soon as he landed, he saw Lee appear in front of him, where he tried to hit the elder boy. But he immediately disappeared and reappeared to Naruto's left, then his right and then behind him and each time Naruto tried to hit him, he would move away before Naruto could hit him.

Before Naruto knew where Lee went, the bushy-haired boy appeared to his right and sent him a powerful right hook, which sent the young Senju to the ground and skidding across it to the centre of the arena.

-End of Naruto OST Beautiful Green Wild Beast-

-With the Spectators-

"_Naruto_" thought Shizune with concern, as she saw her Godson/Surrogate little brother sent skidding across the floor. She could also see that both Jiraiya and Tsunade were just as concerned for Naruto as she was, where Jiraiya gripped his hands tightly and Tsunade was biting her fingernails.

"_Damn, it's bad enough that the kid went against Hanzo's Granddaughter, but now he's up against Gai's student and he's wiping the floor with him, this just isn't the kid's day_" thought Asuma.

"_Huh, the boy finished now_" thought Baki.

"_It seems that you and I weren't destined to fight after all Senju. But then again if you couldn't beat a failure like Lee, then perhaps you weren't worth fighting after all_" thought Neji.

"Poor brat just had some bad luck" muttered Anko.

"That's it, I'm ending this" said Tsunade as she was about to go down and stop the match, but before she could, she was stop by Kushina.

"Hold on Tsunade, this fight isn't over yet."

"It is as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to stand by and let my son get beaten into the ground."

"Please just wait a few more minutes; you should know better than anyone how tough he is" said Kushina.

"Of course I do, I trained him after all!" rounded Tsunade. "But in the condition he is in now and the seal preventing him from using his Chakra, how can he hope to beat that boy?"

"Well you've forgotten that Yamato and I have trained him and we've taught him a few things, so trust me. Naruto isn't done yet, he still has a chance and he is about to make his move" replied Kushina as she watched Naruto slowly stand up.

"Tsunade, I know your worried, but just wait a little longer, Kushina and Yamato have trained Naruto well, I too believe he still has a chance" said the Sandaime.

At hearing this Tsunade frowned slightly, but decided to wait just a little longer and hoped that her son could pull through this.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

As Naruto slowly got back onto his feet, he spat up some more blood and coughed a little. "_Crap! I knew Lee was tough, but I never imagined he was this strong, his speed is insane, I just can't keep up with him. I've got no other choice, I have to play my final card, if I don't I'm going to lose this fight._"

After seeing that Naruto was back on his feet and seeing the shape he was in, Lee frowned slightly."Naruto-kun, please give up, I do not wish to hurt, you cannot hope to match my speed. There will be no shame in admitting defeat."

When Naruto heard this, he just chuckled, "Sorry Lee but giving up is simply not my style, besides if you were in my shoes would you give up?"

"I suppose I would not"

"In that we are alike, but regardless, this fight is far from over" stated Naruto, where he then began to remove his green fingerless gloves, revealing two tattoo's on the back of his hands.

-With the Spectators-

"Are those…" said Tsunade.

"…Chakra storage seals" finished Jiraiya.

"Yep, they are, after I carved the Chakra storage seal on his Katana. I suggested that we also place some on his body, so that in the event that he was out of Chakra and lost his Katana. He could use the seals on his body and draw from them."

"But why didn't he use them in his first fight?" asked Shizune.

"Naruto wanted to keep the seals on his body secret for a long as possible, so that he would have a hidden ace up in his sleeve that people didn't known about. As to quote that Aburame kid from earlier, while one Ace in the hole is good, two are better" answered Kushina, before she looked back down at Naruto. Who had spat out some more blood on both seals and rubbed it along them, causing them to glow.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

When Lee saw Naruto the two seals on the back of Naruto's hands glow, he knew he needed to finish this fight now, before Naruto could do whatever he planned to do.

Quickly disappearing in a burst of speed, Lee reappeared in front of Naruto and punched him right in the face. But despite the force of the punch, Naruto held his ground, where he then swung his leg and tried to hit Lee in the side.

Sadly though, Lee was much too quick for him, where he disappeared in a blur. "You're fast Naruto-kun, but you are still nowhere near as fast as I am and therefore you cannot hit me" said Lee as he circled around Naruto at high speed, preparing for his next attack.

"Well if I can't beat you in speed, then I'll just have to beat you with raw POWER!" cried Naruto where he channelled an immense amount of Chakra from his right hand seal and released it when he slammed his fist into the ground, while crying "**Chikakuhendō** (Earthshaker Impact)!"

-Begin Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

Once Naruto's fist hit the ground, he released the Chakra that he had gathered. After which a massive explosion erupted, which sent Lee flying backwards into the stone hands and caused the entire arena to be filled with dust. The force of the explosion was so great that Lee was barely able to propel himself back up to the top of the hands and prevent himself from crashing into the wall.

Even the Match referee Hayate was not immune from the effects of the attack, where he was forced to jump up to the catwalks, just to get away.

"_What unbelievable power…all just from a single Punch_" thought the Chunin examiner in amazement.

The power of the punch was so great, that it created massive shockwave all around the arena, forcing everyone to cover their faces and literally shook the arena walls and ceiling.

-With the Spectators-

"What the hell is Senju doing? …Is he trying to bring the whole place down on top of us?" yelled Karui in disbelief.

"This is off the Hook Yo!" declared Killer Bee.

"This is nuts!" roared Kiba as he tried to keep himself steady from all the shaking.

When the shaking finally stopped and the dust around the arena finally settled, the spectators finally could see the state of the arena, where most of them were left completely stunned.

In the centre of the arena, Naruto stood in the middle of a small crater, while the entire arena floor had been pulverized by the excess shock of his attack, leaving it completely destroyed. The floor was completely torn up and was nothing more than rumble, large chucks of stone now littered it, making it nearly impossible for anyone to walk across.

"Yosh!" said Tsunade with a smile, at seeing her son turning the fight around as well as seeing that Naruto had indeed improved since she last saw him.

"_Naruto_" thought Shizune with a smile and some relief that he was alright.

"_You're definitely a chip off the old block brat, that's for sure_" thought Jiriaya with an amused smile.

"That's the way Naruto! That's my student! Show this guy whose boss!" yelled Kushina excitedly as she punched her fist into the air.

At the same time Yamato could only sigh and slap his forehead, not only because of Kushina's antics, but also because of what Naruto did to the arena. As like his mother, Naruto didn't know the meaning of restraint.

"_You are your mother's son Naruto_" thought the Sandaime Hokage as he saw the arena and couldn't help but be grateful that Naruto taught him how to beat his paperwork. Since the damage Naruto had just done to the arena, would no doubt triple it. He was also thankful that this was the last match, since it was unlikely that they would be able to have any more after this.

"Damn, I knew this kid was interesting, but I never expected this!" muttered a surprised Ibiki.

"No Shit and here I thought this year's exam was going to be dull" replied a shocked Anko.

"N-N-No way!" said a stunned Karui, "Has Senju always been this strong?"

"Unreal" muttered a shocked Omoi.

"Damn Yo!" said a surprised Killer Bee.

"Incredible" muttered a wide-eyed Samui, who was dumbfounded by Naruto's strength.

"_**Boy Kitten, you sure know how to pick them**_" commented a surprised and impressed Nibi, where for once, Yugito did not respond, since she was left speechless after seeing what Naruto did.

"I-Impossible!" said a stunned Kankuro as he couldn't believe his eyes, "_This guy...he's a freaking monster!_"

"_How is this possible?_" thought Baki, who had been completely taken back by Naruto's show of strength. "How can a mere boy possess such strength?"

Even the normally calm and level headed Temari was freaking out, after seeing the destruction. "_It can't be? No human can be this strong!...This Guy, he's a freak of Nature…just like Gaara_" thought Temari with disbelief and fear, which only grew when she saw the insane glee in Gaara's eyes, where she became fearful of what could happen should Naruto and Gaara ever face off against one another.

"_Yes mother, I know, He is the one! He is the one who will provide me with the battle I seek! He is the one that will allow me to truly feel alive and prove my existence to the world! And when I have finally killed him, you will feast on his blood like never before!_" thought Gaara with an insane excitement.

"Unbelievable!" muttered a wide eyed Shikamaru.

"Holy cow!" said Choji who was completely gobsmacked.

"I knew Naruto-kun was strong, but this is…" said Ino but couldn't finish what she was saying, as she was still in shock and was for once in her life, at a complete loss for words.

"Damn, I guess the old saying is true, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree" muttered Asuma as he puffed out some smoke. Even though he knew about Naruto's strength, see it for himself was something else

"Holy shit!" cried Kiba, who right now, was having second thoughts about trying to piss Naruto off anymore.

"_What phenomenal strength_" thought an amazed Shino, who was left completely wide-eyed.

"_Such power!_" thought Kureani, who like Asuma knew about Naruto's strength, but couldn't help but be amazed at seeing it for herself.

"_This is insane, how can he be this strong?_" thought a wide eyed Dosu.

"_Magnificent!_" thought Orochimaru with insane like glee, as he licked his lips at Naruto's show of power.

"_I don't believe it!... He was holding back this much when we fought?_" thought a shell-shocked Mai, but eventually her surprise wore off and she started to smile. "_But then again…I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from my future husband._"

Unfortunately though, Mai's team leader Kandachi did not take the sight as well as she did. Since this show of power made Naruto an even more dangerous threat than he or his master Hanzo ever dreamed possible.

"_This has to be some kind of nightmare, what the hell has Konoha been teaching its Genin? If that boy is this strong already, there's no telling how strong he will become in the future_" Kandachi thought.

"Damn, I think the brat has actually gotten stronger since last time" mutter Zabuza when he saw the destruction Naruto caused with a single punch.

"I agree" answered Haku, who like Zabuza was impressed with Naruto's power, as well as happy that Naruto had turn the fight around.

"_What extraordinary strength!_" thought Saito, who also caught a glance of the nervous look now on Chojuro's face.

Saito of course couldn't blame him for feeling so nervous, after seeing Naruto's true strength. Especially after what happened to him when they fought Naruto in the forest of death.

"Truly the son of Tsunade-sama" commented Gai, who like most, was astounded by Naruto's overwhelming strength. He was also beginning to understand what Kushina meant, when he was talking to her and Kakashi before the preliminaries.

"_So Senju…this is your true power_" thought Neji with a frown, after getting over his shock.

"Unreal…" said Tenten, "…He can use Tsunade-sama legendary strength!"

"Truly remarkable" commented Koharu when she saw the state of the arena.

"Indeed" replied Homaru

"_Very impressive young Naruto_" thought Danzo.

"_Well I have to admit, you certainly know how to put on a show Naruto_" thought Sai, since other than the time when Naruto hit him. This was the first time he was seeing the true extent of Naruto's superhuman strength.

Sakura herself was in equal awe of Naruto's strength, even though this was not her first time seeing it, she could not help it, as she still found it hard to believe that Naruto was "_this_" strong.

Sasuke on the other hand grew angry at this sight, since seeing this show of overwhelming power, was like rubbing salt in an open wound to him. As it just showed how powerful Naruto was and how inferior he (Sasuke) was to him. Furthermore it was obivous that Naruto's strenght had grown from the last time he saw him use is super human strenght.

"_No matter how many times I see this…it never ceases to amaze me, at how strong Naruto is_" thought Kakashi.

"This fight has certainly taken an interesting twist…" commented Kakashi, gaining people's attention"… since right now; we have Konoha's fastest Genin going against Konoha's strongest Genin…it's as if we're watching the age old struggle of speed versus power"

-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

As Lee looked down at the arena in utter shock of Naruto's strength and what he had done to it. The young man saw Naruto staring up at him and putting his fingerless gloves back on.

"It is true that in terms of skill and speed, you're vastly superior to me Lee. But in terms of raw power and destructive force…there's not a Genin alive in Konoha or anywhere for that matter…who can beat me!"

"It seems that I have grossly underestimated you Naruto-kun, a mistake that I will not make again" replied Lee before he disappeared.

Fortunately Naruto was prepared for Lee when he appeared in front on him and was able to sidestep his forward punch. After which Naruto attempted to punch Lee using his superhuman strength, but missed as Lee disappeared in a blur.

Acting fast Naruto jumped into the air and barely avoided a swinging kick from Lee, who appeared on Naruto's right.

After avoiding the kick, Naruto then swung around in mid-air and attempted to kick Lee in the side of the head, but like before, Lee avoided Naruto's attack by disappearing with a blur.

"Your strength is impressive Naruto-kun, but regardless of how strong you are, it won't matter if you cannot hit me" stated Lee, before he charged at Naruto again at high speed.

The fight continued like this for several minutes where Naruto used his super human strength keep Lee at bay. Who was naturally hesitant to get too close to Naruto, given the damage Naruto's attacks had done to the arena.

Although the state of the arena seemly also helped Naruto, since it limited Lee's manoeuvrability, where it was full of debris and obstacles and lacked solid footing for Lee to stand on.

As the fight continued, Naruto kept trying to hit Lee, while using his super human strenght, but each time Lee would avoid the attack, where Naruto would only hit the ruin floor or punch through the wall. It got so bad, that those watching the fight wondered if there would be even an arena left once the fight ended.

But even with the ruined arena helping him, it did not give Naruto what he needed most, which was a solid hit on Lee, since Lee was still much too fast for Naruto to hit. Even when he was able to predict some of Lee's moves, the green jumpsuit wearing boy would move away from Naruto before he could hit him. There was also the fact that Naruto was still taking hits from Lee, as he couldn't predict all of Lee's moves or avoid all of them in time when he did predict them.

Knowing that he needed to do something fast if he wanted to win, Naruto tried to think of a way to give him a solid hit on Lee. It was when Lee avoided another one of his punches, that an idea suddenly hit him, where he then channelled a large amount of Chakra from one of his seals and slammed his fist into the ground, causing a large dust cloud to cover the arena.

-With the Spectators-

"What is Naruto thinking? He knows he can't hit Lee-san like that, he just too fast" said Sakura.

"Just wait and see kid, Naruto isn't the type of person to do something without some kind of reason behind it" answered Kushina as she looked down at the dust filled arena.

"Indeed" added Tsunade, while wondering at the same time what her son was up to.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"_What is Naruto-kun doing?_" thought Lee, as he looked around the dust filled arena, where he couldn't see a thing. "_Wait! I see!… He's did the very same thing to Sasuke-san, when he fought him in the forest of death. He's trying to reduce my line of sight so that he can attack me without me seeing him. Very clever Naruto-kun, I would expect nothing less from you, but it is not clever enough to defeat me._"

After figuring out Naruto's plan, Lee quickly raced at top speed towards the last place he saw Naruto, knowing he couldn't have gotten too far.

As he neared the spot, the dust slowly began to settle, where he then saw the distinct silhouette of Naruto, standing in the same spot that he was before he created the dust cloud.

Wanting to finish this quickly, Lee sped toward Naruto and did a powerful round house kick, right into Naruto left side, which made contact. But as soon as Lee's kick had hit, he found he could not move away and that Naruto had not been sent flying away.

In fact, Naruto was still standing and was now holding Lee's right leg tightly between his left side and arm.

-With the Spectators-

"Very clever" commented Kakashi, realizing what Naruto's real plan was.

"Not too shabby" said Asuma.

"Like I said, Naruto doesn't do anything without a reason" stated Kushina with a smile.

"I don't get it" said Ino, "What exactly did Naruto-kun do? How was he able to catch Lee-san like that?"

"It's simply really; the kid knew that through normal means, he could never hit that other kid, so he devised a strategy by hitting the ground and causing a large cloud of dust to form around him. So that when that Lee kid moved through the dust cloud at high speed, he would disrupt the dust in the air. Allowing Naruto to see what direction he was coming from and prepare for him, where he then let that Lee kid kick him, so that he could grab hold of his leg and keep him in one place. He also probably channelled some of his Chakra from his seals to his feet, so that he would stick to the ground and not be sent flying." explained Jiraiya.

"But by letting Lee-san hit him like that, he has probably taken a lot of damage" said Sakura, since they had seen how strong Lee's kicks were.

"True but it was worth it, since now Naru-chan has a clean shot at that kid, as he can't move away" answered Tsunade with a small smile.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After taking Lee's kick and grabbing hold of his leg before he could move away. Naruto spat up some blood and grimaced, since he was certain that he had at least three broken ribs from that kick. But despite the pain, he smiled, since it was all worth it.

Lee on the other hand became worried, for as soon as Naruto grabbed hold of him, he realized what Naruto's real plan was behind the dust cloud and how Naruto let him hit him.

Before Lee could try and think of a way to get out of Naruto's grip, the young Senju charged his Fist up with a huge amount of Chakra.

"Sorry Lee, but this is where it all ends" said Naruto, before he delivered a devastating blow to Lee's face, which sent the elder boy flying to the other end of the arena and right through the stone wall near the main entrance doors, creating a ten foot wide hole in it.

When Tenten and Gai saw this, both of them cried out Lee's name in concern, since there was no doubt, that he would be seriously injured after taking a hit like that.

-With the Spectators-

"_He's finished_" thought Mai with a smirk.

"_The match is over!_" thought Yugito, as she looked at the rumble of stone that covered Lee

"Smash him like a window pane" rhymed Killer Bee.

"Oya Oya, Naruto sure didn't hold anything back" muttered Shikamaru, before muttering "Troublesome", when he saw the condition of the arena, which was just about destroyed and filled with several craters along with holes and dents on the wall.

"Hmm, I honestly didn't think Senju would pull it off" muttered Saito.

"_Naruto sure has gotten a lot stronger_" thought Omoi, since he was certain if he had been in Naruto's shoes, he would've lost long ago.

"_Nice going brat_" thought Jiriaya with a smile.

Even Tsunade looked relieved at seeing that Naruto had won and let out a deep sigh that she had been holding, as it was obvious she had been worried about her son.

-Down in the Arena-

After jumping back down into the ruined arena, Hayate look around the arena and then over to the rubble that covered Lee. "This match is ov…" said Hayate but before he could finish, he suddenly heard Lee's voice cry out "Wait!"

Once he heard this, Hayate quickly turned to look at the broken wall and saw Lee's right hand sticking out from underneath the rubble, before Lee slowly pulled himself out.

-With The Spectators-

"Impossible!" cried Tsuande in shock.

"No Way!" said Shikamaru.

"How on earth is he still conscious, let alone able to move? Naruto hit him dead on" said a stunned Shizune.

"But How?" asked Sasuke in shock, since after taking a hit like that, a normal human being should be unconscious if not dead.

"He can't be human" said Ino.

"_I give that kid this…he's a tough one_" thought Jiraiya with a frown.

"_Thank goodness_" thought Gai as he let out a sigh.

"_Lee_" thought Tenten, as she too let out a sigh of relief.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"_How in the hell is he able to stand, I hit him right in the face…at full force_" thought Naruto in shock. "_Lee should be out like a light for the next three days at least!_"

As he stared in disbelief at Lee, Naruto notice that Lee was in sorry stated, he was covered in cut and bruises and bleeding all over his green jumpsuit, which was in tatters right now.

Naruto also noticed that Lee's arm looked to be slightly out place, as if it was dislocated. No doubt caused when he hit Lee and sent him flying through the wall.

"Lee, stop this, you're in no shape to fight, you can't beat me, especially with your arm dislocated like that, just give up. I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have!" Naruto said in concern, since he didn't want seriously hurt Lee.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but like you I have my pride and I have no intention of giving up, as I have my own Shinobi way to protect."

"Can't you stop this?" asked Naruto as he turned to Hayate.

"If your opponent can still stand and intends to fight, then fight will continue" replied Hayate.

At this Naruto frowned, since he didn't want to hurt Lee anymore, before he could argue anymore. He saw Lee walk over to the wall next to him and slammed his dislocated arm right into the wall several times, forcing it right into place.

When Naruto and those that were watching saw this, many of them like Naruto couldn't help but flinch or look away, especially when they heard the sound of his shoulder go back into its slot echo throughout the arena, as well as hearing Lee's cries of pain when it did.

Once Lee arm was back into place he turned to look at Naruto, who didn't look pleased, as he didn't want to fight Lee anymore, since even if his shoulder was back in place, Lee was still in bad shape.

Ignoring the pain that he felt coming from his broken ribs, as well as his other injuries, Naruto charged at Lee, who tried to defend himself, but due to his own injuries. He could not raise his arms up in time and was sent skidding across the ground, when Naruto punched him.

-With the Spectators-

"Lee-san is not moving as fast as he use to" commented Sakura.

"I'm not surprised, after taking a direct hit like he did from Naruto, when he uses his superhuman strength…You don't simply walk away from it, not without some serious injuries at least" replied Kushina.

"I agree, although I will admit I'm amazed that Lee-san is even able to stand and attempt to fight, after taking a hit like he did" added Yamato.

"It seems that the boy isn't using his immense strength anymore" Koharu commented, when she saw that Naruto's punch was an ordinary one. "Could he have used all the Chakra in his storage seals?"

"I don't believe so" answered Homura, who like his counterpart, had recognised the seals on the back of Naruto hands earlier on. "If I were hazard to guess, I believe that the boy is holding back, so not to serious hurt the other boy. No doubt he's hoping that the Gai's student will be easy to knockout in his weaken state, so that he won't hurt him any further."

"_That sort of softness will you killed one day, boy_" thought Danzo, who saw that Sai's report on Naruto were correct. As despite his immense skill and power, Naruto lets his emotions and heart control him, something that Danzo blamed Tsunade and Sarutobi's teachings on.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Naruto sent Lee skidding across the ground, he looked down at his opponent/friend, who was struggling to get back up on his feet.

"Please Lee, just stop this, I don't want to hurt you anymore, you can barely move, if this continues you'll be seriously hurt and that something I don't want."

As Naruto said this, Lee began to remember all the fights that he had with Neji and how he always lost to him and how Neji kept saying he (Lee) could never beat a prodigy like him. He also remember how everyone from his old class in the Academy would say that he was hopeless, since he had no skill in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and that he was a failure. But then he began to remember how Gai believed in him and helped him become strong.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I must refuse your offer again, I cannot and will not give up" said Lee as he slowly stood up again.

At this Naruto just gashed his teeth in frustration, before charging at Lee again, intending to finish this battle now. But when he punched forward, Lee vanished in a blur, much to everyone's surprise (minus Gai's, who smiled).

After seeing this, Naruto turned and began to attack Lee with a series of jabs and trusts, but like earlier on in the fight, Lee skilfully avoided all of them.

-With the Spectators-

"His movements have returned to normal, but how" commented Haku in surprise, since a moment ago Lee could barely move.

"The lotus in Konoha blooms twice" answered Gai with a smile.

At hearing this, Sakura turned to Gai and asked him what he meant, as she remembered Lee saying that earlier on, back in the forest of death, before he left with his team.

"Gai, what did you…!" asked Kushina, but didn't finish as she'd already guessed what he had done.

"It is just as you suspect Kushina-san"

"So that boy, a Genin…is capable of opening **Hachimon** (Eight Inner Gates)?" spoke Kakashi slowly, as he joined the conversation.

"Yes" Gai replied.

At this news the Sandaime Hokage frowned slightly before looking down at Lee and Naruto

"What the hell were you thinking? Teaching something that dangerous!" rounded Tsunade, angrily, as she turned to the bowl cut haired man, knowing what this meant.

"This is a disaster…" said Jiraiya.

"What the hell have you done? Do you not realize what could happen not only to Naruto, but to your student as well?" said Kushina.

"How many Gates can he open?" Tsunade asked quickly.

"Five"

When the elder Konoha Shinobi heard this, their concerns grew even further.

"What is the** Hachimon**?" asked Ino, as like most of the other Genin they didn't like the sound of it.

At this question Gai began to explain in detail about **Hachimon** and what it did.

When Gai finished explaining everything, naturally the other Genin became just as nervous and worried as Tsunade and all the other elder Konoha Shinobi.

"What would exactly happen if you opened all the Gates?" Sasuke asked suddenly, after hearing the explanation on the **Hachimon**.

"By opening all eight gates, you are able to gain temporary powers that surpasses even a Kage level Shinobi. But as a result…" said Jiraiya,

"…you die" finished Tsunade, with an angry glare at Gai.

"Does that boy mean so little to you Gai?" asked Kakashi, as he looked at Gai with a serious stare. "There are limits to what you should teach a boy, I thought you knew better than this."

At this Gai just gave Kakashi and the others a serious look, "None of you know anything about Lee. He has something very important to prove, not only to himself but to everyone around him and he is willing to pay whatever price he has to. So I will do everything I can to help him!"

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Lee avoided one of Naruto's Kick, he disappeared and reappeared at the other end of the arena, away from Naruto, with his back to the main doors of the arena.

When Naruto turned to Lee, he could sense an immense force growing from Lee, causing him to wonder what the bushy haired boy was doing.

-Enter Naruto OST - Rock Lee Lotus Theme-

"_Gai sensei…please let this work_" thought Lee, as he began to release the third Gate the **Seimon** (Life Gate). "You are about to lose Naruto-kun, as today I will now prove to everyone, that even someone with no talent can beat a prodigy like you and that hard work and sheer determination can surpass natural born talent!"

It was at this point that Lee's entire skin turned red and he began to emanate large amounts of Chakra from his body, which was so strong that it could be seen.

At this point everyone was looking a Lee with complete shock; Naruto especially who was stunned by this new development, as he didn't know what Lee was doing.

"_What the fuck is going on? What is Lee doing and why has his skin turned red_?" was what Naruto was thinking in confusion.

-With the Spectators-

"He's open the third…now he'll attack" said Kakashi.

"No not yet" stated Gai, where he and everyone else watched as Lee opened the fourth Gate, the **Shōmon** (Gate of Pain).

"Unbelievable" said Kushina in awe.

"Incredible" muttered the Sandaime, as he watched Lee do something that should be impossible for a boy his age.

"No way" said Sasuke, as he watched Lee power up even further.

"This is nuts"" stated Jiraiya.

"_Naruto!_" thought Tsunade with worry.

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Mai in confusion and disbelief in what she was seeing.

"Amazing, No-one can do this at by sheer effort alone…the boy is truly gifted" mutter a stunned Kakashi.

"Naruto! Get out of there! You can't beat him!" yelled Tsunade in panic, but it was too late. The next thing Naruto knew Lee disappeared in an explosive burst of speed that torn the arena apart even further, forcing Hayate to once again jump up to the catwalks for safety.

"_What frighten speed_" thought Hayate as he jumped into the catwalk again.

Before Naruto knew what had happened Lee appeared underneath him and used his **Konoha Shōfū** (Tree Leaf Rising Wind) to shoot Naruto into the air.

The force of the kick was so great that it sent a massive shockwave all around the arena, forcing everyone to cover their faces.

"Holy shit!" cried Kiba, as he tried to shield himself from the shockwave and debris.

"_He's faster than ever!_" thought Yamato.

"_What Phenomenal speed!_" thought Kurenai in complete wonder.

"This is crazy, what the hell is Konoha teaching these guys?" yelled Kankuro, as he was beginning to believe that both Lee and Naruto weren't even human.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Haku.

"Where did they go?" asked a confused and shocked Saito.

"Up there!" said Zabuza, who couldn't believe how fast Lee was, as Naruto was shot up into the air above the dust and debris.

"But Where is Lee-san I can't see him?" asked Sakura.

-With Lee and Naruto down in the Arena-

"_Your immense strength is of no use to you now Naruto-kun_" thought Lee as he appeared right in front of Naruto, who couldn't move due to the force of Lee's earlier kick.

After appearing in front of Naruto, Lee delivered a powerful to punch, that sent Naruto flying to the ground, but before Naruto could hit the ground. Lee appeared behind Naruto and kicked him in the back, sending flying up again.

This continued for the next minute or two, where Lee would appear from every direction and hit Naruto before he could it the floor, walls or ceiling. Keeping him in mid-air and unable to defend himself or do anything, other than being Lee's punching bag.

"_This is insane, how can Lee be so inhumanly fast, where did he get all this power!_" thought Naruto, as pain shot throughout his entire body from all of Lee's hits.

"You're a though one Naruto-kun!" said Lee as he continued his relentless assault on the young blonde Senju.

-With the Spectators-

"This is crazy! How can anyone be so fast?" asked Yugito in awe and disbelief.

"Unbelievable" muttered an equally awed Samui.

"The guy isn't human" said Karui.

"_Shit Naruto!_" thought Omoi

"_His muscles are tearing themselves apart_" thought Kakashi, as he had to uncover his Sharingan just to keep up with Lee's speed and saw the stress that Lee's body was under from moving so fast.

"_He's too fast_" thought Sasuke, as like most people he couldn't follow Lee's speed, even if he could use his Sharingan he doubted he could even keep up. (4)

"Naru-chan!" cried Tsunade if fear at seeing what was happening to her son.

"_Damnit!_" thought an equally concerned Jiriaya

"_Can that really be Lee?_" thought an amazed Neji with his Byakugan on so to follow Lee's speed. "_But When did he become so…?_"

"_Lee, I never knew_" thought Tenten is awe of her team-mates speed and strength

It was at this point that Gai saw Lee preparing to open the Fifth Gate, the **Tomon** (Gate of Limit).

"_Please let this work!_" thought Gai, as he closed his eyes and prayed that his student would be alright after this.

-With Lee and Naruto down in the Arena-

"This is where it ends Naruto-kun!" cried Lee as he appeared over Naruto. "The Fifth Gate, **Tomon**!"

At this point Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, the Sandaime and many others called out Naruto's name knowing what would happen next.

"_This is it!_" thought Lee, but as he prepared to deliver the **Ura Renge** (Reverse Lotus), but before he could, he suddenly became consumed by immense pain coming from his entire body.

But after a moment, he overcame the pain and focused on finishing his move, where he then preformed the **Ura Renge** and sent Naruto crashing to the arena floor like a meteor, causing yet another massive crash and destroying the arena even further. This forced everyone to once again cover their faces from the shockwave and dust, caused by the crash.

-End Naruto OST - Rock Lee Lotus Theme-

-With the Spectators-

"_Shit that was too fast I couldn't tell what was even happening_" thought Shikamaru as he covered his face.

"_Truly impressive_" thought Danzo, who believed Lee may one day become a valuable asset to Konoha.

"_Not bad for a freak_" thought Sai, who was just as amazed as everyone by Lee's power and speed.

"Shit!" yelled Kiba again, as he protected his face from the debris.

"NARUTO!" cried, Tsunade, Shizune and Ino together, while others like Omoi, Haku, Samui, Yugito and Mai, thought "_Naruto!_"

-Down in the Arena-

After the attack, Lee fell to the ground screaming in agony, as pain shot up from his left arm and leg. Once he hit the ground he rolled across the ground, unable to do anything for the moment.

Eventually, Lee slowly got back onto his feet, and looked towards the dust cloud, caused by the crash, hoping to see Naruto. As the dust slowly settled an even larger crater replaced the one that Naruto had created earlier on.

But before the dust could fully settle, Naruto burst out of the dust cloud and headed straight for Lee

-With the Spectators-

"Naruto…he's ok" cried Shizune.

"Thank Goodness" thought Tsunade, where she felt like she lost a year of her life from worrying so much.

"_Impossible_!" thought Gai in shock.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Naruto appeared out of the dust, Lee was stunned, as he couldn't understand how Naruto withstood his **Ura Renge**. Lee of course tried to avoid him, but found he could not as he was too injured from opening five of the eight gates.

The next thing the young disciple of Gai knew what happened, Naruto appeared in front of him and did a perfect imitation of Gai's and Lee's **Konoha Shōfū** (Rising Leaf Wind), where he kicked Lee right up into the air. After which Naruto propelled himself up after Lee and once he was above Lee he did a mid-air summersault.

"I'm sorry Lee but I'm finishing this fight once and for all!...**Gekikyaku **(Hammer Kick)!" yelled Naruto. Before he performed a falling axe kick down on Lee's chest and sent the young boy crashing to the floor, just like Lee had done to Naruto moments ago, indicating that Naruto was using his super human strength.

Like moments ago, a large shockwave erupted from the crash and dust once again filled the air, forcing those watching the fight to cover their faces.

-With the Spectators-

"Shit, this is getting out of hand, how many times do these two need to destroy the arena!" cried Anko as she covered her face.

"Let's just hope this finishes it, as I don't think this place can last much longer" replied Ibiki.

"LEE!" cried Tenten when she saw her team-mate hit the ground

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

Like Lee, when Naruto landed on the ground, he tumbled a bit, but slowly regained himself and got onto his knees, although was panting heavily.

"I didn't…pant, want…to go this...pant…far Lee…pant…but you left me…pant, not choice" said Naruto, as he was about done. His body was wrecked from all his injuries and couldn't move and even if he could he didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

-With the Spectators-

"I don't understand, how did he withstand the **Ura Renge**?" asked Gai, since after a direct hit from the **Ura Renge**, Naruto should have been finished.

"It happened when you closed your eyes to pray" responded Jiraiya.

"What?"

"When you closed your eyes to pray, the kid paused momentarily from the pain of the stress on his body" said Jiraiya. "That's when Naruto replaced himself with a large piece of rubble from the floor, avoiding the attack and then waited in the dust cloud to strike."

"_You certainly lucked out Naruto_" thought Kushina seriously. "_Had Lee not stopped because of the pain, you would've lost_."

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

Once the dust had settled, the spectators saw that most of the arena was now one giant crater surrounded by rubble and with Lee in in the centre lying on the floor, seemly unconscious.

Soon after, Hayate jumped back down to the arena, where he still couldn't believe that all this was caused by two young Genin.

"_What a battle!_" thought the sickly looking examiner as he lped at the state of the arena, after which he turned to the badly beaten Naruto to the unconscious Lee lying on the floor, where he couldn't help but marvel at their strength and skill. "_Regardless of who won this battle, both those boys are something else._"

But just when Hayate was about to declare Naruto the winner, he suddenly saw Lee slowly getting back up onto his feet.

"_N-N-No way!...It's not possible!_" thought Naruto in disbelief, when he saw Lee standing up. His body was shaking, showing that he could barely stand; he was bleeding from his arms, legs and mouth, covered in bruises and cuts. His clothes were torn up and covered in dirt and dried blood, yet despite everything that he went through Lee was standing up and falling into a fighting stance.

-With the Spectators-

"No Way!" said Kiba in awe.

"It can't be!" spoke a stunned Samui.

"Impossible!" cried Tsunade in surprise.

"How can he stand up after Naruto's attack" said an equally surprised Shizune.

"_What the hell is this kid made out of_" thought Kushina in amazement.

"How is this possible?" muttered a wide eyed Yamato.

"He can't be human…no-one should be able get up after a hit like that" stated Mai in astonishment.

"_Lee_" thought Tenten and Gai in surprise and concern.

"_He opened five of the eight gates, took two direct hits from Naruto when he uses his super human strength, smashed through a stone wall and into a stone floor and used the **Ura Renge**. He shouldn't be able to move, let alone be able to stand up after all that!_" thought Kakashi in bewilderment.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"_How can he still be standing? __I hit Lee with everything I had!_" thought Naruto in surprise and confusion. "_If he attacks I'm finished!_"

But as soon Naruto thought this, he and Hayate looked at Lee's face and saw that he was in fact unconscious.

"_He's unconscious?_" thought Naruto in disbelief.

"_Even though he lost consciousness, his body refused to give up, the only thing that is keeping him up is sheer willpower_" thought Hayate, who could not help but admire Lee's determination.

"What a guy!" muttered Naruto in awe.

"This match is over, the winner is Senju Naruto" declared Hayate.

As soon as Naruto was declared the winner, the young blonde fell to the ground, as he could no longer keep sitting up.

Once he hit the ground, Tsunade and Shizune immediately jumped down to the arena, followed closely by Gai who went to Lee.

As soon as Tsunade reached Naruto, she could see that her son was badly hurt.

"Naruto are you alright? Where does it hurt most?" asked Tsunade quickly, as she prepared to heal Naruto.

"I've been better Kaa-chan, as for where it hurts most, it hurts everywhere" replied Naruto, with a painful smile, since he hadn't felt this bad since one of his punishment exercises from his mother.

"You damn idiot, don't you know how worried you had me? I swear you won't be happy until you put me into an earlier grave" said an annoyed and concerned Tsunade.

"Heh, Sorry Kaa-chan" said Naruto with a painful grin.

"Apologise later, right now I need to heal you" stated Tsunade where she was about to start healing Naruto but was stopped by Naruto.

"No wait Kaa-chan" said Naruto, as he stopped his mother. "Go to Lee, he's in worse shape than me and needs you more, Shizune-nee can take care of me."

"Naruto you can expect me t…" said Tsunade, but was stopped by Naruto.

"Please Kaa-chan, just do it, I've caused Lee's enough pain, I don't want him to suffer anymore" pleaded Naruto.

At hearing his, Tsunade bit her lip in frustration, since she couldn't refuse Naruto when he begging her like this. It especially annoyed her that Naruto was asking her of this, when he was in this state. But then again it wasn't uncommon for Naruto to do something like this, since he often showed more concern for others than himself, at trait that he inherited from his father Minato.

Eventually though, Tsunade broke and agreed to help Lee, where she gave Shizune a look that told the younger woman to take care of Naruto. Shizune of course nodded, indicating that she would, after which the Slug Princess went over to help Lee.

After a couple of minutes, Naruto was back on his feet, he was of course nowhere near fully healed, but was now well enough to stand and walk around a bit, although had to move slowly with Shizune's help.

Once he was back on his feet, Naruto and Shizune, slowly made their way over to Lee and the others, where Tsunade had just finished examining Lee and the medics where gently placing Lee on a stretcher and taking him away.

"Kaa-chan, how is Lee?" asked Naruto after he walked up to his mother.

At this question, a sadden look appeared on Tsunade's face where she remained silent for a moment before answering, "He's breathing, but the bones in his entire body have suffered comminuted fractures, no doubt caused from your attacks. His muscles have also been torn up, due to the stress of opening the five gates and moving so fast."

"But that's nothing that you can't treat" said Naruto, knowing how skilled his mother was in healing.

"If it was just that then yes, it would be alight, even though he would be in for a long recovery. The problem is, there are fragments of bone lodged in his spinal column, which most likely happened when you hit him with your last attack…I'm afraid his life as a Shinobi is over."

"No, can't be!" said Naruto in denial, but the look on his mother face told him that it was.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have gone so far…" said Naruto with a pain look, as he never wanted this. "…it just that…he wouldn't give up, no matter how hard I hit him, he just kept getting up. I never wanted to take away his life as a Shinobi and his dream."

"No Naruto-san this is not your fault…" spoke Gai sombrely, as took the news as badly as Naruto did if not worse and was fighting hard not to cry. "…the fault lies with me. I was the one who taught Lee how open the inner gates. I just didn't want to imagine that Lee would lose. I wanted to help him achieve his goal so badly that I…"

At this Gai stopped, as the pain and the sorrow of what happened to Lee was too much for him. "_Please forgive me Lee…forgive me for not being able to stop you._"

"Kaa-chan please, isn't there anything you can do? You're the greatest Medic in the world! There has to be something you can do?" pleaded Naruto, since couldn't bear knowing that he was responsible to taking Lee dream away from him. He also didn't believe this was right, after everything Lee went through just to get this far.

At this question Tsunade frowned slightly, as if in deep thought and after a moment or two she finally spoke, with complete seriousness. "There is an operation, that I and I alone could perform, which could allow him return to duty. But there is only a fifty percent chance of success and I'm afraid I won't attempt any operation with less than fifty-one percent."

"But fifty percent is better than what he has now!"Naruto said.

"You don't understand Naruto… if this operation fails then it will most likely prove fatal for him" explained Tsunade, shocking both Gai and Naruto. "It may be better if the boy simply retires from Shinobi life."

"Isn't there anything you can do to improve those odds Kaa-chan?" asked Naruto, since he refused to believe this.

"Is there anything you can do Tsunade-sama?" asked Gai desperately, since he would do anything to help Lee no matter the cost to himself.

Seeing how desperate her son and Gai were, Tsunace bit her lip in frustration, before speaking. "There might be a way for me to improve on those odds, but I would have to do some research on it. But I won't even consider attempting it, until the boy has recovered from his other injuries, so we have some time until then."

At hearing this Naruto smiled, since if there was anyone who could help Lee it was his mother.

"Thank you, I would be eternally grateful for anything you can do Tsunade-sama" said the grateful Gai, to which Tsunade just nodded.

-With the Spectators-

As the Spectators watched Lee being taken away by the medics, many could not help but be sadden at how it ended, as most couldn't help but admire how hard Lee fought.

"_He fought to the very end and never gave up_" thought Mai, who gained some respect for Lee and how hard he fought Naruto and very well nearly defeated him.

"He was indeed strong, the fight could've gone either way" commented Yugito, where the rest of her team nodded in agreement, as like Mai, they had gained so respect and admiration for the young Konoha Genin's skill and determination.

"Lee" said the concerned Tenten, as she saw her badly injured team-mate being taken away

"Is Lee-san going to be ok?" Sakura asked Kakashi.

"I honestly don't know Sakura" replied the copy-nin with a sombre tone.

"_Lee… even in the end you simply didn't understand. You can never change your fate, no matter how hard you try or how much your risk. Just as you were fated to be a failure, Senju was fated to win. Fate will never smile one someone who seeks to win by falling on their own sword or demands others to fall on theirs_" thought Neji.

* * *

With Naruto's match now over, the preliminaries were offically finished, but given the state of the arena, the Hokage could not give his explanation on what was to happen next.

Hence Hokage and the other examiners led them to the room that Naruto and the others went into, after Tsunade made her entrance.

Once everyone had entered the room, the Sandaime went on to explain how the finals were going to happen and how they would be given a one month training period. This would also allow leaders of the other Shinobi villages to be informed of the results of the exam up to this point. As well as give the Daimyo's from other lands time to prepare and come to Konoha so they can watch the finals.

Eventually though, the Sandaime got to point where he explained that the final rounds would be a tournament, where the winners of each match would move to the next round. The first matches of the tourament would be decided by draw of a lottery, where their names would be called out. After which they would then place their hand in a box that Anko was now holding, and pull out a medium size stone ball with a number drawn on it. Whatever number they draw they would face the person with the number that came before or after it, for example if a person got number one and another person got number two, then they would face off against each other in the finals.

This was to make sure that the matches were fair and random, as well as give each person a fair chance to prepare for their opponent, now that they all knew each other's skills and abilities.

After everything was explained, Anko began to call out the names, where the person that was called would walk up and take a number ball and show it.

"I've got twelve" said Dosu.

"I have number fourteen" spoke Omoi

"Three" stated Temari

"Number five" Yugito said

"Nine" Kankuro spoke

"I have fifteen" Haku stated

"Eleven" said Gaara

"Thirteen" stated Sasuke

"One" spoke Neji after taking out the stone ball with the number one.

"Next Senju Naruto" said Anko, after hearing his name being called Naruto slowly walked up to the the purpled haired Kunochi. He then placed his hand into the box that she was holding, and took out the the first stone ball his hand touched. When Naruto took it out and saw the number he slowly began to chuckle, which soon turned to a dark mirthless laugh.

"_What is Naruto-kun doing?_" thought Haku.

"What going on with Naruto-kun?" Ino asked her friend.

"I don't know" replied Sakura who was just as confused as her friend. "It must have something to do with the number he has drawn."

"_What number did the brat draw?_" thought Zabuza, who was just as curious as everyone else.

"Hey kid what number do you have?" asked Anko, who was starting to get impatient with Naruto.

Naruto of course did not answer and just kept laughing mirthlessly, but moments later he stopped and turned around and held up his hand, showing everyone his number or more precisely, he showed Neji his number.

"Number Two" said Naruto with a cold and evil looking smirk.

"Wait! Number two!" said Ino in surprise.

"Then that's means…" said Sakura realizing what this ment.

"…Naruto and Neji will be facing each other in the first round of the finals" finished Tenten.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru.

When the Sandaime heard what number Naruto had drawn, and realized who Naruto would be facing. He began to wonder if maybe he should change the matches, since he wasn't sure if the Chunin arena could handle a pissed off Senju.

"_Well this should be entertaining_" thought the Demon of the Hidden Mist, with an amused smirk behind his mask.

"_Huh better him than me_" thought Kiba with a smirk, since if it wasn't for the fact that Neji nearly killed his team-mate, the young Inuzuka _might_ actually feel sorry for the Hyuga Prodigy.

"Oh boy" said Asuma, as he could already guess what was to come.

"_This is not going to end well_" thought Yamato with a concern look.

"_Ooohhh…this could be fun to watch_" thought Anko with an evil looking smirk, where she made it a point to get a front row set for the finals, since given what happened between Naruto and Neji earlier on. The first round of the the finals were going to very violent and perhaps even bloody.

"This is going to get messing" muttered Kushina.

"_Heh! That Hyuga punk is in for it now_" thought Tsunade with a cold smirk.

"_So Senju, it seems we were fated to battle after all_" thought Neji as he stared coldly back at Naruto.

"_Damn, I figured the chances were good that the brat and that Hyuga kid would face off in the finals, but I never expected they would face each other, straight off the bat_" thought Jiraiya is surprise, before glancing over at Gai. "_I hope you've prepared a eulogy for that kid of yours Gai, as you're going to need it, after the brat is done with him_."

"It seems that your precious fate has betrayed you and has handed you to me on a silver platter...I suggest that you use your remaining time wisely _Hyuga Neji _and get your affairs in order_. _Because when we meet one month from now, I will…_**CRUSH YOU!**_" said Naruto as he snarled out the last part and crushed the stone ball in his hand to dust. This action caused some of the Genin to take a step back in fear.

"Damn…Naruto can be pretty scary when he's pissed" commented Omoi, where for once his team-mate Karui was in complete agreement with him. Who was seriously having second thoughts on going against Naruto, after seeing what he could do in his match with Lee.

"That ain't no maybe" replied Killer Bee, "Naruto's anger is never meek."

Soon enough though, Naruto walked back to his mother and the others, after which Anko called out the remaining names.

Shino got number ten.

Samui got number sixteen.

Karui got number eight.

Chojuro got number six.

Sai got number seven.

And finally Shikamaru got number four.

Once everyone had gotten their numbers, Ibiki then revealed a large board showing who would be facing who and how they would move up through the tournament.

When the Genin and other spectators looked at the board they saw,

"Round one was Senju Naruto vs Hyuga Neji"

"Round two was Temari vs Nara Shikamaru"

"Round three was Nii Yugito vs Chojuro"

"Round four was Sai vs Karui"

"Round five was Kankuro vs Aburame Shino"

"Round six was Sabaku no Gaara vs Dosu"

"Round seven was Uchiha Sasuke vs Omoi"

"Round eight was Yuki Haku vs Samui"

When everyone saw how the matches were being set up, their reactions varied.

"_Troublesome, I have to fight another girl_" thought the annoyed Nara, when he saw that he was facing Temari in the finals

"_Crap I'm in the same half of the draw as Gaara, maybe I should just forfeit and let that other guy, face him_" thought Kankuro nervously.

"_Hhmm, I see my opponent is that Kumo guy, he's not one of the people I had hoped for, but he should be interesting_" thought Sasuke, since he had been watching Omoi's fight. There was also the added benefit that if he won his fight, he'd have another chance at fighting Haku or go against Samui, both of whom Sasuke wanted to fight.

"_Uchiha Sasuke, Senju Naruto_" thought the crazed Jinchuriki of the two people he wanted to fight most in this exam.

"_This is perfect_" thought Neji with a small smile.

"_So I'm the one that gets the first crack at the Uchiha, I have to be careful with him_" thought Omoi.

"_I see so I'm facing that Kunoichi from Kumo_" thought Haku, with a slight frown, as she remembered how quickly and easily Samui took Ino down and what Naruto said about her. "_And should I win my battle, I may have to fight Uchiha Sasuke again_"

"_Crap, I going against the Yugito girl and if what Naruto-san said is true, she's stronger than Haku_" thought the worried Chojuro, as he heard what Naruto said about Yugito when she faced Kiba.

"_This could be difficult…_" thought Yugito _"…if I want to face Naruto, I will have to win my match against the Kiri Genin and then face either Karui or that Konoha Genin she is facing. Naruto will also have to do the same on his end, where if he wins against that Hyuga guy, he'll have to face either the Suna Kunochi or her opponent. But then again this could work to our advantage, where Omoi is facing the Uchiha first and should he fail, Samui can face him right after the fight, should she win her battle. Even if she loses her match against the Kiri Kunoichi or the Uchiha, I can finish him off in the finals should he win all his matches._"

"_I couldn't ask for anything better_" thought Naruto with a smirk, since once he taken care of Neji he had a possible shot against Temari. Who he was still sore at for what she tried to do to Tenten and after that had a possible rematch with Yugito and then either Sasuke or Gaara.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Shikamaru as he raised his hand.

"You may" the old Kage.

"If this is going to be a tournament, does that mean there is only going to be one winner and only one of us is going to be a Chunin?" asked Shikamaru.

"Actually it is quite the contrary" replied the Sandaime. "There will be several judges in the final rounds, including myself, the other Kages that will most likely come. As well as the lords from the various countries who will be coming to watch you fight in the finals. By watching you in this tournament, they will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your skills and abilities. They will then decide if any or all of you possess the qualities required to be a Chunin. Even if you lose your match, there is still a chance that you could become a Chunin."

"So that means there's a chance that all of us, who have passed into the finals could become a Chunin" said Naruto, after getting what his surrogate Grandfather was saying.

"Correct" answered Sarutobi, "But there is an equally chance than none of you will be chosen to become Chunin. But that is the advantage of this tournament and fighting multiple battles, since if gives you more chances to show your skills and abilities."

"_This is just about the most troublesome thing ever_" thought Shikamaru with a annoyed look.

Once the explanations were all done, the Sandaime dismissed everyone and wished all those in the finals luck.

After the Sandaime dismissed everyone, Kakashi took hold of Sasuke and **Shunshin** (Body flicker) away, to seal his curse seal.

Tsunade was of course about to do the same, but before she could, Naruto saw Yugito and her team walking over to him, where he asked his mother to wait a few minutes, where he walked over to them and meet them half way.

"Hey guys, hey Bee-sensei" greeted Naruto.

"Yo Naruto!" greeted Killer Bee before he held out his fist, "Gimme me some!"

Naturally when Naruto saw this he followed in tow, where he bumped fists with Killer Bee, who was technically his fist Kenjutsu teacher.

"Good Stuff man. Especially this…Oh, and that" said Bee as he and Naruto continued to bump fist together.

"It's good to see you Bee-sensei, it's been too long" said Naruto with a smile.

"I feel ya…Naruto, Nice. The Look on your face is as cool as ice"

"So did I live up to your standards?" asked Naruto.

"Your Battle of off the Hook, a right handed smash with a downward crash" replied Killer Bee in his usual rhymes.

"Indeed, both your battles were very impressive Naruto-san, you have become a great deal stronger since we last saw you" spoke Samui.

"Thanks...so have all of you" replied Naruto.

"I expect to meet you in the third round Naruto, because I will not forgive you if you lose to someone else, as that pleasure belongs to me" said Yugito, which caused Naruto to smirk.

"Oh don't worry Yugito-chan I have no intention of losing especially not to the Hyuga-teme or the fan girl" replied Naruto before giving both Neji and Temari a cold glance as they walked by them. "Plus I'm looking forward to our little rematch an-ow!"

"Naruto-kun you were amazing when you were fighting Lee-san. I knew you would win!" declared Ino as she pushed herself next to Naruto and latched onto Naruto's right arm. Forgetting that the young boy was still quit sensitive from his recent fight, where he flinched slightly in pain.

At seeing this scene, a small tick mark appeared next to Yugito, while Samui frowned at seeing her former opponent.

"Eh yea, thanks Ino-chan" replied Naruto with a small smile.

"Oh do you know these guys Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, as she finally took notice of the Kumo team.

"Yea, these are Yugito, Omoi, Karui, their sensei Killer Bee and you of course already know Samui."

Upon seeing Samui, Ino narrowed her eyes, since she of course remembered one who defeated her in the preliminaries. It also didn't help that Ino was slightly jealous of Samui breast size, which were clearly C-cup and still growing.

"A pleasure" said Yugito with a smile, which was clearly forced.

"Yea nice to meet you to" replied Ino with a frown, as she held Naruto's arm tighter, as was clearly threatened by how familiar the Kumo girls were to "_her_" Naruto-kun.

"Excuse me, but if you don't mind, could you kindly let go of my future husband arm" spoke a familiar female voice.

At hearing this, Naruto, Ino and the Kumo team quickly turned to Naruto's left and saw none other than Hattori Mai walking over to them with a annoyed look.

"He's not your husband, Naruto-kun is with me!" stated Ino defiantly as she glared over at the older girl and held Naruto's arm tighter.

"Hmph! And pray tell why exactly would Naruto-kun want to be with a weakling like you, who lost her match" retorted Mai with a cold smirk, when she saw Ino's angry glare.

"I would not be the one insulting Ino-sans lost if I were you Mai-san, since if memory serves, you lost your match as well" commented Haku, as she walked up to the group.

"Oh it's you Ice Princess, come to try and take Naruto-kun back, well I'm afraid you can't have him" replied Mai, as she grabbed hold of Naruto's remaining free arm and then gave Haku a saucy look.

This act of course resulted in Naruto blushing red from embarrassment, as he now had a girl on each arm. Haku and Ino of course did not take this well, where Ino glared angrily at the other girl, while a large tick mark appeared on Haku's head.

Not far from Naruto and the girls, Tsunade and the other watched the scene unfold. Naturally when Jiraiya saw this scene, he immediately started giggling perversely, as ideas started to pop into his head.

"_Hehehe…the brat a chick magnet just like his old man…he already has girls fighting over him...Ah Minato you would be so proud of him_" thought Jiraiya as he continued to giggle and write, while wiping away a imaginary tears of joy. Although as he did, inwardly Jiraiya was crying in anime tears "_Why can't stuff like that happen to me?_"

Kushina and Shizune were also highly amused by the situation, where they couldn't help but smile and planned to tease Naruto about this later on.

Tsunade on the other hand, wasn't amused at all by what was happening, in fact she had a large frown on her face and her right eyebrow began to twitch with annoyance. It got even worse, when she saw Mai grab Naruto's left arm, since she was still angry at the girl for what she did after her battle with Naruto.

"Shouldn't you be with your Sensei and preparing to leave the village, since you did not qualify to go to the finals" said Haku rather calmly.

"Yeah, why do you just head back to your village, where you belong" stated Ino angrily, as she heled Naruto's arm tightly.

At this Mai just smiled, "Actually no, I've arranged with my Sensei to stay here for a while longer and watch the finals, as I wish to see what else my future husband is capable of." Since after seeing Naruto's battle with Lee, Mai interest in Naruto only grew and she was eager to see what else the young Senju heir was capable of. "Besides this gives Naruto-kun and I some time to get to known one another better."

"He's not your future husband!" declared Ino angrily, as she tried to pull Naruto more to her, although Mai held strong.

As this was happening, Naruto began to feel like he was in a middle of a tug of war, with Mai pulling to his left and Ino pulling to his right.

"I agree" replied Haku rather coolly, as she slowly started to lose her patients with Mai.

"Oh and who else would there be? Surely not you?" said Mai. "You may be tough Ice Princess, I'll give you that and you're not bad looking either. But you don't exactly have much else to offer, since what are you? Just above an A cup?"

At this remark, Haku blushed slightly in embarrassment, at the mention at her breast size. Despite being insulted, Haku kept her cool and remained calm and maintained a neutral façade, so not to let Mai know that she got to her. But behind that façade, Haku's eyes held murderous intent, where a dark menacing aura surrounded her.

When Naruto saw this, he became slightly worried at what would happen, he even could've sworn that he saw a demonic visage hovering over Haku. Proving that she was indeed a true student of the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist).

Mai of course ignore Haku's glares and then turned to Ino, "You on the other hand have even less to offer, since you barely even lasted thirty seconds in your match and quite frankly, I think you're even smaller than the Ice Princess. Hell I be more threatened by miss cow-titties over there than you"

When Mai said this, Ino went red with anger and glared daggers at the Granddaughter of Hanzo, especially at the remark of her bust size.

Samui too also took insult at Mai's remark, knowing that she was referring to her. The insult was further annoying to her, since Mai was basically the same size herself.

"Although I will say this" continued Mai, "You're at least more developed than the Pettanko over there (5)."

"What did you say Bitch!" cried Karui angrily.

"You heard me!" Mai replied with a smirk as she looked over at Karui.

"_Oh crap_" thought Naruto, knowing things were only going to get worse now, since Karui had serious issues when people talked about her underdeveloped chest.

"Well at least I don't dress up like some whore!" Karui responded angrily.

"Well unlike you, I actually have something to show…flat chest!" retorted Mai with sneer, which further infuriated the young Kumo Kunoichi, where flames of rage erupted from her eyes.

"_**Why you**_…!" growled Karui angrily and took a step forward but was stopped by Samui.

"No Karui, not here"

"I suggest that you watch your mouth, as I will not stand by and let anyone insult my team-mate" said Yugito coldly as she stepped forward. While at the same time, channelled her Chakra to her fingernails, causing them to grow and become claw-like.

Mai of course was not intimidated and just smirked, "Looks like someone is overdue a trimming."

Once Yugito heard this, the young girl narrowed her eyes angrily and at the same time she could hear the Nibi telling her to claw Mai's eyes out. This was of course a suggestion that Yugito had no probelm in following, since she was already angry enough at girl.

From the side lines Omoi and Killer Bee watch the whole scene unfold, where the tension between the six girls became so thick that one could cut it with a knife. It got so bad, that those watching the scene could've swore they saw Lightning coming out of the girls eyes, where most of them glared at Mai, who just glared back at them.

"Eh Sensei, don't you think you should step in and stop them?" asked Omoi, as he turned to his sensei.

"I'm cool, but I ain't no fool" replied Bee, since he was smart enough to know, not to get involved in a cat fight, between Kunochi.

At the same time, Naruto could only sigh and wonder how he got himself into this situation, while also thinking "_Why is it that I suddenly feel like a piece of meat?_"

Fortunately though, before things could get out of hand, all six Kunoichi froze, when they suddenly sensed a dark malevolent presence coming from behind Naruto.

When they turned they saw none other than Naruto's mother Tsunade towering over them with a annoyed look on her face and a pitch black aura surrounding her. They also notice a disturbing red fire in her eyes, which gave her near demonic appearance.

Upon seeing Tsunade, Ino and Karui couldn't help but wither under the older woman's stare, as they now understood why Tsunade was so feared. The other girls though held their nerve and did not show any signs of fear, although they were all slightly unnerved by how Tsunade was looking at them.

"Great the old hag is here now" muttered Mai, when she saw the Slug Princess.

Tsunade of course picked up on this, but reigned in her temper and decided to ignore her for now, since she had more important issues to deal with than Mai.

"If you girls don't mind, I have some business with "MY" son" spoke Tsunade in a dangerous tone, which said "Don't mess with me."

Ino of course quickly let go of Naruto's arm, as did Mai, although reluctantly and more slowly and she frowned with annoyance.

Once Mai and Ino had let go of him, Naruto began to laugh nervously, since he could feel his mother staring down at him.

"Well girls…ehhh, I'll guess I see you all next month in the finals, so best of luck t-Gah!" Naruto said before crying out in pain as his mother grabbed him by the ear and started to drag him away.

"Kaa-chan, what the hell are you doing? …Ah! That hurts" cried Naruto.

"I'm taking you to get that thing sealed up and then treating your injuries and once you are healed. You and I are going to have a long _talk _about what kind of shenanigans you've been up to for the past six months" stated Tsunade as she marched away from Yugito and the other girls, while dragging her son away by the ear, who was screaming in pain.

Naturally when the others saw this, most of them had large sweat drops at the back of their heads, although a certain Toad hermit snickered in amusement, since it was nice to see Naruto getting into trouble with his mother every now and again.

His amusement although was short lived, where Tsunade used her other hand to grab Jiraiya's ear and started to pull on it.

"Argh! ...What the hell hime!" cried Jiraiya as Tsunade started to pull him by the ear.

"Because one way or the other, I know you had some hand in all this and you're going to answer for it" rounded Tsunade, as she dragged Jiraiya and Naruto painfully away by their ears.

"Ahh!... Kaa-chan wait, it's not what you think I swear, they're just friends!" yelled Naruto.

"Ouch! Please hime, I'm innocent!" said Jiraiya

"Ow…Kaa-chan stop it! You're gonna pull my ear off!"

"Argh! …Come on hime, I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Sadly though Tsunade was ignoring their pleas and continued to drag the two out of the room by their ears. Following behind them where Yamato, Kushina and Shizune, who were all highly amused by the scene.

Shizune was of course the most amused by it, since their family was together again and it was already like old times.

N/A.

Well that is the preliminaries all done with, I hoped you all enjoyed it especially, the fight between Lee and Naruto.

Now I am sure that many of you are wondering why I decided to have Naruto show his super human strength. The reason is because, I thought it make things more interesting, for Naruto to give his future opponents a taste of what they will be up against, while at the same time, still have a few more aces in the hole. Not to mention many of you have to admit the fight between Lee and Naruto was the perfect example of speed versus power.

The next Chapter as you can guess will involve Naruto training for the finals with Tsunade and the others. As well as signing the Toad and Slug contracts and some other fun events. Also in the next Chapter, Naruto will meet a familiar face and meet a new adversary.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Go back to Chapter eight, also called Discovery to see about this scene.

(2). The Fire Daimyo's Strongest Samurai, who trained Naruto in sword fighting for a while, when he and Tsunade was staying at the Fire Daimyo's estate. For more information on him, go to Chapter eight also called Discovery.

(3). For more info on this technique go to the bottom of Chapter sixteen.

(4). Remember Sasuke hasn't fully developed his Sharingan yet.

(5). Name for a Girl in anime and manga, who is flat-chested is obsessive and/or insecure about this fact.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Kaiten Hiji** (Spinning Elbow): This is a Taijutsu move Naruto developed himself, where when an opponent blocks one of his elbow strikes. He uses the person as a sort of spring board to push himself away from the opponent and spinning himself around them to an unguarded side and strike them, before they can react. The attack his very fast and leaves an opponent little chance to block or avoid it. The power of the strike itself is increased by the momentum of the spinning, making the damage that the opponent takes all that greater, where it could easily knock out a normal person.

**Omake**

"Argh! ...What the hell hime!" cried Jiraiya as Tsunade started to pull him by the ear.

"Because one way or the other, I know you had some hand in all this and you're going to answer for it," rounded Tsunade, as she dragged Jiraiya and Naruto painfully away by their ears.

"Ahh!... Kaa-chan wait, it's not what you think I swear, they're just friends!" yelled Naruto.

"I wasn't born yesterday kiddo. I want to be a Grandmother, but not until you're eighteen or older," Tsunade said to a now wide eyed Naruto who went atomic red when he heard his mother mention him having children.

"Kaa-chan have you gone senile or something?" Naruto asked.

"_Oh shit!_" Jiraiya mentally cursed, knowing that calling Tsunade senile was a great taboo due to the fact that it not only insulted her mentality but also suggested that she was old...very old.

"Senile, am I?" repeated Tsunade with an furious look, "Well this s_enile_ _old_ woman is taking away your Ramen privileges".

"Kaa-chan, No!" Naruto yelled in terror, "Anything but Ramen!"

"Too late, no Ramen for a year!"

This announcement naturally caused Naruto to foam at the mouth and faint.

"Isn't that a little harsh, Tsunade?" Kushina asked, being a Ramen lover herself, she knew that Naruto was probably going through hell.

"I may not be your mother Kushina, but unless you butt out, I'll make sure the same thing happens to you," Tsunade threatened.

With that Kushina backed away and hid behind Shizune, "_Sorry kid you're on your own_," she thought. She liked Naruto, but Minato's son or not, she liked Ramen even more.

"Now as for you," Tsunade scowled at a wimpering Jiraiya.

"We're going to find a Guillotine, I've had enough of your perverted attics, corrupting my son, and I'll be damned if you corrupt my Grandchildren. No way in hell is the revived Senju Clan going to be known as the Clan of Super Perverts."

"Guilottine! Hime that's too far!" Jiraiya screamed.

"Don't worry a little salt and cautorizing will make sure it doesnt get infected and you'll be right as rain in no time."

"What the hell are you taking about! I'll be headless, you know what that means right? Death, how the hell will I be fine without a head?"

"I wasn't talking about the one on your shoulders," she said with a devilish smile and aura surrounding her, where many could've swore they saw horns sprouting out of her head.

After hearing this, a look of pure horror appeared on not only Jiraiya's face, but every male in the room, even Orochimaru, when they realized what Tsunade really meant.

"_And they wonder why I defected from this place?_" the Snake Sannin thought.

"Take the head off my shoulders! Take the head off my shoulders! Take the Fucking head off my SHOULDERS!" Jiraiya yelled frantically, the man would rather die than live as a eunuch. The feeling of a woman's breasts, and the act of the twisted tango. Damn he just got a boner.

"Enjoy it now Jiraiya, cause you'll never experience that sensation ever again" said Tsunade with a sadistic laugh that scared even Orochimaru.

Later due to lack of his manhood, Jiraiya would ultimately quit writting the Icha Icha series.

Resulting in Hundreds of thousands of perverts and closet perverts commiting suicide.


	25. Chapter 25

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-five: Summons, Foxes and Girls, Oh My!**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju/Summon Talking**_"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

About five days after the preliminary matches had ended; Naruto was taken out of Konoha by his mother, Jiraiya, Shizune and his two sensei's to train for the finals next month.

Naruto was grateful to be out of hospital, since after his mother had used the **Fūja Hōin** (Evil Sealing Method), he had lost consciousness caused by the pain of the sealing and didn't wake up until three days later.

After he woke up, his mother explained to him what had happened and told him that she had Jiraiya add some other seals, should some event cause the **Fūja Hōin** to fail. Another seal known as the **Haja no Kokuin **(Seal of Wickedness) (A) would activate to restrain Naruto and warn Tsunade and Jiraiya that the curse seal had activated and that the **Fūja Hōin** had failed.

For the remaining two days, (much to his distress), Naruto was forced to stay in bed to allow his body rest and fully recover from his battles with Mai, Lee and the events in the forest of death. During that time, Tsunade had Naruto, Yamato and Kushina tell her everything that Naruto had done for the past six months in Konoha and what they had taught him. She also had Naruto tell her everything he had done with the Kumo Genin when he first met them.

Knowing that he had no choice in situation, Naruto told his mother everything that happened with Killer Bee and the others and what they had taught him. Although he made sure to leave out how the fight between Samui and him ended, knowing that if his mother found out, the hospital would become ground zero for his mother's wrath.

Sadly though, his mother learned about the shower incident between him and Haku at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) thanks to a certain red-headed blabbermouth. This resulted in Naruto having to suffer an hour long verbal lashing from his mother, she ranted on how she would not let him become a pervert like Jiraiya. Said person of course was not immune from Tsunade's wrath, especially after she learned how Jiraiya inadvertently exposed Naruto's full heritage to Kushina, Kakashi and the others, after Naruto's team test.

The outcome resulted: Naruto had his godfather as company for the following two days, as he recover from Tsunade's beating.

Eventually though, once everything was settled, Tsunade and the others decided that for the rest of the month they would train Naruto outside the village, away from prying eyes.

* * *

After traveling for most of the day, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the others finally arrived at their destination, which was a large valley away from Konoha, allowing them to train in private

When they arrived in the valley and had set up their camp, Naruto turned to his mother.

"So Kaa-chan what are we going to train in first?"

"Well, when you were unconscious after the sealing, Jiraiya, Yamato, Kushina and I discussed how to train you and we decided it is now time to train you in using the Kyuubi's power." Tsunade elaborated.

"Really?" asked Naruto, since he knew how hesitant his mother was with him using the Kyuubi's Chakra.

"Yes, given how you will probably be facing against two jinchūriki later in the finals. We believe it would be best that you are trained to summon the Kyuubi's Chakra so to have something to fall back on. Since it is highly possible that both that girl and boy are trained to use and control their Biju powers" answered Tsunade.

"But I thought you said that I should avoid trying to use the Kyuubi's power at all cost, for if I use it, I could be exposed as a jinchūriki, those Akatsuki guys would come after me."

"Yes I know, but the Akatsuki are likely to come after you anyway once they learn about your Mokuton Bloodline limit. "

"But why don't I just train to improve my Mokuton Bloodline limit instead, wouldn't that be easier, since that's how Hii-ojiichan (1) was able to control the Biju?" Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion.

It was at this point that Yamato joined the conversation.

"With all due respect Naruto-san, your skill in Mokuton has improved, but suppressing the power of a Biju is no easy task for anyone, regardless of your Bloodline limit, the reason you are able to do it naturally with the Kyuubi is because it resides in your body. But suppressing the power of another jinchūriki is a different matter altogether. I will train you in what I know, but even so, there is only so much I can teach you, as even I have never had to use my Mokuton powers to suppress a jinchūriki, for I rarely interact with any. The technique I plan to teach you is difficult to use and control, even if you learn to use it before the Chunin finals. There is no guarantee that you will be able to suppress their Biju's power should they use it and it is very possible that their power will be too great for you to suppress. Especially if they have enough control over their Biju's power, which is why it would be wise for you to be able to summon the Kyuubi's Chakra to help you."

Naruto nodded begrudgingly, since what Yamato said did make a lot of sense and he couldn't deny it either.

"Do you really think that they will use their Biju's power?" Naruto prompted.

"I would be surprised if they didn't, since it is far too coincidental that both Kumo and Suna enter their jinchūriki in the Chunin exam when you and Sasuke are in it. My guess is that they sent them to kill you and the Sasuke in the Chunin exam and eliminate you both before either of you can become a threat to them" Kushina frowned as killing in the exam wasn't prohibited.

"I told you Kushina-sensei, Yugito-chan and the others aren't like that, they wouldn't do something like that, they are my friends, you saw that for yourself!" Naruto valiantly defended his friends from Kumo.

But Kushina looked anything but convinced.

"Maybe, but they are Shinobi first and it is very possible, that the Raikage has given them orders to kill you and Uchiha Sasuke in the exam, just like Hanzo did with his Granddaughter." Kushina retorted.

Naruto could not find a plausible reason, since it was not impossible, but even so he didn't want to believe his friends were here to kill him.

"Fine I see your point, but why is Suna out to get me and Sasuke, aren't we allies?" Naruto asked, scowling.

"Just because we are allies doesn't mean, we aren't rivals, as Shinobi villages we all contend for missions which we depend on to support us and right now Suna is in a bad spot." Jiraiya replied..

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"From what I've heard, Suna is on the decline, the Wind Daimyo is slowly reducing Suna's funding and sending the missions he would normally give them to us. My guess is they sent that Sand kid to defeat or to take the two of you out, since both of you are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and are the favorites to win the exam. Suna is probably hoping that by defeating you and the Uchiha kid in the exam, they will show everyone that they are superior to us and allow them to receive a new surge of mission requests and possibly regain their previous funding from the Wind Daimyo."

Naruto frowned when he heard this, as he had no idea how the Chunin exams played such a big role in village rivalries and conflicts.

Eventually after a few more minutes of discussing the matter Tsunade decided that they should get started. She had Naruto begin mediation in the hope of making contact with the Kyuubi.

Naruto was not exactly thrilled at the idea to do meditation, since it wasn't exactly one of his favorite things for he dislike sitting still. Despite not liking it, he did know how to meditate, since Jiraiya had taught him a bit when he was eleven, stating that it can help a person stay calm under stressful situations.

For the next few hours Naruto focused on his meditation ignoring any and all distractions that were nearby. But even after spending much of the day meditating, Naruto failed to make contact with the Kyuubi.

Later at dinner the group discussed what could be preventing Naruto from contacting the Kyuubi. After much discussion, the two best theories they could come up with were that, when Naruto was growing up, he develop some kind of natural mental block, preventing him from making contact with the Kyuubi subconsciously. The other theory and most likely one was that Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit was suppressing the Kyuubi's power too much, that it made contact with the Biju difficult. For the rest of the evening the group discussed different ways which could help Naruto make contact with the Kyuubi.

During the conversation Jiraiya joked about pushing Naruto off a cliff to get him to make contact the Kyuubi.

This idea was shot down right away, where for his troubles; Jiraiya received a hail on Senbon needles from Shizune, a smack to the face from the blunt of Kushina's sword and two super charge right hooks from Tsunade and Naruto. That sent him flying out of the camp and into the forest, where he spent the rest of the night alone in the cold.

The next day, the group decided to restart Naruto meditation, seeing it as the best way to get Naruto to make contact with the Kyuubi.

To help improve Naruto's odds in making contact with the Kyuubi, Yamato used **Doton: Doryū Jōheki **(Earth Style: Earth-Style Rampart) and **Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu** (Water Style: Waterfall Basin Technique) to change the terrain and create a large waterfall. Allowing Naruto to sit under the waterfall, where his concentration would improve and increase his chance in making contact with the Kyuubi.

After taking off his clothes, leaving only his black shorts, Naruto went over to the bottom of the waterfall and sat underneath it and concentrated on contacting his tenant. Eventually after a few hours and after much meditation, he finally hit pay dirt and found himself in a long dark underground hallway covered in an inch of water.

-Inside Naruto Mindscape-

Naruto took the first left turn to see where it led, as he walked down the dark hallway, he could sense an immense and dark Chakra coming from the end of the hallway. _Jackpot then._

After walking for a few minutes he saw a light at the end, when he reached it, he found himself in a massive room with a giant gate opposite of him, held together by a piece of paper that read "Seal."

As Naruto walked closer to the cage doors, he suddenly saw a glowing pair of menacing red eyes and a massive mouth that looked like it could gobble him up in one single bite. Looking closer, Naruto could also see a massive amount of red Chakra surrounding the creature, making it's appearance the more intimidating.

Naruto knew at that moment that he was facing the legendary Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-tailed Demon Fox) otherwise known as the Bakegitsune (Monster Fox) and the Demon of Destruction.

"_**Come closer.**_" The massive demon urged. His voice a low tenor; dark and menacing and it held a certain growl at the end of the sentence.

Naruto slowly made his way closer to the gate, all the while keeping his senses on high alert, since he did not trust the fox.

Thankfully his caution paid off, since as soon as he got closer to the cage ,the giant fox lashed out at Naruto, where it tried to pierce Naruto with its giant claws. Fortunately though Naruto was able to jump back and away from the Kyuubi's claws, where they were stopped from going any further by the bars on the gate, as the Kyuubi's paw was too big to squeeze between them.

"_**I would love nothing more than to devour you, but this gate will not open. Thanks to this detestable seal that your wretched father the Yondaime Hokage placed.**_" Kyuubi spat, eyes glowing with rage.

"You know that my father is the Yondaime Hokage?" Naruto asked, bemused.

"_**Of course.**_ _**I am also aware that you're the descendant of the Shodai Hokage and that you possess the same power that he did, which is why my power and influence has been suppressed so much. So tell me why have you come here after all this time?**_" Kyuubi was anything but pleased.

"I want your power." Naruto said bluntly. Looking at the fox right in the eye, a show of dominance, if this fox think he could be a freeloader in his body, he'll be proven sorely wrong.

Kyuubi stared at Naruto, "_**So, you want my power? No doubt to help you fight the hosts of those weaklings Shukaku and Nibi.**_"

"You know about them as well. . .? " Naruto mused.

"_**Yes, I could sense them from within their hosts, as well as Hachibi who resides in the teacher of the Nibi's host.**_"

Naruto blanched as he began to panic; thought he tried to hide it, showing signs of weakness in front of the fox was a mistake and it might bite him in the ass later. If the Kyuubi could sense the Biju that reside in Gaara, Yugito and Killer Bee. Then their Biju's could sense the Kyuubi in him, where they would most likely tell Yugito and the others.

Seeing the panic cross and go on Naruto's face, the Kyuubi spoke again. "_**You need not worry; neither Shukaku nor the others could sense me because your accursed Bloodline limit is suppressing my power**_. _**So your secret of being my container is safe from them.**_"

When Naruto heard this, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief, since if Yugito and the others knew he was like them. Then they would most likely tell their leaders, who would stop at nothing to capture or kill him, especially if they knew about his Mokuton Bloodline limit as well.

"_**Now tell me why should I lend you my power? After everything your family has done to me over the years.**_"(2)

"I don't give a crap what kind of issues you have with my family; they did what they had to defend their home. But the fact is, you overgrown fur ball, this is my body and that makes you my tenant and as your landlord I want your Chakra as rent payment. It's the least you can do aside from being useless." Naruto snapped as he continued to stare at the giant fox, showing he was unafraid of him. "And if that isn't enough for you then listen up, because if you don't give me your Chakra when I need it, there's a chance that I'll get killed and if I go, I'll take you with me."

When Naruto finished speaking the Kyuubi began to chuckle in amusement but the laugh held a certain edge of evil in it. "_**Heh.**_ _**You have your father's courage, that much is certain boy, as it takes guts to talk to me like that and then blackmail me**_." Even though the Kyuubi was fairly sure he could survive Naruto's death and revive himself later. There was still a possibility that he was wrong, since the Yondaime had sealed away half his power, and he wasn't quite ready to take that risk yet.

"_**Very well then, as a reward from coming here and for showing such courage. I will give you a portion of my power when you call for it,**_" the Demon fox relented, while at the same time thinking it might be interesting to see how he used it.

Naruto smirked in triumph though it looked like a foxy grin.

-Outside Naruto's Mindscape-

After Naruto awoke from his meditation, he immediately left the waterfall and went over to his mother and the others. Who were at the camp waiting patiently to see if Naruto had made contact with the Kyuubi.

For the next few minutes, Naruto explained to Tsunade and the others what happened. When Naruto finished explaining, the five elder Shinobi were quite pleased that everything went without incident. They were especially relieved to hear that thanks to Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit suppressing the Kyuubi's power, preventing the other jinchūriki from sensing the Kyuubi. The last thing any of them needed was for the other villages to learn that Naruto was the jinchūriki of the Kyuubi.

Once everything was explained and Naruto had changed back into his clothes, Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to go to the next phase of Naruto's training.

As soon as Naruto was ready to go, Tsunade and the others then took Naruto to the other end of the valley.

"Why do we need to come here?"

"If we didn't, the camp would be destroyed in a matter of seconds" Tsunade replied simply.

Soon they arrived at the other end of the valley, Tsunade turned to her son and began to explain what they were going to do next.

"Ok Naru-chan, Jiraiya and I have talked about this for a while and we've both agree that it is time that you learned how to summon."

"Really?" Naruto beamed with excitement, since being able to summon was something he wanted to learn for as long as he could remember.

"Yep, your mom and I have been discussing it for a while now; each of us wanted you to sign a contract with our summons. So we decided that if both the Slugs and the Toads agree you can summon them both" Jiraiya replied, who couldn't help but return Naruto's grin.

At hearing this Naruto became even more excited, since he knew some of the summons already. His mother and Jiraiya had summoned some of the smaller summons for him to play with when he was younger.

Eventually Tsunade decided to start things off, where she bit her thumb and did some hands seals before slamming her hand onto the ground and yelling "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Summoning Technique)!"

The second Tsunade said this, a massive cloud of smoke filled the air, where Naruto, Jiraiya and the others were forced to jump away. When the smoke dissipated, the group saw Tsunade standing atop the leader of all Slug summons, Katsuyu.

Katsuyu was very large in stature, which wasn't surprising given how she was one of the three great summons of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja). Katsuyu was predominantly white in color, with three blue streaks that ran vertically down the middle and side of her body from her head and tapering off at her tail. Her optical tentacles also had a slight tint of grey to them and had two sensory tentacles on either side of her mouth.

"So that's Tsunade-sama's personal summons Katsuyu. . . ." Yamato mused as he looked up at the giant slug for the first time.

"Yep. . . that's her alright, I've almost forgotten how big she is." Kushina replied, as the last time she saw Tsunade summon Katsuyu. She wasn't that much older than Naruto was now.

"_**You summoned me Tsunade-sama?**_" Katsuyu inquired, her voice was soft and gentle, definitely female, but it was easily heard by everyone.

"Yes I did Katsuyu, there is someone I would like you to meet." Tsunade replied before she called out to Naruto, who jumped up to the top of a nearby tree to let himself be seen.

"Katsuyu, I would like you to meet my son. . . Naruto." When Tsunade said this, the large female summons lowered her face, so that she could look directly at Naruto.

"_**I am pleased to finally meet you Naruto-dono, I have heard much about you from my kin.**_" the large slug said in a respectful tone.

"Thanks Katsuyu-san it's nice to finally meet you too." Naruto answered with a friendly smile.

"Katsuyu, the reason I've summoned you here is because I wish for Naruto to be able to summon you and the rest of your kin and if it is alright with you. Jiraiya would also like Naruto to sign a summon contract with the Toads as well."

When the female boss of the slug summons heard this, she remained silent for a moment or two, thinking it over, but eventually she spoke.

"_**Under most circumstances, I would refuse such a request Tsunade-sama, but given how he is your son and because I have heard many good things about him from the rest of my kin, who have met him, I will allow it.**_"

Hearing this, both Tsunade and Naruto smiled ecstatically. Katsuyu then spat out the contract scroll for the Slugs (much to Naruto and some of the others disgust). But eventually after a few minutes, Naruto finished signing the contract and returned it to Katsuyu, (where she swallowed it). Naruto tried to hide his disapproving grimace with a grimace-like smile.

After Naruto had returned the contract scroll to her, Katsuyu told Naruto that she looked forward to working with him in the future. She also told him that if he ever needed her help, all he had to do was summon her. Naruto thanked the Slug queen again, who then returned home in a puff of smoke.

With the Slugs agreeing for Naruto to become their summoner, Jiraiya decided to try the toads now, where he laid out the summoning contract for the Toads. Unlike Tsunade, he carried the contract for the Toads on his back.

Once Naruto had signed the contract for the Toads, Jiraiya also suggested that Naruto try using the Kyuubi Chakra so to see how well he could use it at will.

After teaching Naruto what to do, the elder Shinobi decided to move away a bit, since they weren't sure how big a Toad Naruto could summon when he used a portion of the Kyuubi's Chakra.

As soon as everyone had moved away a bit, Naruto bit his thumb and did the required hand seals then he started to draw out the Kyuubi's Chakra.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**!"

The area once again was enveloped by a large cloud of smoke, where Tsunade and the others were forced to move further back, just to avoid being crushed. When the smoke dissipated, it revealed that Naruto had succeeded in summoning a Toad. But it wasn't any ordinary Toad summon, it was the Boss of all Toad summons, Gamabunta.

Like Katsuyu, Gamabunta was a very large summon, who towered over the surrounding trees. His skin colour was a dull rusty red, but around his eyes and on his lips and chest he had brighter red markings. Over his left eye, he had a scar no doubt caused from some fight, although could still see out of it his eye. He wore a large blue happi vest, and carried a massive dosu blade at his hip and held a large kiseru pipe in his mouth.

"Damn the kid overdid it with the Kyuubi's Chakra, looks like he's going to need some training to use it right." Jiraiya muttered when he saw that Naruto had summoned Gamabunta. Jiraiya also knew that this could complicate things, even he had trouble dealing with Gamabunta at times.

"_Crap, I don't know why but I'm bushed, it must be because I used the Kyuubi's Chakra._" Naruto thought as he slowly got back onto his feet after falling ungracefully on his ass.

But as soon as Naruto got back onto his feet, Gamabunta suddenly brought his head down, causing Naruto to fall forward and onto Gamabunta's nose.

"_**Who the hell are you!**_" the Toad Boss shouted angrily when he saw Naruto and forced the young blond to cover his ears, due to the loudness of his voice. His voice was loud, unlike Katsuyu's or even the Kyuubi's.

"Why don't you ask more politely first, instead of yelling at someone you overgrown wart!" Naruto snapped angrily as he stood up and glared at Gamabunta, since he didn't appreciate being yelled at when he didn't do anything to offend said person.

"Ahh. . . Damnit brat, now you've gone and done it. . . " Jiraiya groaned when he heard Naruto and slapped his face in frustration.

When Gamabunta heard Naruto's reply, he was far from pleased.

"_**Why you cheeky little brat. . . Do you have any idea who I am?**_" Gamabunta growled. "_**I am Gambunta the Boss of all the Toads and I demand that you treat me with respect**_!"

"Well tough shit, I'd never treat some overgrown grouch like you with any kind of respect, so there! What are you going to do about it?" yelled Naruto, in a rare display of childishness, he stuck out his tongue and pulled his right eyelid down and went "NNNaahhhh," the Toad Boss really irritated him at the moment.

When Jiraiya and Tsunade saw this both couldn't help but face-palm, as things were getting worse by the minute.

When Gamabunta saw this, the Toad Boss was furious and wanted nothing more than to swat Naruto like a fly.

"_**Jiraiya. . . Where are you Jiraiya? Who the hell is this cheeky brat?**_" Gamabunta yelled angrily.

"_This isn't good_…" Jiraiya thought with some concern, from the tree he was standing in. As he knew from personal experience that when Gamabunta was like this, there was little to no chance in reasoning with him.

"_**Jiraiya you idiot come out here this instant!**_" Gamabunta shouted loudly, as looked around for the Toad Sage. "_**Why have you summoned me here? And who is this brat?**_"

"Ero-sennin wasn't the one who summoned you here, it was me!" Naruto yelled, gaining the Toad Boss's attention.

At hearing the Toad Boss began to laugh loudly, making it difficult for Naruto to stay on his nose.

"Woahh. . .!"

"_**Bwahahahaha…That has got to be the most ridiculous thing, I've ever heard in my life**_" Gamabunta said. "_**There's no way that small brat like you could ever summon me!**_"

"Well you better, because it's true!" This just caused the Toad Boss to laugh harder, as he refused to believe that a kid like Naruto could summon him. This angered Naruto further, since he didn't like to be mocked by anyone either.

"Shut up you overgrown blowhard!" Naruto shouted angrily, causing Gamabunta to stop laughing. "I was the one that summoned you, so I expect you to treat me with some respect!"

"_**You're seriously starting to piss me off brat. You aren't even old enough to drink and yet you expect me to believe that you're my new summoner?**_" Gamabunta said.

"_**Do you seriously want to die faster brat?**_" continued the Toad boss before he opened him mount and spat out his tongue and had it grab onto Naruto, where he then dropped the young blonde unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Hey what's the big idea? If you wanted me to get off you could've just asked, you jackass!" Naruto said angrily as he stood back up.

"_**Watch your mouth brat! You should be grateful that I don't squash you like the cockroach you are after how much cheek you've given me.**_" the annoyed Gamabunta replied as he stared down at Naruto.

"Just try it you stupid Toad!" Naruto retorted as he glared up at massive Toad, who narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

Fortunately though, before things could escalate any further, Jiraiya and the others arrived.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa easy there you two" Jiraiya said as he appeared between Naruto and Gamabunta and acted as the mediator between the two.

"_**About time you showed up you idiot. Now who the hell is this brat and why did you summon me here?**_" Gamabunta said when he saw Jiraiya.

"His name is Naruto and he is Tsunade and Minato's kid and like he said earlier he was the one that summoned you not me." Jiraiya explained.

When Gamabunta heard this he was shocked, he of course knew about Naruto since he had been there at the Kyuubi attack. Also some of the smaller Toads had talked about him after meeting him when Jiraiya summoned them to play with boy when he was younger. But still, this was his first time meeting the young blonde and as he eyed Naruto further, he could see the strong similarities between Naruto and Minato. In fact Naruto looked like a younger version of Minato, although there was still some difference between the two of them. Like the shape of his eyes and nose, not to mention his skin colour was a lighter shade than Minato's and more like his mother.

"_Hmmm, well there's no mistaking it, the boy is Minato's son that for sure, the resemblance between the two of them is uncanny. Although he's more like Tsunade, personality wise._" the Toad Boss thought as he glanced at Tsunade, who was now standing next to her son.

After a few minutes Gamabunta eventually got over his surprise and looked back at Jiraiya, "_**So other than introducing me to the kid why exactly was I brought here?**_"

"Well to be honest, it was sort of an accident, since I had the brat sign the contract and we decided to see how well he could use the Kyuubi's Chakra by using it to summon one of the other Toads. But the kid kind of went overboard with the Chakra and summoned you instead, I was planning on summoning you later and introduce the two of you and get your approval of both him and of him sharing a contract with you and the slugs."

"_**What do you mean by that?**_" the giant Toad asked with a frown.

"Well you see, Tsunade wanted Naruto to sign a contract with the Slugs and I wanted to do the same with you and the rest of the Toads, since Minato would've wanted it as well. After a while, we agreed that if both you and Katsuyu agreed we let him summon both."

"_**And Katsuyu agreed to this?**_" Gamabunta asked in mild surprise.

"She did" Jiraiya responded with a nod, "She's taken a liking to him. . . Look I know that the brat and you kind of got off the wrong foot, but give him a shot. He's a good kid and I'm sure plenty of the other Toads that have met him can vouch for him as well."

Gamabunta frowned a bit since many of the smaller Toads who had met Naruto when he was younger had spoken fondly of him. His own two sons Gamakichi and Gamatatsu had even met and played with Naruto when they were younger and like the other toads, his sons got on well with Naruto.

"_**Well even if he is Minato's son and even if I do accept that he summoned me and forget the cheek he showed me earlier. I refuse to acknowledge an impudent little brat, who can't even stay on my back when I move, as my summoner**_" Gamabunta replied with a harrumph.

"What if I can stay on you without falling off?" Naruto challenged as he walked forward towards Gamabunta.

"_**What?**_"

"If I can stay on you for the rest of the day and not fall off, will you acknowledge me as your summoner?" Naruto asked.

When Gamabunta first heard this, his first thought was to refuse it, but quickly decided to accept it. Believing that it would be a good way to pay Naruto back for his cheek and have a little fun at his expense.

"_**Fine I agree, but if you fall off, you have to agree to give up your contract with the Toads**_" Gamabunta stated.

"Agreed" Naruto replied, before either Tsunade or Jiraiya could object, after which Gamabunta lowered his head and allowed Naruto to jump onto it.

"_**Okay brat but don't blame me if you die**_" Gamabunta grinned evilly, before he jumped up at high speed into the air.

When Gamabunta jumped into the air the force of the jump was so great that it nearly blew the young Senju off the giant Toad. But fortunately before he did, he grabbed the back of Gamabunta's happi vest and held onto it for dear life. Jiraiya and the others below were also affected by the force of the jump, they were nearly blown away.

After recovering from the backlash of Gamabunta's jump, Shizune quickly turned to Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sama, don't you think you should try and stop this, if Gamabunta goes too far, Naruto might get hurt."

"You don't have to worry too much Shizune, he won't go that far. Gamabunta is really just testing Naruto to see what he is made out of" the toad sage stated while chuckling.

"What's so funny Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked with a slight frown, when she saw Jiraiya smirking as she was rather annoyed with how things were turning out between Gamabunta and Naruto.

"Oh it's nothing much, I just found it funny, how similar this situation is to when Minato first summoned Gamabunta."

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked, as this was the first she heard of this.

"Well, you might not believe this, given how well Gamabunta and Minato got on later on. But back when Minato first summoned him, Gamabunta refused to acknowledge Minato as his summoner, saying like with Naruto, he was too young. Seeing this, Minato made a similar challenge to Gamabunta, saying that if he could stay on his back for a full day, then Gamabunta would have to accept him."

"I'm assuming that Gamabunta accepted the Yondaime Hokage's challenge and that the Yondaime succeeded" Yamato said.

"Pretty much."

"So do you think Naruto stands a chance?" Shizune asked.

"Hard to say, although Gamabunta won't let the kid die, he still won't go easy on him. Not to mention the brat looked pretty worn after summoning Gamabunta," Jiraiya replied with a small frown. "My guess is it was because of some kind after effect from using the Kyuubi's Chakra."

After hearing this, the others nodded, since they had all thought the same thing. Soon after though, they were awoken from their private thoughts by a loud crashed, caused by Gamabunta landing on the ground again.

Hearing the crash the five Shinobi decided to move up to some place higher where they could watch Naruto and see if he could win the challenge.

* * *

For the next couple of hours, the valley was alive with activity, with Gamabunta jumping around at high-speed, while Naruto held on to the large Toad's vest for dear life, so that he wouldn't fall off.

Naruto had tried to channel his Chakra onto his feet so to stay on Gamabunta. But could not for he was too tried after using the Kyuubi's Chakra, in fact it was taking everything he had just to stay on the Giant Toad.

As the day dragged on, Gamabunta was becoming slightly irritated with how Naruto was still holding out. He was even forced to admit that Naruto was tougher than he originally thought, since he knew how tired Naruto was after summoning him. Gambunta jumped into a large nearby lake and began to swim around at high-speed, making it even harder for Naruto to hold on. But regardless of what Gamabunta did, Naruto refused to fall off. The young Senju gritted his teeth, shivering slightly from the cold after the water hit him.

Eventually though, the day neared an end and the sun began to set. When Naruto saw the sun beginning to set, he became even more determined to hold on, knowing that he was close to winning.

Naruto was of course not the only one that became more determined when he saw the sun setting. The Toad Boss became just as determined, since he refused to lose to Naruto, despite how tired he was now. Wanting to end this now, Gamabunta made one last massive jump high up into the air.

"Damn, Gamabunta is just as stubborn as ever, he just won't let up!" Jiraiya commented, as he and the others watch the two from a safe place.

"Come on Naruto, just hold out a little longer." Kushina cheered, before Gambunta landed with a massive crash near where they were.

The landing was so hard that it actually shook the ground a little and threw Naruto up into the air. But luckily for Naruto, he was able to land on top of Gamabunta's head, although was unable to keep his balance and looked like he was about to fall.

Realizing this, Naruto forced as much Chakra as he could gather to his feet, thus allowing him to stay on Gamabunta.

"_**Dammnit, you are one stubborn brat**_!" yelled Gamabunta, as he shook his head around, trying to throw Naruto off. But no matter how hard his shook his head, Naruto stayed on.

"Yes, Naruto has won!" Shizune cheered, when she saw that Naruto was still on Gamabunta and the sun had just about set.

When Naruto saw that the sun was just about gone, he smiled.

"Look like you lose, now you have to acknowledge me as your summoner. . ." Naruto started but before he could finish speaking; he lost consciousness, as the events of the day finally caught up to him.

As soon as Naruto lost consciousness, he fell off Gamabunta's head.

"Naruto!" Tsunade cried in fear when she saw her son lose consciousness and fall off Gamabunta, knowing that a fall from that height would kill him. But before she or any of the others could react. Gamabunta spat out his tongue and caught Naruto before he could hit the ground, where he then placed him gently on the ground.

As soon as Gamabunta had placed Naruto on the ground, Tsunade and the others quickly appeared next to Naruto, where the female Senju quickly examined her son.

"Is he alright?" Kushina asked in concern.

"Yes he is" Tsunade replied with relief, "He's just exhausted."

"_**Too bad brat, you were close to winning**_" Gamabunta spoke, when saw the sun finally sink under the horizon.

At hearing this, a sad look appeared on Shizune and Kushina's faces, since Naruto had been so close to winning. But since he lost, Gamabunta would be revoking Naruto's contract with the Toads.

"So do you plan to revoke Naruto's contract?" Kushina asked when she looked up at the Toad Boss.

"_**The boy may have lost, but he has proven himself through his determination, so I won't have his contract with us revoked and I'll agree to share it with the Slugs.**_" Gamabunta answered, before grinning impishly down at the unconscious Naruto. "_**In many ways he reminds me a lot of his father the Yondaime Hokage, and he is the first person since the Yondaime to stay on me that long. He may still be much too young for me to regard him as my summoner. But I will acknowledge him as my subordinate and help him when he needs it.**_"

When Tsunade and the others heard this they all smiled as that was good enough for them, and it would be good enough for Naruto.

"_**Train him well Jiraiya, I expect a lot of great things from that boy in the future**_" spoke Gamabunta before he disappeared in a large cloud.

With the matter of the summons settle, Tsunade and everyone decided to return to their camp and allow Naruto to rest for the next day of training.

-Later in Konoha-

After two weeks for training with his Mother and everyone, Naruto returned to Konoha. Training had been harsh, as his mother put him through her special bombardment training, to improve his speed and reaction time. The difference from her normal bombardment training was that this time, his mother made Shadow clones of herself and of the balls when she threw them at him.

Naruto survived the training, but just barely, the young blonde at that point had wondered if what his mother was doing to him could be considered Child abuse.

And if that wasn't enough, Naruto also had to deal with his Sensei Kushina. Who was just as relentless as his mother when it came to training, where she was teaching him some other techniques from her Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) style.

He was also currently being trained by Jiraiya is using the Kyuubi's Chakra better and although his control had improved, he couldn't escape the side-effects, where each time he used it, he became physically drained. It was double-edged technique.

When Naruto told the others of how he felt after each time he used the Kyuubi's Chakra, they figured it was due to his Mokuton Bloodline limit.

Later Tsunade theorised that since Mokuton naturally suppresses a Biju's Chakra, Naruto's body reacts negatively to the Kyuubi's Chakra when he uses it, causing severe exhaustion and ware on his body, when he finishes using it. Hence it was decided that Naruto should only uses the Kyuubi's Chakra when he has no other choice.

This was also the reason Tsunade had Naruto focus so much on learning the new technique that Yamato was teaching him. Since if he could use it correctly, it would be of immense benefit to him in his fights with Gaara and Yugito, should he face them in the finals.

Sadly though, the technique proved more difficult to learn and control than Naruto originally thought and was even more difficult to use. During the training Naruto had a Clone summon the Kyuubi's Chakra and act as a training-partner for him to use the technique on. But even when using the Clone as practice, there was only so much it could withstand before disappearing, as the technique put a great deal of stress on the person. But regardless of this set back, Naruto was determined to master the technique before the Chunin finals.

As Naruto jumped across the rooftops of Konoha, he could not help but be grateful for the day off from training, since he had hoped for the chance to see how Lee was doing after their fight. His mother was with Jiraiya in meeting with the Sandaime, while Shizune was in the market gathering some supplies before they returned to training. Kushina and Yamato had also gone their own paths, where Kushina said she was going to have some Raman, while Yamato stated he had some errands to run.

When Naruto arrived at the hospital, (carrying a bunch of flowers he had created), he asked the nurse on station for Lee's room. The nurse was of course quite helpful, where she directed Naruto to Lee's room.

After arriving at Lee's room, Naruto found that his bushy haired friend was asleep.

Not wanting to disturb him and allow Lee to get some rest, Naruto left the flowers he planned to give to Lee, next to beside table. Before he left Naruto took a quick look at Lee's medical charts, where she saw that Lee was slowly recovering, but would need a lot of treatment and physical therapy.

Naruto felt guilty over Lee's condition, since he had caused most of the injuries that Lee had.

After a while pondering, Naruto left the room. He walked down the hall in a brisk pace but came to a stop when he came face to face with Lee's sensei Maito Gai, who seemed surprised at seeing Naruto.

"Naruto-san, I did not expect to see you here, I had heard that you had left the village to do some private training with your mother Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama and your teachers Kushina-san and Yamato-san."

"Yes I did, I'm just back for the day, I had come to see how Lee was doing, but since he is sleeping, I decided not to disturb him." Naruto felt slightly uncomfortable in the man's presence after what he did to his student.

"Are you sure? I'm certain Lee wouldn't mind me waking him to speak to you."

"I'm certain, Lee needs all the rest he can, I'm sure I'll see him at the Chunin finals,"

"I understand." Gai replied with a nod.

"If you don't mind me saying Gai-sensei, but I'm sort of surprised that you're here, I thought you would be with Neji, helping him train for the finals."

"Neji-kun has Tenten helping him, he had stated he only needed her help to train for his match against you."

"I see," Naruto answered before excusing himself.

As Naruto walked down the hall he suddenly stopped and called out to Gai. "Gai-sensei, if you don't mind, could you give Lee a message for me?"

"Of course" replied Gai.

"Could you tell him that as far as I'm concern, I won only by sheer luck, and if it wasn't for the halt in his attack, he would've won. But regardless of the outcome of the fight, he is already a great Shinobi and he was one of the strongest opponents that I ever fought, and he has my respect and I will gladly fight him again if he wishes."

When Gai heard this, the green clad man smiled, "I will of course Naruto-san, it would mean a great deal to him to hear this."

After Gai had agreed to deliver his message to Lee, Naruto nodded curtly and walked away.

* * *

After leaving the hospital, Naruto jumped across the rooftops of Konoha and made his way to Ichiraku Ramen Bar to have lunch since he hadn't had Ramen in over two weeks which was torture for him.

As he made his way across the rooftops, Naruto suddenly noticed a familiar face in the street below. The person in question was Yugito, who was acting fairly suspiciously, where she kept looking around her, as if making sure that no-one was following her. Naruto also notice that she was carrying a large paper bag in her hands.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto decided to follow the Blonde girl, where for the next few minutes Naruto followed his fellow blonde from the rooftops. Naturally it wasn't easy, as Yugito kept looking around her, both in the street and up in the rooftops, forcing Naruto to keep his distance.

But she eventually turned into a dark narrow alleyway that was between two large buildings.

When Naruto saw this, he made his way to the rooftop of one of the buildings that flanked the alleyway and discreetly looked down into the alley and what he saw surprised him.

For down below Nii Yugito, the strongest Genin in Kumo was talking to and feeding a small snow-white kitten.

"Here you go girl." Yugito said as she poured a small carton of milk into a small bowel and gave it to the small white kitten. (3)

Once Yugito lowered the bowel of milk, the small kitten quickly went over and began to lick the milk.

As the small kitten was drinking the milk, Yugito gently petted the kitten, causing it to purr.

"Poor little thing…" Yugito said sadly "…you shouldn't be here all by yourself. I would take you in myself. But unfortunately the hotel my team and I are staying at doesn't allow animals. But I make this promise, as long as I'm here, I'll make sure to stop by and feed you every day and try to find you a good home before I leave, how does that sound?"

At this the little Kitten looked up and Yugito and went "Meow" as if agreeing with Yugito, before it went back to drinking the milk.

From up above the alley, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the scene, "_So Yugito-chan is a cat lover, Heh! Who'd thought it?...But then again I guess it makes a bit sense that she like cats, since she is the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat)._"

For the next ten minutes, Naruto watched the kitten drink the milk, where once it was finished, Yugito took out a small piece of fish and placed it on the bowl allowing the kitten to eat it.

After a little while, the little kitten fished eating the piece of fish and licked the bowel clean.

"All done?" Yugito asked where the white kitten looked up and meowed at Yugito.

"Good" replied Yugito with a smile, before she took out a small feather waggler (4) and began to play with the kitten.

As Yugito played with the kitten, she suddenly said "Nya, Nya, Nya" in a cute and girly kind of way, something that Naruto never thought he would hear from Yugito of all people.

When Naruto heard this, a small snort of laughter busted from his lips.

Sadly though for Naruto, Yugito's keen Shinobi hearing picked up on the small snort, where before Naruto realized it, a set of Shuriken appeared in her left free hand and flew up to where he was.

Acting fast, Naruto quickly rolled out of the path of the Shuriken and moved behind a large rooftop fan.

As soon as he went behind the fan, Yugito appeared on the rooftop, holding the white kitten tightly in her right hand.

"I know you there, come out you coward and face me." Yugito said angrily.

Knowing the jig was up Naruto slowly came out from behind the fan with his hands up in surrender and a goofy, but guilty look on his face. "H-h-hey Yugito-chan, been a while."

"N-N-Nar-Naruto?" Yugito said in surprise, before realization appeared on her face.

"T-T-Th-This isn't what it looks like!" the panicking Yugito cried in denial, who was now bright red from embarrassment, as she realized what Naruto must have seen. "I-I-I just found this cat and I…erm…how much did you see?"

"Eh…emmm…everything" Naruto replied with nervous smile, where he then saw Yugito turn an even brighter shade of red.

"_Kyaaaaaa!_ _If Naruto knows and tells anyone of this, Samui and the others could hear about it and knowing those big months Karui and Bee-sensei. They'll tell everyone back in Kumo …and my reputation will be ruined."_ Yugito thought in panic as images of Killer Bee and Karui shouting things like "Hey everyone Yugito-chan is a super pansy kitty-cat lover!"

After imaging this a harden look suddenly appeared on Yugito's face, where she then drew her Katana from her back. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm afraid I cannot let you live after what you have just seen. I promise I will make this quick and painless."

"_Is she serious?_" Naruto thought in surprise, where he quickly got his answer, when he was forced to jump back to avoid a slash from the blonde Kunoichi's Katana.

Following the slash, Naruto spent the next few minutes ducking and avoiding Yugito's attacks.

"Shit! Yugito-chan this is crazy, stop it!" Naruto cried as he sidestepped another sword slash. "I promise I won't tell anyone that you have a soft spot for cats!"

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I simply cannot take that chance" Yugito replied as she went to slash him again. But stopped in mid-swing, when the kitten jumped out of her hand and went over to Naruto, where it started rub his leg and purr.

"Heh, guess she likes me" Naruto said, where he silently thanked the kitten for getting Yugito to stop, since he really didn't want to fight Yugito, at least not yet.

Sadly though, the fact that the kitten had taken a liking to Naruto, only stop Yugito momentarily, as she soon raised her Katana again.

Knowing he needed to do something fast, Naruto tried to think of a way to get Yugito to calm down.

"Wait! What if I promise to find this kitten a good home" Naruto said quickly, where as soon as he said it, Yugito's blade stopped, right before it could hit the side of his neck.

"Are you saying that you will adopt her?" Yugito asked without removing her blade from Naruto's neck, while glancing down at the white kitten, which was looking up at her and meowing.

"I can't, since I'm training outside the village and I am only here for the day, so I can't really care for her right now. But I know a place that she can stay until I can find her a good home" Naruto answered quickly.

"And would this place be able to care for her well?" Yugito asked, since she wouldn't leave the kitten to the mercy of just anyone.

"Yea they'll be able to take real good care of her, since they specialize in caring for animals and they owe me a favour from a while back."

For a moment Yugito did not answer, where she silently considered Naruto's offer, but eventually she pulled her Katana from Naruto's neck and sheathed it.

"Very well I accept your offer Naruto, but be warned, if they mistreat her in any way, it will be you who I'll hold responsible. Also you must swear never to tell anyone what you saw earlier."

At this Naruto nodded his head violently, knowing that if he didn't promise, Yugito would turn him into a human scratching post. (5)

"No prob I swear I won't tell a soul" Naruto said, "Although if you ask me, you shouldn't be so afraid to let people know you have a soft side and that you like cats, as I don't see any harm, in fact it's kind of cute."

"_Cute!_" Yugito thought in surprise, where she couldn't help but blush a little when Naruto mentioned her being cute, since no-one had ever really called her cute before. Fortunately though Naruto didn't notice as he was picking up the kitten and when he looked back up, she had forced it to die down. Once Naruto handed Yugito the kitten, he told her to follow him, where the two of them took off together.

* * *

After traveling through the village for a few minutes, Naruto and Yugito arrived at their destination, which turned out to be the Inuzuka Clan Kennels.

When Yugito saw where Naruto was planning to leave the kitten, she turned and glared angrily at Naruto. "This is where you plan to put her, a Kennel full of _dogs!_"

"Hey Hey easy Yugito-chan!" Naruto said quickly as he raised his hands up in defence. "Look I know how it looks, but trust me, she'll be fine her I promise, they treat other animals here, so I'm sure they be able to take good care of her."

"I should hope so…for your sake" Yugito replied gruffly.

When the two entered the front office, they found a young girl at the front desk filing away papers.

"Can I help you two?" the young woman asked.

"Eh yea, I'm looking for Inuzuka Tsume" Naruto replied.

"May I ask who is asking?"

"Senju Naruto" Naruto answered, where after hearing his full name, the young woman's eyes widened slightly in surprise before quickly regaining control of herself.

"I'm sorry Senju-sama, but Tsume-sama is away at the moment, but her daughter Hana-san is here, would she be of help?"

"Yeah, she would be fine."

"Very well I get her now, please wait a moment." the women said before she went back to get Hana.

As they waited for the woman to return with Hana, Yugito turned to Naruto with a raised eyebrow over how the woman spoke to him. Naruto of course replied with annoyed sigh that said "Don't ask."

Soon after, the woman returned with Hana who quickly greeted Naruto when she saw him.

"Hello again Naruto-san."

"Hey Hana-san nice to see you again." Naruto replied with a smile.

"So may I ask why you are here and who is your friend here?" Hana asked as she turned to Yugito.

"This is Yugito and as to why we are here, well I hoping to ask you for a favour."

"Yugito you say. . ." Hana muttered, where she finally took notice of Yugito's headband. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Kumo Kunoichi that defeated my younger brother Kiba in the preliminaries would you?"

When Hana asked this, Yugito was bemused by the news that Hana was Kiba's older sister, since she didn't seem to be anything like him. But she soon got over her surprise and nodded, confirming Hana's suspicion that she was the one who defeated Kiba.

"Is Kiba here?" Naruto asked with some concern since knowing Kiba he was probably still a little mad over losing to Yugito. Kiba was a sore loser after all.

"No, he's off helping his team-mate Shino train for the Chunin finals so you needn't worry." Hana replied, as if she had read his mind, knowing what he was concern about.

Relieved to hear this, Naruto then went on to explain the reason why he and Yugito were here. When Naruto finished explaining, Hana frowned slightly and looked at the kitten for a few minutes before speaking.

"Although we do treat other animals when they're injured or sick and keep them here when they're recovering, we aren't a shelter for homeless animals…" Hana said. But before Yugito or Naruto could respond to this the female Inuzuka smiled and continued speaking. "…But since we technically owe you for finding Kurimaru and bringing him back safely, I think we can make an exception and let her stay here for a while, until you can find her a good home."

After hearing this, Naruto smiled and thanked Hana, who responded by saying it was nothing.

When Hana went to take the small kitten, Yugito was naturally hesitant to give the small kitten away, but soon relented knowing that it was for the best.

"Will she be alright here?" Yugito asked in concern for the kitten, given how many dogs were here.

"You needn't worry; Inuzuka dogs are well-trained from an early age and are much more intelligent than normal dogs. They won't bother her, plus we have a room here that is just for cats, so she won't be bother by any of the younger pups who might bother her" Hana explained.

Satisfied with Hana's answer, Yugito asked her to take good care of the Kitten, after which she and Naruto bid Hana and the kitten goodbye and left.

After leaving the Inuzuka Kennel, Naruto asked Yugito if she would like to have lunch with him. Being a bit hungry, Yugito agreed, where the two of them headed into the center of the Konoha market.

* * *

After a few minutes on walking through Konoha, Naruto and Yugito arrived at Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

When they arrived at the Raman Bar, Teuchi's immediately greeted Naruto, who was one of his two best customers.

"Ah Naruto-san it's good to see you, you just missed Kushina, as she just left a few minutes ago."

"That's alright, I'll be seeing her later on anyhow" Naruto answered as he and Yugito sat down at the bar.

"Oh hello Naruto, who's your pretty friend here?" Ayame asked who had just come from the back of the stand and saw Yugito with Naruto. "You two wouldn't happen to be on a date now would you?"

"We're not!…we're just friends!" both blondes said quickly at the same time, where they both blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Naturally when Ayame saw this she giggled in amusement as she thought that the two of them were quite cute together.

Eventually though when the embarrassment of the two Genin died down, and they ordered their meals. Yugito ordered a bowel of Tonkotsu Ramen, while Naruto ordered twelve bowels of Shōyu Ramen.

When Yugito heard Naruto's ordered, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, where in response the Blonde boy just shrugged his shoulders saying he was hungry and liked Ramen.

As they waited for their Ramen, Naruto turned to Yugito, "So Yugito-chan, while we're waiting, maybe you could tell me about Kumo?"

At this question, Yugito frowned slightly, "And what exactly do you want to know Naruto?"

"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm not asking for any secrets or anything" Naruto said as he raised his hands up in defence when he saw Yugito stare at him. "I'm just asking what it is like to live in and what the people are like."

Naturally Yugito remained sceptical, since regardless of the fact that she liked him as a friend, Naruto was still a Shinobi of Konoha, the biggest rival of her village.

Seeing that Yugito was still conflicted, Naruto decided to make her an offer. "Okay how about this, if you tell me a bit about Kumo, I'll tell you a bit about here and we both agree that we only ask about general stuff and if gets to uncomfortable we say that we can't answer."

Yugito contemplated Naruto's offer for a moment before deciding to accept Naruto's deal. For the next twenty minutes the two Blondes talked about different things in their respected villages, like what the people were like. What kind of restaurants and shops they each had, as well as the similarities and differences there were. They even talked why each of them weren't training today, where Yugito explained that like Naruto, she and the rest of her team had been given the day off by Killer Bee.

As they continued to talk, Yugito found that she was enjoying her conversation with Naruto, since Naruto had this sort of calming presence around him, which made her feel comfortable.

Eventually Teuchi and Ayame brought their orders over to them. When Yugito started eating her Ramen, she found that Ichiraku's Ramen was actually quite nice.

"Hmmm, this is very good, it's much better than Hakkaku's Ramen in Kumo" the blonde Kunoichi commented as she continued to eat her Ramen.

"Of course" Naruto replied who had just finished eating his first bowel of Ramen and was starting his second one that Ayame handed to him. "Ayame-chan and old man Teuchi's Ramen is the best anywhere."

Teuchi was quite pleased to hear this, as he always enjoyed hearing that people enjoyed his Ramen.

"That's very sweet of you to say Naruto-kun" Ayame said with a smile, where she gave the young Senju a small kiss on the cheek, which made Naruto go red.

When Yugito saw this, the female jinchūriki felt slightly irritated by what Ayame did, despite the fact that she didn't know why.

Sensing Yugito's irritation, Nibi decided to have a little fun with her host.

"_**So kitten, having fun on your date?**_" the Monster cat asked in a teasing tone.

"_This isn't a date, we're just having lunch together, that's it_" Yugito responded with a small blush at the thought of her and Naruto being on a date.

"_**The two of you by yourselves having lunch together, looks and sounds like a date to me**_" the Nibi replied in an amused tone.

"_I told you, it's not a date_" Yugito replied with annoyance, "_How many times do I have to tell you that I don't think of Naruto that way._"

"_**Really, well if that's true, then why were you so annoyed when that girl kissed him?**_"

Naturally Yugito didn't have an answer to this question right away and by the time she came up with one, the Nibi continued.

"_**If you ask me kitten, you better make a move on him soon, you already have quite a bit of competition, not counting this one.**_"

Annoyed by how things were going, Yugito decided to ignore her Biju's comments and focused on eating her meal.

After a little while, the two Genin finished their meals, where Naruto attempted to try and pay for both their meals. But Yugito refused on principle, stating that she would pay for her own food.

After leaving the Ramen stand, the two walk through the streets of Konoha and continued to talk, where eventually Naruto decided to ask Yugito a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"If it's alright with you Yugito-chan, I would like to ask you something."

"And what exactly do you want to know?"

"I want to know your orders regarding me?" Naruto asked with a serious tone.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Yugito asked, since she was naturally surprised by Naruto's question.

"Look Yugito I know like a lot of people here in this exam, you have orders regarding Sasuke and me. Both of us are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and both of us have gained a lot of attention lately, especially me, given my sudden appearance. It's no coincident that you and the others enter the Chunin exam at the same time as me. My Sensei Kushina and my family believe you're out to kill me, like Mai was. But I've defend you, since I don't believe you would do that. So I want you to tell me what your orders are. It's not going to change anything in the exam and it won't change how I regard you and the others, since I know you are only doing it because you were ordered to and because you are loyal to your village. I just want you to be honest with me, since regardless of our villages' rivalry, I still consider you and the others my friends."

After hearing this Yugito remained silent for a moment and thought about what Naruto said. At first she thought about denying it and saying that she had no orders regarding him, but figured that it would be pointless, as Naruto would know that she was lying.

"Huuuu" Yugito sighed, before she decided to come clean with Naruto, knowing that there would be no point in lying to him as it would change nothing. "You're right, the others and I do have orders regarding you and Uchiha Sasuke. But it's not what your sensei or your family think our orders are simply to defeat both of you."

"What do you mean, exactly?" Naruto asked.

"Originally Samui, the others and I were supposed to enter the Chunin exam last year, but the Raikage denied our sensei's request. The reason was because he knew that this year, Uchiha Sasuke would most likely be entering the Chunin exam and the Raikage hoped he could use the Chunin exam as a way to humiliate Konoha. By having one of us defeat Uchiha Sasuke in the exam finals in front of everyone and winning the Chunin exam. Thus showing that our village has the strongest Shinobi and improving our village's standing. But when you revealed yourself in your village, you became our primary target, given your heritage, with Uchiha Sasuke being secondary."

When Naruto heard this he couldn't help but snort a little, since he knew that if Sasuke heard that he had become secondary to Naruto, he would've been greatly annoyed by it.

"So you don't have any orders to kill me or anything?" asked Naruto.

"I've received no such orders and that is the truth. But regardless of my orders, I intend to defeat you in the finals" Yugito answered as she looked at Naruto with determination and confidence.

"I'm glad to hear that" Naruto said with a smirk as he stared back at his fellow blonde. "But you should know that I have no intention of losing either."

"Heh, I would expect nothing less and have it no other way" Yugito replied with a smile.

"Also let's promise that we'll face each other in the finals and when we do, we give it our all and we hold nothing back from one another", after which the young girl offered her hand.

"Sounds good to me" Naruto replied with a grin as he took Yugito's hand and shook it. "We'll make it the fight of the decade."

"I look forward to it" the female blonde responded before she bid goodbye to Naruto and headed back to her hotel to meet up with her team.

As soon as Yugito had left, a familiar voice suddenly spoke from behind Naruto.

"My, my, my Naruto, you've become quite the Casanova these past few months, not to mention, you've become a lot sneaker."

When Naruto heard this, he quickly turned around and was surprised to see Shizune holding a bag full of groceries and having a devious looking smirk.

"Nee-chan, why are you here and what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, come on Naru-chan, don't try and deny it, I've been watching you two ever since I saw you at the Ramen stand" Shizune replied with a knowing look, "I would've said hello. But I didn't want spoil your little _date_."

"D-D-Da-Date" said a now blushing Naruto, "It wasn't a date, we were just hanging out and talking, that's all!"

"There's no need to be embarrassed Naruto" a giggling Shizune said. "The two of you are quite cute together. And I have to admit, you're more capable when it comes to girls than I thought. I never would have guessed that you had arranged for a secret date with your new "_girlfriend_" on your day off."

"She's not my girlfriend!" said a blushing Naruto who had now turned a shade a red that rivalled a certain Hyuga heiress, "We're just friends and we were just hanging out!"

"Really, well you spent most of the day with an attractive young girl and had lunch with her. So I believe that technically makes it a date, but we can always ask Tsunade-sensei and Jiraiya-sama, I'm sure they could tell us."

"Noooo you can't!" a now panicking Naruto cried, "You know what Kaa-chan will do, once she hears about that. Not to mention Ero-sennin will hound me for months over it."

"Well you should've thought about that before you went on your secret date with that Kumo girl" a smirking Shizune replied before racing off to find her sensei.

"AAAhhhh, No wait Nee-chan!" yelled a fearful Naruto before he raced after his elder sister figure in the hope of stopping her and saving himself from nightmarish training that was sure to follow if his mother heard of his "_date._"

-Two Weeks Later-

On the day before the start of the Chunin finals Naruto was current lying in the local hots spring, trying the rest his aching body. The reason his body was so sore was because of the intensive training he had gone through for the past two weeks, which Naruto called the fortnight of hell. Mainly because of the torment he received from his family and his sensei Kushina, where Jiraiya, Shizune and Kushina teased him relentlessly over his _date _with Yugito, regardless of how many times he denied that it was a date and that they only met by chance.

But as bad as the teasing was, it was nothing compared to what his mother did. Who was far from pleased after learning that her "_baby_" boy had spent most of the day with a girl alone without her knowing about it or her supervision.

After learning about the "_date_", Tsunade had kept an even closer eye on her son and tripled the training regimen once they arrived back at their camp. By the end of it, Naruto was certain that it was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive. Although funny thing was, the pain that his body was in now was the least of his concern, since he couldn't stop thinking about what happened last week when he was training.

-Enter Flashback-

After dodging another sword slash from his sensei Kushina, Naruto jumped back to gain some distance from his female sensei.

"Too slow Naruto, you need to be faster, your blonde girlfriend is no slouch and that Suna Genin's sand is just as fast" Kushina said with unusual seriousness as she stared at her student, who was panting slightly.

Not far from them, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the others watched as Kushina continued with her Kenjutsu training with Naruto. But just when Naruto was about to re-engage the former red headed ANBU captain, she turned towards the tree line.

At the same time, Naruto notice that his mother and the others were all looking in the same direction, as if they were sensing something.

Before Naruto could even ask any of them, his mother suddenly spoke, "We know your there, you've shown impressive skill to have found us and sneak this close without us sensing you. But your location is obvious with that murderous intent of yours, so I suggestion you come out and show yourself before we make you."

Knowing that he had been found out, the spy decided to come out from behind the tree he was standing behind.

When he stepped out, Naruto was surprised to see that the spy was Gaara.

"_I knew that killing intent felt familiar_" Jiraiya thought when he saw the red-headed Suna Genin, who slowly walked towards Naruto.

"What do you want?" Kushina asked, as she stared at the Suna jinchūriki with a guarded look. "If you are here to start some trouble, then you've come to the wrong place."

"I did not come here to fight, I came here to ask him something" Gaara replied as he gave Naruto an intense look.

"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked.

"What is your goal?"

"What?"

"Why do you seek power?"

For a moment Naruto said nothing and just stared back at Gaara, unsure why he had asked him this. But eventually he spoke, "I want to become strong because I want to protect the people I care about."

After hearing Naruto's answer Gaara just looked at Naruto with the same intense look, as if he was trying to figure Naruto out.

"You have your answer, so if there's nothing else I would like you to leave, since you're interrupting my training" Naruto said, since the Suna Genin was starting to creep him out.

At first Gaara did not respond to this and continued to stare at the Naruto for a minute or two. But eventually he finally spoke, "You perplex me, you are clearly strong and have the eyes of someone who seeks power, yet you have no hate or murderous intent in them. Not like Uchiha Sasuke or I…it irritates me to no end. I would much prefer to see that look you had when you tried to attack Hyuga Neji. In that moment I saw hate and anger in your eyes, it is the look I wish to see in your eyes again, it suits you, for it is only when you feel truth hate and anger that you truly become strong,"

"Well I guess that is where we differ, I believe the reason I am strong is because I have good teachers and because I have people I want to protect" Naruto replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Gaara asked not fully understanding what Naruto was saying.

"A friend once told me that when a person has something important they want to protect, that is when they can become truly strong and it is what I believe in as well."

When Gaara heard this he frowned slightly "I find your reasoning not only foolish, but also naïve, as I would never risk myself to protect others."

"If that's true then I pity you, since if you have no one to care for and have no-one you want to protect, then you're all alone with nothing."

When Naruto said the the Suna Genin frowned, as if angered by want Naruto said and after a moment of staring at the blonde Senju, he decided to take his leave. But as he started to walk away, he suddenly stopped.

"Make sure that you survive up until the final round, for you are now my prey" the red-headed boy said without even looking back at Naruto. After which he disappeared in a whirl of sand.

-End Flashback-

After his conversation with Gaara, Naruto could not shake off the look he saw in Gaara's eyes, which had been filled with nothing but anger and hate.

Remembering the look, Naruto also remembered what he had read about Jinchūriki's and how they were naturally hated, despised and feared by people from their own village and were made outcasts due to people's fears of their Demons.

This of course made Naruto wonder what kind of life Gaara must have had when he was growing up where he could not help but pity the Suna Genin. He even felt somewhat responsible, since it was his ancestor the Shodai that gave Gaara's village the Ichibi no Shukaku (the One-Tailed Shukaku), which resulted in Gaara later becoming a Jinchūriki.

The more Naruto thought about Gaara and his life as a Jinchūriki, the more he began to wonder what life would've been like for him, if he had grown up in Konoha with people knowing that he held the Kyuubi within him.

Eventually Naruto decided to leave the matter of Gaara for later and rest while he could.

* * *

After leaving the hot spring and changing back into his regular clothes, Naruto decided to see how his mother was doing, who had gone to Konoha Hospital to see how well Lee was recovering.

As he made his way across the street, he suddenly heard a familiar male voice coming from an isolated street to his right.

When he turned he saw Furyoku Gouzen with his two friends/goons bothering a girl with short dark hair. (6)

"Hey come on, I can take you to any place you could want to go and show you places you've never heard of" Gouzen said as he placed his arm around the girl.

"Don't touch me!" the girl yelled angrily as she glared at the boy and pushed his arm off her shoulder.

"Ah come on, don't say that, we can have some fun if you just let me" Gouzen said as he tried to take hold of the girl's hand, only for her to slap it away angrily.

"If you know what's good for you'll push-off and leave me alone" the girl said as she glared at Gouzen. Since she was losing patience with him and was about to lay a beat down on the arrogant prick.

Before Gouzen could respond to this, Naruto quickly walked over to the group and spoke.

"It seems that you didn't learn your lesson the last time Gouzen-teme, maybe I should do the gene pool a favour and fulfil my promise."

When Gouzen and his "_friends_" heard Naruto's voice they quickly turned to his direction and upon seeing the Senju heir, they all took a step back in fear. Remembering the last time they had a run in with Naruto.

Gouzen of course was especially fearful of Naruto, since he remembered what Naruto promised to do to him. Not to mention he was afraid of what his father would do to him, since Gouzen's father had been furious after learning that he had gotten into a fight with Naruto, ruining any chance of good relationships with the Senju family.

"Senju what are you doing here?" Gouzen asked nervously.

When the girl heard Gouzen call Naruto Senju, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Oh nothing much, I was just passing by, but then I saw you and your_ friends_ brothering this girl, I decided to come over here" the Senju heir replied with a smile that was all too sweet.

Gulping at this, Gouzen and his "_friends_" slowly started to walk away, "W-W-We weren't, she was j-just lost and we were just helping here to find her way, that all."

"Well clearly she doesn't need your help" Naruto replied, "So why don't you three get lost instead."

Needing no further orders, Gouzen and his goons quickly turned and fled as fast as their legs could take them, not knowing that Naruto had saved their hides.

"Are you alright miss?" Naruto asked as she turned to the girl.

"Yea I'm fine, but I didn't need your help, I could've handle those losers by myself" the girl replied with a small frown, as she wasn't a big fan of guys who thought they needed to save a girl. Since it made it seem as if all girls were weak and helpless and always needed to be saved or protected.

"Oh I have no doubt that you could have handled yourself, I just intervened to save those idiots from both you and themselves, as well as to remind them that I'm watching them. So is what Gouzen said true, are you lost?"

"Sort of" the girl replied, "I came here with a friend and he went on a head to our hotel while I went get some groceries. But I kind of lost my way when I was walking around."

"Well if you like I can help you find the place, I know my way pretty well around this place."

"Thanks"

"So what's your hotel called?" Naruto asked

"The Green Leaf"

"Ah I think I know where that is, it's not too far from here" Naruto answered as he led way.

After walking together for a few minutes, the girl decided to engage in a conversation with Naruto.

"So I'm guessing from your headband that you're a Shinobi here."

"Yeah I am, so why are you and your friend here?"

"We're here to watch the Chunin exam, since we heard that this year's exam is supposed to be pretty exciting."

"Really?" Naruto asked as he raised his eyebrow, feigning ignorance.

"So have you lived here long?" the girl asked.

"Not that long a couple of months, for the most of my life, I've been traveling with my family. We only recently came to live here" answered Naruto.

"That must be nice; you must have seen many different places and met a lot of different people."

"Yeah I've seen a lot on my travels."

"What sort of places did you visit on your travels?" the girl asked, but never got an answer.

"Well we're here" Naruto said when they arrived in front of the Green Leaf Hotel.

"So we have, thanks for helping me out"

"Not a problem, glad I could help…eh"

"Yurasu, my name is Yurasu"

"Well Yurasa, my name is Naruto and it was nice meeting you" the Senju heir replied as he shook hands with Yurasu and walked away.

But when he walked away, a frown suddenly appeared on his face. "_Whoever she is she is not a regular person and has been trained in fighting_" Naruto thought as when he found her with Gouzen and his goons. Naruto notice that she was subtly moving into a fighting stance, which was why he intervened, in the hope of figuring out who she was.

Another reason he found her suspicious was her reason for getting lost, since when people usually visit a place, they go to their hotel first not get groceries. He also found it odd that he didn't find her with any groceries, which made him believe she was a spy from another Shinobi village.

He also figured given how interested she was in learning where he had been before he came to Konoha, that she had come here to learn more about him and what he could do.

"_I going to have to tell Jiji about her, as there might be more to her mission that just learning about me_" the spikey haired blonde thought.

* * *

After Naruto had left, the girl named Yurasu went into the hotel and went up some stairs and down a small hallway before stopping at a door, where she then knocked on it before entering the room.

When she entered the room, the girl found her partner sitting on his bed waiting for her to arrive. Her partner was a large hefty teen with dark eyes and hair, he had big cheeks and a plump nose and wore brown shirt with red pants.

"I'm glad your back, I was starting to get worried" the young man said. "Did you learn much while you were out?"

"Not much I'm afraid, as I ran into a little trouble with some guys trying to hit on me. But I did happen to have some luck, where I ran into our target."

"Senju Naruto?" the teen asked, where the girl nodded.

"Were you able to learn anything from him?"

"Afraid not, as we didn't talk for very long, although I did learn that his mother is here as well. Since when we were talking, he said "we" when he mentioned living here, meaning that his mother is also living here now with him."

"Not surprising, but I guess its something, so what should we do now?" asked the pulp teen. "Should he continue walking around and gathering more Intel?"

"No, I think we should lay low for now, as we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves as the finals start tomorrow. We'll see what he can do then, along with that Uchiha kid."

"Sounds good, if it alright with you I'm going to down and have some lunch, do you want to join me?" the young man asked.

"Nah I'm fine, I going to have a shower and rest up."

"Ok, I'll see you later then Kurotsuchi"

"Yeah seeya Akatsuchi, and watch yourself" the Tsuchikage's Granddaughter replied, where she and Akatsuchi left the room and went their separate ways.

-Hokage's Mansion-

Currently sitting at his desk, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen was in deep thought.

He had just finished speaking with his surrogate Grandson Naruto, who had just left after telling him that he discovered two possibly spies in the village.

When the Sandaime asked what made Naruto believe that there were spies in the village, he told him about the girl named Yurasa, who he had met and why he was suspicious of her.

Now under most circumstances the Sandaime might have told his surrogate Grandson that he was being paranoid. But the Sandaime knew from past experience that a little paranoia could often save a Shinobi's life. Plus there was also the fact that the Chunin exam was tomorrow and hundreds of people from all around were coming to watch it. Security would be hard pressed to watch everyone that came into the village and it wouldn't too difficult for one or two spies to sneak in to the village.

After a moment or two of deep thought, the Sandaime decided to have one of his ANBU watch the girl Naruto met and her friend, just to be on the safe side.

Once the Sandaime had thanked Naruto for alerting him to the girl and her friend, he wished him luck in his match tomorrow, after which the blonde left.

When Nauro left, the Sandaime looked back down at the amount of paperwork that was on his desk, which had doubled in the past month, after the Preliminaries matches had ended. However thankfully he had **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique) to help him out, where he created two clones and divided the work between them.

Most of the paperwork was of course from different Daimyos and Feudal Lords who sent their letters to notify him of their future visit to attend the finals. Among them as well was a letter from the Fire Daimyo, stating that he and his family would be arriving in Konoha tomorrow. Now in most cases this would be a good thing for Konoha, since it would mean a lot of business, but the thing that concerned him were two letters that came last week.

Hiruzen picked up the letters and narrowed his eyes as he reread them.

The reason these letters concerned him so much was because they were from the Yondaime Raikage A and the new Godaime Mizukage Terumī Mei. Although Hiruzen knew he shouldn't be surprised, since several Gennin from their respected villages had managed to advance to the finals. Therefore they were permitted to attend the finals and observe them as they competed. But regardless of their right, he was still surprised by everything that was happening. Four out of the five Kages from the five greatest Shinobi Villages would be together in one place, something that has never happened since the armistice treaty that ended the First Great Shinobi World War. Although Konoha and Kiri have a neutral relationship, there was some tension between them and Kumo from the Hyuuga incident that occurred several years ago.

And if that wasn't enough he also had to worry about the four jinchuriki that were now in the village. Killer Bee who just so happened to be the adopted brother of the Yondaime Raikage, Yugito who was Bee's student, Gaara who was the Yondaime Kazekage's son.

This meant that not only four of the five Kages will be together in the same place, but also four of the nine jinchuriki when you add Naruto, whose status as the Kyuubi's jinchuriki remained unknown.

It was like a gathering power and it worried greatly him, since normally when such powers gathered together in one place, disaster was never far behind and if that happened, Konoha would be ground zero for it.

Eventually though, the Sandaime's train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on his door. Quickly placing the Kage letters with his completed papers and dispelling his clones, he answered "Enter!"

When the door opened, to his surprise Iruka entered.

Smiling kindly at the young man the old Hokage spoke, "Iruka I wasn't expecting you, you usually make an appointment before you see me."

Iruka bowed before he gave a sheepish grin as he scratched his head in slight embarrassment "Yeah this visit is sudden for me too" he walked forward until he was in front of the desk.

"So what can I do for you Iruka?" Hiruzen asked, as he saw Iruka take a slightly more serious but with a happy outlook.

"Well today in class I saw Konohamaru talking to everyone about how Naruto managed to make it into the Chunin exams finals and how Naruto was going to emerge victorious, where he then told me his idea".

"What kind of idea?" the curious Hokage asked

"Well he asked if it was possible if the entire class could go on a field trip to see the Chunin finals tomorrow."

When Hiruzen heard this he raised an eyebrow as he wasn't expecting to hear this; before he answered he first wanted to check something. "And what's your take on this idea of his?" The reason he asked is because he first wanted to hear Iruka's opinion on this before he gave his thoughts.

Iruka had a thoughtful expression for a moment before he answered with an amused smirk "Well if I had to guess I'd say Konohamaru recommended this idea because he wants to skip one day of school and wanted to see Naruto and the others fight in the finals".

The Sandaime let out a sigh, as that definitely sounded like his grandson, he had been constantly saying how Naruto was so cool and how he had to train hard to beat him for the position of Hokage. Before he could reply however Iruka spoke again.

"Although I know this idea of his is just a one day escape plan to get out of class, I think it might actually be a good idea for the academy students".

Now Hiruzen looked a bit confused. "How exactly would skipping a day of class be good for them exactly?" he questioned to see what Iruka had thought of.

"Well it occurred to me that after reading the report from how the preliminary matches went I feel that our students and future Genin could use a sight of the real world" Iruka spoke with certainty.

"And just what exactly do you mean by a sight of the real world" the Saindaime wasn't getting were Iruka was going with this.

"Well you were there during the preliminaries so you should know about how some of our Genin performed poorly in the exams".

Now the Saindaime was beginning to see where he was going. "Yes I did".

"Well in regards to Sakura, Ino and Tenten's matches. I feel the academy could use an adjustment to help them improve themselves for when they graduate to become Genin".

The Sandaime thought about what Iruka said as he had to admit he might be onto something. He saw all the matches in the preliminaries and noticed that Konoha's Kunoichi seemed to be lacking skills. Since none of them were able to advance to the finals, while the most of the foreign Kunoichi advanced and seemed to have exceptional skills.

Although Hattori Mai lost her fight against Naruto, she had proven to be an incredibly strong Kunoichi. Although considering her Grandfather was Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzō the Salamander), it was clear that she had recievd special training that helped her become as strong as she is now.

The Kumo Kunoichi Karui seemed to be hot headed like Inuzuka Kiba only with a bigger temper. But was clearly skilled in hand to hand combat considering how bruised her opponent Haruna Sakura was, and he was certain she was skilled in other ways as well.

The other Kumo Kunoichi Samui only showed some skill taijutsu but she had defeated the Yamanaka Clan heiress Yamanaka Ino with little trouble and without hurting her seriously.

But the thing that stood out about her to Sarutobi was how cool and expressionless she was. She didn't show any emotions and remained completely calm and took out her opponent with minimum effort or show of skill. It reminded him a lot of a certain young Uchiha Prodigy several years ago, and like him for whatever reason she keeps her emotions to herself, which was generally a good thing for a Shinobi since it meant that she could stay calm and focus in most situation.

Next there was Yuki Haku the apprentice of the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) Momochi Zabuza. Who apparently possessed the Hyoton (Ice Release) Bloodline limit of the Yuki Clan and was also a very skilled Kunoichi, according to Kakashi's report from Nami no Kuni. Not to mention from what he saw in the preliminaries, she defeated her opponent without any trouble and still kept her best skills hiding for the finals. Also according to Naruto's reports from that incident and in the Forest of Death, she had some medical skills, which she showed when she treated him.

After her there was Nii Yugito, who according to Naruto contained the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat) and was as strong as he is. Ignoring her status as a jinchuriki, the Sandaime knew that Yugito was a skilled Kunoichi on her own, given the way she defeated Inuzuka Kiba in her match against him without revealing too much of her abilities. Not to mention he was fairly certain that like Hattori Mai, she had been specially trained, and had probably been trained to use some of her Biju's Chakra by her Sensei Killer Bee.

Lastly there was the Yondaime Kazekage's daughter Temari, who ruthlessly overpowered Gai's student Tenten and even attempted to injure her further when she was clearly incapable of continuing anymore. Although Tenten did show some promise in Fuinjutsu and Weaponry and only lost because she was mismatch, not because of lack of skill.

He also recalled Zabuza's remark and insult to their academy for not knowing about Mai's Clan, the famed Hattori Clan or her Grandfather. This of course made him wonder if their academy system could use a change to help it improve, since he felt they may have gotten a bit sloppy in the peaceful years they've had since the last Great War and the Kyuubi's attack on the Konoha.

"Perhaps your right Iruka" the Sandaime spoke as he stood up and looked out his window to see the stadium where the finals would be held tomorrow and the academy. "It seems we've may have gotten soft with the years of peace our village has had which has made us slowly neglect our duty's to prepare our future Genin for the Shinobi world."

As he said this, Sarutobi's mind drifted to his memory of Tsunade's little brother Nawaki and how he died shortly after becoming a Gennin. He was someone who Hiruzen thought might become Hokage one day if he had lived, but sadly his dream was never realized. He recalled how he went to see his body, but found it was beyond recognition, (much to the distraught of Tsunade). He wondered if Nawaki might have survived if he had only received a bit more training to prepare him for the harsh life that comes with being a Shinobi.

"It's not just that Lord Hokage" Hiruzen turned back to Iruka when he suddenly spoke again.

"You also you need to take into account that our students are children, kids today live innocent lives, where the only thing they worry about is passing their test to become Shinobi. They don't know what real battles are like and what it's like to fight for their lives or stay calm in stressful situations. The fact is while they learn how to be Shinobi's, they don't experience the reality of what we sometimes have to do to protect our village. They also don't understand why they have to master the basics first or train so hard. I'm hoping that by allowing them to watch the Chunin finals and the competitors fight one another. The kids will see how strong Shinobi from other villages can be and be inspired to work harder in their training, as well as understand that Shinobi life is not all fun and games and that it is serious work."

Sarutobi smiled at hearing Iruka's words "Your words carry wisdom beyond your age Iruka, very well then, I'll approve of the class field trip to attend the exam finals. Just send in the submission papers and I'll sign it as soon as they arrive".

Iruka smiled at hearing this and bowed again. "Thank you Hokage-sama" he stood up and left to return to his work at the academy and to prepare to tell class tomorrow that they would be watching the Chunin finals."

As Iruka closed the door and left, Hiruzen sat back onto his seat as he let out a sigh and turned to look at the pictures of the Hokages on the wall before he smiled again.

"It seems like it's time for some changes my old friends" he spoke to all three pictures before he pulled the Kage letters out and returned to work.

"_Things are definitely going to get more interesting for Naruto and the other Genin_" the Sandaime though with a smirk.

-With Naruto-

After meeting with his surrogate Grandfather and telling him about the possible spy in Konoha, Naruto left the Hokage's office.

The Sandaime was of course grateful for the tip and told Naruto that he would have some of his people watch the girl and her friend and see if they really were spies.

As Naruto went down the stairs he began thinking more about the girl and tried to figure out where she could be from. He doubted Kumo, Suna or Kiri, since they already had Shinobi in the village who were participating in the exam. That of course left Iwagakure (Hidden Rock) or one of the other minor villages, although he willing to bet money that she was from Iwa. Since out all the five major Shinobi nations, it was the only one that didn't send any Genin to take part in the Chunin exam this year and they wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to see what the next Generation of Shinobi for their rivals were capable of.

Naruto also knew that if he was right he would have to be careful, since Iwa had a long rivalry with Konoha ever since the end of the Third Great Shinobi World War. There was also the fact that many Shinobi in Iwa hated his father for the many Shinobi he killed and defeats he handed Iwa. Even though no-one knew that Yondaime Hokage was his father, there was always a chance that someone could find out and if that happen. He might as well have a bull's-eye on the back of his head that said kill me.

Naruto's mind was so focused on who the girl was that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, where he bumped into someone at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uwooh!" Naruto cried, after he bumped into the person and struggled to keep from falling.

"Sorry my fault, I wasn't paying attention of what I was doing and I…" Naruto said. But stopped before he could finish as when looked up to the person, he saw that the person he had bumped into was a woman.

The woman was tall and slender build and looked to be about in her early twenties. (7) She had bright green eyes and long auburn hair that was styled into a herringbone pattern at the back with short bangs covering her right eye. She wore a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that fell just below the knees and was closed at the front with a zip, while kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts, allowing for a sizeable view of her cleavage. She also wore shorts as the same colour as her dress and underneath it, mesh leggings that reached down over her knees.

All in all, Naruto found that the woman was extremely beautiful, being on par with the likes of his mother and Hinata's sensei Yūhi Kurenai.

When Naruto first saw the woman he couldn't help but stare at her, but he was soon brought out of his trance when the woman smiled down at him and spoke.

"That quite alright…accidents happen"

When the woman smiled down at him, Naruto couldn't but blush as her smiled seemed to highlight her beauty even more and showed her pink coloured lips.

As the woman looked down at Naruto and looked at him more closely she noticed that his appearance was familiar to her, as if it matched a description she had heard. Before she could think on the matter further, she suddenly heard the voice of her escort.

"Mizukage-sama is there something the matter?"

When the escort arrived, Naruto immediately recognised him as Ao, the captain of the Hunter-nin group. Who had brought Haku and Zabuza back to Kirigakure (Hidden Mist), after the events in Nami no Kuni.

But as surprised as Naruto was to see Ao, he was shocked to learn that the woman he had bumped into was the New Mizukage that he had heard about from his Godfather Jiraiya.

"_Shit! She's the Mizukage?_" Naruto thought in surprise, "_Ah man, I'm in trouble, why do things like this always happen to me?_"

At the same time, Ao glanced over at Naruto, and like Naruto, who recognized him, he recognized the spikey haired blonde.

"You again"

"Do you know this boy Ao?" the female Kage asked.

"Hai, I met him at Nami no Kuni with my team when we were retrieving Zabuza and Haku" Ao replied. "This is Senju Naruto, heir to the Senju Clan and Tsunade-sama son."

When the Mizukage heard this, she was natural surprised, as she did not expect to meet Naruto like this. But eventually her surprise settled and she smiled again at Naruto.

"I'm pleased to finally to make you acquaintance, Naruto-san. I am a great admirer of your mother Tsunade-sama and I have heard much about you from Haku and Zabuza, who speak highly of your skill. I look forward to watching you in the finals."

"Arigato Mizukage-sama" Naruto replied in a respectful tone, "Also please accept by analogises again for bumping into you."

"There is nothing to be sorry about, as I said accidents happen, beside how could I be angry at such a handsome young man?" Mei replied, with a smile.

Naturally after hearing this, Naruto turned a shade of red that would've rivalled any that a certain young Hyuga heiress could've turned. If it he had been any redder, steam would've burst out of his ears.

"Mizukage-sama, we should get going, as I'm certain that the Hokage-sama has heard of our early arrival" Ao spoke suddenly, in the hope of getting to the matter as to why they were here.

At this the Mizukage let out a sigh, as she would've liked to have talked Naruto further but knew that Ao was right.

"Very well" Mei said before turning back to Naruto, "It was a pleasure talking to you Naruto-san, I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow, perhaps later we can chat again."

"I would like that, it was nice talking to you as well Mizukage-sama" Naruto answered as he slowly started to cool down. After which he stepped aside and allowed Mei and Ao to pass him by and head up stairs to the Hokage's office.

After they left, Naruto let out a deep sigh, and headed for the main door. "_I gotta stop hanging around Ero-sennin so much; I'm starting to think like him._"

* * *

"You should not try to get too friendly with that boy; he is a Konoha Shinobi after all and one of Haku and Chōjūrō targets" Ao spoke as they walked up the stairs.

"Oh stop your worry Ao, I was just curious about the boy, as I find him interesting. Besides I always did have a thing for blondes" Mei replied with a smile.

"You cannot afford to be so laid back Mizukage-sama," said Ao in a serious tone. "You need to be more mindful of things. This is why many people in the village do not think you take your duties as Mizukage seriously."

At this remark, Mei suddenly stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to look at Ao with a serious look on her face.

"I can assure you Ao that I take my duties as Mizukage very seriously. . " Mei drawled before an all too sweet smile appeared on her face, which made the one eyed man sweat nervously. "So kindly shut the fuck up, before I kill you."

Gulping at this, Ao slowly nodded and watched the Mizukage turn away from him and walk back up the stairs.

After the Mizukage started to walk back up the stairs, Ao let out a deep sigh and muttered "Women" before quickly following after his leader.

* * *

After his surprise meeting with the female Mizukage, Naruto decided to walk down the street to cool off a bit.

Eventually after walking around Konoha for about an hour or so, Naruto found himself at the memorial stone and it was then that he heard some talking and barking.

When Naruto turned to where he heard the talking and barking from, he saw Shino, Kiba and Akamaru emerging from the nearby treeline.

Naturally when the two boys and the pup saw Naruto they were just as surprised to see him as he was to see them.

"Hey Guys, funny meeting you here!" Naruto greeted after see his two fellows Genin.

"Senju what are you doing here? Don't tell me you were spying on us, so to have an edge over Shino!" Kiba accused after seeing the spikey haired blonde.

"Tsk Hardly" Naruto replied with a scoff. "I'm only here by chance, besides it would be pretty stupid to try on spy Shino here, since I'm pretty sure his bugs would detect me."

"Peace Kiba, Naruto-san speaks the truth, if he had been spying on us, during our training, the Kikaichū I released around our training area would've detected him. Besides, I do not believe Naruto-san is the type to spy on his comrades, even when they are his competitors."

Kiba frowned slightly after hearing this, but knew his team-mate was right, despite his dislike for the Senju heir, he knew that Naruto was an honourable person.

"I'm guessing given your current state, that you've been doing some last minute training?"

"You would be correct Naruto-san" Shino replied with a nod.

"Have you see Hinata-chan lately or heard how she is doing?" Naruto asked, since he had not seen or heard anything about the young Hyuga heiress since the preliminaries.

"We went to visit Hinata-san earlier in the week and from what we saw, she seems to be doing well. She is currently resting in her family compound; she even asked if we had seen you, when we visited."

"So are ready for your fight tomorrow Senju?" Kiba asked

"I am." replied Naruto with confident smirk.

"You should be weary of Neji-san, Naruto-san. He is a capable Shinobi, who is well regard even in the Hyugan Clan and is not someone to underestimate" commented Shino.

"Don't worry Shino-san, I've no intention of underestimating Neji-teme" said Naruto. "But that doesn't mean I won't intend to beat the hell out of him of him for what he did to Hinata-chan."

After hearing this, Kiba smirked, while Shino just nodded, as neither of the boys were big fans of Hyuga Prodigy, given how he nearly killed their team-mate.

But before they could comment on any further on the matter, they suddenly heard a female voice cry "Naruto-kun!" followed by a blonde blur that knocked Naruto to the ground.

When the two Genin from team eight looked down, they saw a blonde haired girl on top of Naruto and hugging him tightly.

"Naruto-kun it's so good to see you, I missed you?" said the girls as she hugged the blonde Senju.

"Eh sorry, but who are you?" Naruto asked, as he looked at the girl hugging.

"Don't tell me you forgotten about me Naruto-kun?" the girl asked, with a slightly annoyed looked, "Because if you have…then we are not amused." (8)

As soon as Naruto heard the girl refer to herself in the royal we term, Naruto's eyes suddenly widen in surprise "Rurichiyo!"

The girl in question of course just smiled and nodded confirming that it was indeed her, where she then got off Naruto and allowed him back up.

The Granddaughter of the Fire Daimyo had grown up quite a bit since Naruto had last seen her. She was now roughly the same height as Naruto now and her hair was much longer than before, where it fell down to the middle her back. She wore more simple clothing than she normally would, which Naruto guessed was to not attract attention. She wore a simple a red Kosode, a grey Hakama, with white socks and simple sandals. (9)

"Rurichiyo what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you win the Chunin exam of course silly." Rurichiyo replied with a giggle.

"When did you get here?" Naruto asked.

"Just this morning"

"Are your Grandparents here as well? Naruto asked, since he was surprised that he didn't hear anything about the Fire Daimyo arriving in the village.

"No, Sofu (more formal way in saying Grandfather) and Obaasan (more formal way in saying Grandmother) won't arrive until tomorrow, but they allowed me to go ahead of them."

"Well it's good to see you Rurichiyo-chan, I'm glad you came, it been too long."

As Naruto and Rurichiyo caught up with one another, Shino and Kiba watched from the side-lines, not knowing who the girl was.

At the same time Kiba couldn't help but notice how cute the girl was and wondered what her relationship was with Naruto.

"Hey Senju, who's the hot girl with you?" asked Kiba, "No way she can be your girlfriend, she's way too good-looking for you."

"Hmph, as if a vagabond like you would know anything" Rurichiyo said in annoyed tone. "Naruto-kun, is ten times the man you are."

"What!" Kiba cried in outrage.

Seeing that Kiba was close to losing his temper, Naruto decided to intervene and stepped between Kiba and Rurichiyo. "Kiba, calm down, there's no need to get angry."

Sadly Kiba was in no mood to listen, as he was as mad as a hornets nest and pushed Naruto and was about to give Rurichiyo a piece of his mind.

Seeing this Shino was about help Naruto stop Kiba from doing anything foolish, but before Kiba could even start to yell at the princess. The Young Inuzuka suddenly found two Long Katana's pointed at his neck.

When Kiba looked up he found two tall men in official looking uniforms flanking Rurichiyo and glaring daggers at him.

The first man was a tall thin man wearing a traditional uniform. He had blue-black hair and his eyes were icy blue and he had strong sculpted face.

The other man was a muscular built man and wore the same uniform that the other guard wore; he also wore a pair of large sunglasses. The man also had very little hair on his head as it was mainly bald except for the small Mohawk in the shape of a lightning bolt and a muscular face.

"I suggest you step away from her highness Rurichiyo-hime vagrant, or else you shall answer to us" spoke tall thin man, where his partner just nodded in agreement.

"_Princess?_" Shino and Kiba thought together in surprise.

"Kenryū and Enryū!" cried Naruto when he saw Rurichiyo two guards, who smiled when they saw the young Senju.

"It's good to see again Naruto-dono" said Kenryū as he glanced at Naruto.

After getting over seeing his old friends again, Naruto quickly asked the two guards to lower their weapons, saying that it was all just one big misunderstanding and that Kiba meant no harm.

The two guards were of course hesitant, but after glancing at Rurichiyo, who nodded. The two guards drew back their Katana's and sheathed them, although continued to glare at Kiba for disrespecting their princess.

Once the situation had calm down, Shino turned to Naruto. "Excuse me Naruto-san, but if I may ask, who exactly is Rurichiyo-sama? And how exactly do you know her?"

"Ah…well…you see…as I was trying to explain to you both earlier" Naruto said nervously, as he wasn't exactly sure how to say this. "The thing is…eehhh…like Kenryū said; Rurichiyo-chan is a princess, or to be more precise, she is the Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter. We kind of met a while back when we were younger, when my mom was helping to treat her uncle, when he was ill."

When the two boys heard this, both were shocked beyond words and thought the exact same thing "_The Fire Daimyo's Granddaughter!_"

After Rurichiyo's identity was revealed, the normally stoic Shino went wide-eyed with disbelief, while Kiba was gaping like fish out of water and as pale as a ghost, knowing he was in trouble.

"_Shit! I'm dead…I am soooo dead_" the panicking Inuzuka thought, "_I got into an argument with the Fire Daimyo's freaking GRAND-DAUGHTER!_"

Seeing the situation that his team-mate was facing, Shino decided to step in, in the hope of saving his team.

"Rurichiyo-hime, it is a great honour to have you here in out village and please accept our sincere apologies, my team-mate Kiba meant no disrespect. He can just be rather brass and does not know what he says at times."

"Yea I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry" Kiba said, who was seriously hoping that Rurichiyo wouldn't go to her Grandfather and complain to him.

Seeing how nervous Kiba was, Rurichiyo decided to let the matter go, as it was obvious Kiba now regretted his earlier comments.

"Very well, we shall let this matter go, but in return we would like you Naruto-kun to show us around Konoha, as this is our first time coming here and we would like to see all the sites."

"Sure, I would be happy to" replied Naruto, since it allowed him to catch up with his friend and at the same time allow them to move past the whole event with Kiba.

Pleased with this, Rurichiyo quickly grabbed hold of Naruto's right arm tightly and had him led the way, leaving a bewildered Kiba and an intrigued Shino. As who would have guessed that Naruto was friends with the Fire Daimyos Granddaughter?

* * *

N/A.

Well I'm back everyone, sorry about the long wait, but I've been busy with my last year of collage and I had to focus on studing and working on my projects and thesis, as collage comes first. Plus after that I needed some down time to relax and cut lose from all the stress of collage. But still now that collage is out of the way I have some free time to start on my fanfic writing and have started things of with this story. I will of course update another story next week, so you won't have to wait too long for me.

Also please Note that given how Fanfiction has disabled the link settings on our profiles, you will have to highlight and copy the web address for any of the pictures on my profile and paste them on the task bar, this is the only way I know how to allow you to see the images of any characters or places in my stories. Please also note that adresses are correct and if you are having problems with them, tell me and I will do my best to help you.

Now I hope you all enjoyed how Naruto gained the Slugs and the Toads, as well as his interaction with some of the girls. Now as you can guess the next Chapter will be about the beginning of the Chunin exam, which will also involve the battle between Naruto and Neji, which I know is something that you're all looking forward to, so I will update this story again when I can, that's all I will pomise.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Less formal way to say Great Grandfather in Japanese

(2). For those of you who are unsure of what the Kyuubi is referring to. In this story after the Shodai defeated Madara and captured the Kyuubi he and his wife Mito tried to seal him into Mito. But before they could, the Kyuubi escaped, where later Madara regained control of the Kyuubi and tried to use him again to destroy Konoha, but was stopped by Minato where he was sealed within Naruto.

(3). Go to profile for the address of this image

(4). You know those little cat toys that people use to play with cats.

(5). Don't forget people Yugito is one of Naruto's biggest obstacles in the Chunin exam and is one of the strongest Genin in the finals.

(6). The guy who Naruto sent running after he kept trying to hit on Ayame in Chapter Nine.

(7). Just in in case any of you have forgotten, in this story Mei is twenty right now.

(8). Rurichiyo is using the Royal we term that some royalty use

(9). Go to profile for the address of an image of Rurichiyo

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Haja no Kokuin **(Seal of Wickeness): A seal that Jiraiya placed on Naruto, which activates in the event that **Fūja Hōin** (Evil Sealing Method) fails. Once activated, the seal's markings spread around the opponent's body, paralyzing them and prevent them from attacking anyone. However, one can break free from the seal with a strong enough release of chakra. Also once activated the seal will alert the user and anyone connected to it.

**Stats**

Note: This is a little stats note of Naruto and some of the others for the Chunin finals, since I know many of you are curious as to what level Naruto is at. These stats are out of five like the Naruto Database, also Sasuke, Neji Gaara and the others are all the same level they are in the canon.

**Hattori Mai**

Taijutsu: 2.5

Ninjutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 1

Intelligence: 3

Speed: 2.5

Hand Seals: 4

Strength: 2

Stamina: 3

Total: 22

**Ni Yugito**

Taijutsu: 3.5

Ninjutsu: 3.5

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 3

Speed: 3.5

Hand Seals: 3.5

Strength: 2.5

Stamina: 4

Total: 25

**Haku**

Taijutsu: 2

Ninjutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 1

Intelligence: 4

Speed: 4

Hand Seals: 4

Strength: 1

Stamina: 2

Total: 22

**Samui**

Taijutsu: 3

Ninjutsu: 3.5

Genjutsu: 2

Intelligence: 4

Speed: 2.5

Hand Seals: 2.5

Strength: 2

Stamina: 2.5

Total: 22

**Senju Naruto**

Taijutsu: 3

Ninjutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 1.5

Intelligence: 3

Speed: 3

Hand Seals: 4

Strength: 3.5 *

Stamina: 4

Total: 26

**Omoi**

Taijutsu: 3

Ninjutsu: 2

Genjutsu: 1

Intelligence: 4

Speed: 2

Hand Seals: 2.5

Strength: 2

Stamina: 2

Total: 18.5

**Karui**

Taijutsu: 2.5

Ninjutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 1

Intelligence: 2

Speed: 3

Hand Seals: 2.5

Strength: 1.5

Stamina: 2.5

Total: 17.5

**Chōjūrō**

Taijutsu: 3

Ninjutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 1

Intelligence: 2

Speed: 2

Hand Seals: 2

Strength: 3

Stamina: 2.5

Total: 18.5

**Sai**

Taijutsu: 2.5

Ninjutsu: 3.5

Genjutsu: 2

Intelligence: 2

Speed: 3

Hand Seals: 3

Strength: 2

Stamina: 2.5

Total: 20.5

*Note the reason why Naruto's strength is three is because Naruto's strength is just over the level of Sakura's in the Shippuuden timeline and hers was ranked three. He will of course get stronger later on.


	26. Chapter 26

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-six: Hyuga vs Senju**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

-Konoha-

On the day of the Chunin finals, all of Konoha was busy with activity, important lords, Daimyo's, business men and shinobi heads from other villages had come from all around to watch the Chunin finalists compete with one another. Among these important lords were the Daimyo's of Mizu no Kuni (Water Country), Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country), Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and the Kages of their respected Shinobi villages.

Up in the Kage box seats, the Sandaime Hokage was seated in his chair, below him Civilians, Shinobi, Noblemen and women were filling up the stands bellow. Standing next to him was one of the members of the Hokage's Guard, Namiashi Raidō, who the Hokage was currently speaking to.

"Have there been any reports regarding the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke?" the Sandaime asked with some concern, as there had been no sign of the young Uchiha heir since the preliminaries.

"Unfortunately no Hokage-sama, several teams of ANBU are searching for him and Kakashi, but they are nowhere to be found" Raidō replied in a low voice. "I'm afraid there is a good chance that Uchiha Sasuke may have already fallen into Orochimaru's hands."

"_If that is the case, it will be impossible for us to find him_" Sarutobi thought with concern.

"Also Hokage-sama…" Raidō added "…it seems that Senju Naruto has yet to arrive in the stadium with the other finalist. It is likely that he may have been seized by Orochimaru as well."

"No I don't believe so" the old Hokage responded. "I just saw Naruto myself yesterday and I highly doubt Tsunade or Jiraiya would let Naruto go far without them knowing."

"But if that is true then where are they?"

"I do not know, but I'm certain, Naruto-kun is safe" the Sandaime replied, where his guard just nodded in understanding.

After a few minutes, the Sandaime was joined by his counterpart from Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) the Godaime Mizukage, Terumī Mei and her guard Ao.

When Mei first arrived, the Sandaime was both surprised and curious to see the new Mizukage a day before the Chunin finals. The reason why she had come early was because she wanted to speak to the old Hokage about forming an alliance with Konoha. Given how the recent coup in Kiri had weakened her village's military strength and their economy and she feared that the other villages, like Iwa or Kumo, would attack or take advantage of their weaken state.

Naturally the Sandaime welcomed the idea of forming an alliance with Kiri and proposed to begin talks for a new treaty after the Chunin exam.

When the Mizukage arrived at the box, the Sandaime stood up and greeted the female Kage where he then invited her to take the seat that was to his right, which she took.

Soon after, the Yondaime Kazekage and the Yondaime Raikage arrived with their respected Bodyguards.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a tall middle age man who wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage and a mask to cover his face, allowing only his eyes to be seen.

The Yondaime Kazekage was a well-respected Shinobi, who possessed the Jiton (Magnet Release) Bloodline and used it in a similar manner to his predecessor the Sandaime Kazekaze. Although unlike the Sandaime, who used Iron Sand, the Yondaime used Gold Dust.

Accompany the Yondaime Kazekage were his two bodyguards, two tall men wearing light brown robes.

The Yondaime Raikage was a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build. He had blond hair that was combed back and a small moustache and beard. His face was very distinguished with pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead. Like the Yondaime Kazekage, the Raikage wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage, but without a shirt underneath, which further displayed his hulking physique. He had gold bangle bracelets on each wrist and wore a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre.

The Yondaime Raikage was a famed Shinobi from the Third Shinobi World War. Like most Shinobi of Kumo, the Raikage was highly skilled in Lightning Techniques, and was renowned for using Nintaijutsu (Ninja Body Techniques), which combined Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, making his attacks more devastating. But he was practically famous for his immense speed which was said to rival even the Sandaime's former successor the Yondaime Hokage.

Accompany the Raikage where two Kumo Shinobi, the first Shinobi was a tall young man with short blond hair, dark eyes and wore the standard uniform of a Kumo Shinobi.

The second Shinobi was a dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose and lazy look in his eyes (which reminded Sarutobi of a certain Konoha Shinobi). He had white shaggy hair that covered his left eye and wore a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants and a standard Kumo flak jacket. He also carried a cleaver like sword on his back and had the kanji for Water and Lightning tattooed on each of his arms.

Unlike the first Shinobi, Sarutobi knew this shinobi well. His name was Darui and he was a renowned and powerful Shinobi from Kumo. He was a highly skilled Lightning and Water user and an equally skilled swordsman and possessed the Ranton (Storm Release) Bloodline. He was also the inheritor of the Sandaime Raikage's Kuroi Kaminari (Black Lightning) technique, which allowed him to use unique Lightning techniques that only he could use. This earned him the moniker Darui no Kuroi Kaminari (Darui of the Black Lightning). In terms of skill, the man was easily on par with Konoha's top Shinobi Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi.

When they saw the two other Kages, both the Mizukage and the Hokage stood up and greeted them. After which Hokage invited them to take whatever seats they wished, where the Kazekage took the seat that was to the Sandaime's left, while the Raikage took the remaining seat, which was next to the Kazekage's on his left.

"Greetings Kazekage-sama, Raikage-sama, I'm pleased that you could both make it, you both must be tired after your long journeys."

"Not at all Hokage-sama" the Kazekage replied. "In fact, I'm glad that the Chunin exam is in Konoha this year, since you are not as young as you once were and a journey to another village would be rather tough on you. Perhaps you should think about retiring and appoint a new successor? "

The old Hokage just laughed at this remark "Don't treat me like an old man, now. I'm still considering holding my position for at least another five years."

At this remark, both the Kazekage and the Raikage narrowed their eyes, but did not comment on.

As the four Kages looked down in the area, they saw that most of the finalist where in the arena waiting for the finals to begin.

"If I'm not mistaken, Hokage-sama, we're missing three finalists, two of them being Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto" commented A with a frown. Since his plan to humiliate Konoha depended on both Naruto and Sasuke being in the exam. He also knew that most of the lords and officials here had come to the exam for the sole purpose of watching Naruto and Sasuke compete in the exam and bet on them.

"Sadly I'm afraid the finalist from Otogakure (Hidden Sound) was found dead last week on the rooftop of a building. His body was crushed and we could barely identify him, my ANBU are currently investigating the matter as we speak, but they have yet to identify the perpetrator.

"And what of Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto?" Mei asked.

"I'm afraid their whereabouts are unknown"

"You're telling us that you've lost track of your own Shinobi?" the bulky Raikage asked in mild disbelief, where the old Hokage could only smile in embarrassment.

"Please do not worry Raikage-sama, I'm certain both boys will show up, as neither of them are the type to miss out on something like this."

At this the Raikage could only scoff in disgust, since it was his opinion that both boys should have decency to be on time, especially for an event this important.

"Clearly Konoha has become lax in this time of peace, if it can't even find two of its own Shinobi" the Raikage taunted. "This would never happen in my village."

Sandaime did not respond to the Raikage's taunt, instead he simply ignored it and remained silent. Although his bodyguard Raidō narrowed his eyes and glared slightly at the large man.

Eventually though, the Sandaime turned to his fellow Kages and asked them if they should begin, where the three other Kages all nodded. After which the Sandaime Hokage stood up and went to the railings and began to speak to the audience bellow them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming to Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden by the Leaves), for this year's Chunin finals. We will now begin the main matches with the fifteen finalists who have passed the preliminaries. So please enjoy the matches and good day."

-With the Audience-

"What? They are going to start the preliminaries without Sasuke and Naruto-kun!" Ino cried in surprise.

"Well you hardly expect them to wait for them Ino" commented her Sensei Asuma.

"But Naruto-kun's match is first, what if he doesn't arrive?" the blonde girl asked

"Then he will be disqualified, as will Sasuke, if he doesn't show up either."

At hearing this, Sakura, who was sitting next to Ino became concerned and began to wonder what happened to Sasuke, remembering how he was in his room when she went to visit him in the hospital.

Seeing that neither Sasuke nor Naruto were here, Gaara's sensei Baki became concerned.

"_Did he? …I told him to avoid doing anything that would attract attention…Damn it, Did he kill Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto?_" Baki thought, remembering when Gaara went out for a while by himself during the training month.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Rurichiyo asked, while sitting between her Grandparents, (who had recently arrived in Konoha), looking for her friend down in the arena. Standing near the royal family were also Rurichiyo's personal guards Kenryū and Enryū, as well as several Samurai guards, who were led by Kensai, the strongest Samurai and Swordsman in Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) (1).

"It seems that the Naruto-kun has yet to arrive" the Fire Daimyo replied, after seeing that Naruto was not with the other finalist.

"Where could he be? I hope nothing has happen to the poor dear" Madam Shijimi said.

"Well he was fine yesterday when I met him and he showed me around Konoha" Rurichiyo replied, who was starting to become concern for her fellow blonde.

"_Where is he?_" Mai thought with a frown, as she couldn't understand why her "_fiancé_" had yet to arrive.

"Hmph, looks like Senju and the Uchiha are a no show" Kurotsuchi remarked with a slight frown. Since she was sort of interested in seeing what the son of Tsunade and the Uchiha heir were capable of and if they were worth all the attentions they were getting.

"Maybe, but let's just wait and see, as there still time" Akatsuchi replied.

"Damnit, where the hell is Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru asked out loud who was sitting in the stands, with Moegi, Udon and the rest of their class.

"I don't know" Moegi replied.

"Maybe he decided to quit, since that Hyuga Neji guy looks pretty tough" Udon answered.

"No way! ...Naruto-nii would never run away from a fight, you saw how he stood up to those Suna jerks from earlier."

"Then why isn't he here yet?" Udon asked.

"I don't know, but I do know he will be here soon."

-Outside the Arena-

"My, my there quite a bit of activity today" Kabuto commented as he stood over the dead body of an ANBU agent in a large tree overlooking the Arena.

"_I do hope Naruto-kun puts on an entertaining show. As I have a rather tough job ahead of me and I do not like having gaps in my in my profiles_" the Oto spy thought as he took off the ANBU agent's mask and cloak and placed it on himself. After which he then hid the body and disappeared in a whirl of wind and leaves.

-In the Arena-

Down in the arena the second member of the Hokage's guard Shiranui Genma was explaining of the rules of the finals to the Genin finalist.

Genma had taken over the role of referee from Gekkō Hayate, after his body was found roughly at the same time as the Oto Genin. This led the Hokage and the investigating ANBU team to believe, that the Suna team were somehow involved. Given how the Sandaime had ordered Hayate to follow Gaara and his team, after learning that Gaara was a jinchūriki.

After Hayate's body was found the Hokage placed the village shinobi on highten alert and deployed two teams of ANBU at the stadium and had several other teams patrol the surrounding area. He also had the Kekkai-Hans (Barrier Team) go on full alreat and report to him of anything strange, no matter how small, fearing that Orochimaru may infultrate the village again.

When Genma finished explaining the rules of the finals, he turned to Neji. "Given how your opponent Senju Naruto has not appeared and we cannot delay your match until he arrives, we will have to declare you the win…"

But before Genma could finish speaking, a whirlwind wind and leaves suddenly appeared behind him. When it died down, Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Kushina and Yamato were present.

When Genma turned around and saw the group, he was immediately greeted by Kushina.

"Heya Genma, it's been a while…we aren't late are we?"

"Actually you just made it, we were just about to disqualify your student."

"Sorry about that… we would've been here sooner, but we were held up with something" Naruto said, where his mother and the others all glared at the Toad Sage. Who looked to be fairly beating up, with two black eyes, a swollen lip and several bruises around his face.

The reason for his current state was because of a beating he received from Tsunade and Kushina when he went off peeping an hour before the exam. This forced Naruto the others to go looking for him and making them late.

When they finally found him and found out why he had disappeared, a furious Tsuande and Kushina decided to _discipline_ him.

"Your late, Naruto!" an annoyed Yugito said, while glaring at the spikey blonde with an irritated look.

"Troublesome, knowing you Naruto, you were probably waiting till the last second just so that you could make a bigger entrance" a board Shikimaru said, who was wishing he was somewhere else right now.

"I'm glad you arrived in time Naruto-kun, I-er…I mean "WE" were was beginning to worry about you" Haku said, with a slight blush of embarrassment, which thankfully went unnoticed.

The Suna Genin Gaara also seemed to be pleased that Naruto arrived in time, although for an entirely different reasons that Haku and the others were.

"Yea sorry about that guys…" Naruto replied with a goofy grin, before glaring slightly at his godfather "…but like I said we were held up with something."

It was then at this point, that the others notice Naruto's new attire. He now wore simple black Shinob pants with a bandage around his right leg and a brown Shinobi utility belt around his waist and the same black boots from before. On his upper body he wore a short sleeve fishnet shirt and an open short sleeve black top with a black fingerless glove on his right hand and white bandages wrapped around his left. He had a new cloth for his headband, which was now black instead of blue and wore the Shodaime's Hokage's necklace around his neck and the ring Rurichiyo on his right middle finger and his chain earring on his right ear, allowing them to be clearly seen by everyone.

But the thing that caught most people's attention was the coat that he wore over his new attire. It was a long white sleeveless coat with decorated flames-like motifs on the edges.

This was a gift from Jiraiya, who had it made for Naruto to wear in the Chunin exam. The coats design was based on Minato's own coat, which he wore after he became Hokage. Jiraiya had given this to Naruto since he knew how much the boy admired his father and thought it would be a nice way for Naruto to have a piece of his father with him at all times. The only differences between the Yondaime's coat and Naruto's, was that Naruto's coat had the symbol of the Senju Clan on its back, which was blocked by his Kanata that was slung on his back with a brown leather belt. (2)

After getting over his surprise at how much Naruto reminded him of the Yondaime Hokage. Genma decided to get the exam under way, where he asked the Genin finalist to go up to the box where the finalist would wait for their matches.

He then asked Tsunade and the others to also leave, so that they could start the match.

Nodding in understanding, the five senior Shinobi bid Naruto good luck and then **Shunshin'd** (Body-flickered) away.

-In the Kage Box-

After Body-flickering from the arena, Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared in the Kage box, next to their former Sensei, who was pleased to see his former students again.

When the two Sannin appeared, the other Kages greeted them in a respectful manner.

The Mizukage was especially delighted to meet Tsuande, as she had long wished to meet the Slug Princess in person. Tsunade in return had been pleased to finally meet a female Kage, believing it was about time that a woman took charge of one of the five great Shinobi villages.

When Jiraiya first saw the Mizukage, he instantly went into Pervert Mode and planned to use his withy "_charm_" on the female Mizukage.

Fortunately though, before such a disaster could happen, Tsunade nipped it in the bud by pulling Jiraiya away by his ear and giving him the "_look_."

Not wanting to be fed through a drip, Jiraiya wisely decided to stand down and behaved himself.

When the Sandaime asked what took them so long to get here. Tsunade simply glared at Jiraiya again, (making the elder man gulp), before stating that they had an unexpected detour.

"I have to say Tsunade-sama, I'm looking forward to seeing your son compete" the female Mizukage said. "I have heard much about him from my Shinobi, Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku, who both speak highly of his skill."

"Naruto is a capable Shinobi, as you will soon see Mizukage-sama" Tsunade replied before her former student Shizune appeared next to her.

"Here you are Tsunade-sama" Shizune said, as she handed Tsunade a slip of paper before **Shunshin** away again.

"What's that hime?" Jiraiya asked.

"Just a betting slip… I beat twelve million ryo on Naruto winning his match."

When Sarutobi and Jiraiya heard this, both of them looked at the blonde haired woman with shocked and worried looks.

"No offense hime, but are you freaking INSANE?" Jiraiya cried. "Do you want him to Lose? …You know your luck when it comes to gambling and by betting on the brat, he might actually lose!"

In response Tsunade just smirked, not the least bit worried with what Jiraiya said. "I only lose at Gambling when I bet on myself. But when I bet on Naruto, I never lose, as his good luck is stronger than my bad luck."

"Well for his sake I hope so"

"We'll see soon enough" the Raikage commented with a slight frown, who was staring down at Naruto.

As he looked down at the blonde Senju, the Raikage couldn't get over how much Naruto reminded him of his former rival the Yondaime Hokage. Despite being enemies, the Raikage greatly admired and respected the former Hokage, not only for his skill and power, but also for his immense speed. Since he was the only man alive who could move faster than him. Minato's speed was so great, that the Raikage had never been able to land a solid hit on the former Hokage.

A had of course notice the resemblance when he first saw a picture of Naruto, but seeing him now wearing the same kind of clothing as the Yondaime Hokage, made the resemblance even stronger. It was almost as if he was seeing a younger version of the Yondaime Hokage.

"_I still can't get over how much that brat looks like Namikaze. If I didn't know any better I would swear the two of them were father and son_" the Raikage thought. Before shaking his head and scoffing at the idea. "_What the hell am I thinking? It's impossible; there no way Tsunade and Namikaze would have a child together. If the boy's surname name was Uzumaki I might believe he was Namikaze son. Hell I would sooner believe Jiraiya was the boy's father that Namikaze._"

"That's quite an interesting coat the boy is wearing Jiraiya-sama, it reminds me a lot of the coat that your former student the Yondaime Hokage use to wear" A remarked.

When A said this, Tsunade glanced angrily at Jiraiya. She had been against the idea of Naruto wearing the coat in the finals when Jiraiya first gave it to him last night. But she couldn't convince Naruto not to wear it, as he had been ecstatic when Jiriaya gave him the coat.

It was obvious to Tsunade, that Jiraiya had designed the coat to be like Minato's, not only because he was Naruto's father. But also because of how much Naruto reminded Jiraiya of Minato. This was something that always troubled Tsunade, as sometimes Jiriaya forgot that Naruto wasn't Minato.

She of course understood why Jiraiya found it hard to let Minato go, since he had been like a son to the Toad Sage and in many ways Naruto was like his grandson. But still she sometimes worried if Jiraiya was trying to replace Minato with Naruto.

"Eh yea" Jiraiya replied nervously, "I gave it to the kid as a gift, since he idolises Minato."

When the Raikage heard Jiraiya's explanation he narrowed his eyes slightly, as the story did make some sense. He could also see Jiraiya doing something like that, especially given how the boy was his former team-mates son. But what bothered him most was that he felt like he was overlooking something, as if there was more to this story.

Regardless though, the dark-skinned man decided to put the matter aside _for now_, but planned to investigate it later, since he wasn't a big fan of surprises.

-In the Audience-

After Body-flickering from the arena, Kushina and Yamato appeared in the stands, where they took two free seats in the front stands, which were right next to Anko, Asuma, Kurenai and their individual teams.

"Hey Kushina, Yamato you guys are late, what took you so long?" Asuma greeted when he saw the two former ANBU members. He was also curious as to why they were late, especially when Yamato was with them, since he was a stickler for protocol.

"Our apologise Asuma-san, but we were held up looking for Jiraiya-sama, who had disappeared earlier on" Yamato answered.

"Let me guess, he was peeping on some girls when they were at the hot spring" Anko amswered, since she knew the man well enough after the number of times she met him back when she was still Orochimaru's student.

"Actually it was some girls swimming at the falls outside Konoha" Kushina replied.

After hearing this, a disgusted look appeared on Kurenai's face, while a furious look appeared on Ino and Sakura faces, (who were sitting near her).

"Ugh! I can't believe someone as renowned as Jiraiya-sama, can engage in such deplorable things" the crimson eyed woman commented in disgusted.

"Well like the old saying, great men, aren't always great people" Asuma replied as he let out a puff of smoke.

"Did you get any good hits in?" Anko asked where Kushina just smiled and said she got Jiraiya good in the nose and groin, which made the snake woman smile.

"I'm assuming that since I didn't see Uchiha Sasuke with the other finalist that he and Kakashi-senpai have yet to arrive?" Yamato asked.

"Pretty much" Asuma answered.

"Figures" Kushina commented, "Kakashi would be late for his own funeral."

"So…" Asuma said, in an attempt to change the subject "…has the kid improved much, since the preliminaries?"

"Yes...he has improved a great deal, as you will soon see" Yamato replied, as he indicated to Naruto and Neji, who were now facing one another.

"Well it should be interesting regardless, especially after what he promise to do to that Hyuga punk" Anko remarked. Not noticing the worried look on a certain Hyuga heiress, who was sitting near her.

Hinata had of course heard what happened at the preliminaries after she lost to Neji and what Naruto promise to do to him and regardless of what her cousin did to her. She couldn't help but be concern for him, since he was still her cousin no matter what. She was also slightly concerned for Naruto, since she knew first-hand how strong and how skilled Neji was, and regardless of his amazing strength, Naruto's battle with Neji would not be an easy opponent.

When Anko made her comment, her friend Kurenai remained silent, which was unusual since she would've normally rebuked her for making such comments. But given how Neji had tried to kill her student, his own cousin. She had little sympathy for the male Hyuga and what would happen to him, since she was one of the few people who knew how strong Naruto really was.

A couple of rows away from the group, the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi was sitting in the audience waiting for the match to begin.

"Watch closely Hanabi" Hiashi said to his youngest daughter, who was sitting next to him. "There is no one else who has inherited the Bloodline limit of the Hyuga Clan as strong as him. Your older sister does not even compare with him."

"Even more than my sister?" the young girl asked in surprise as she turned to her father.

"Yes, and most likely more than you" the elder man replied, shocking the young girl.

"_Let us see how well you do against someone like Neji-san, Senju-san_" the leader of the Hyuga Elders (Hiashi's father) thought. Who was sitting not far from Hiashi and his daughter and like them had come to watch the match between his grandson Neji and Naruto, along with the rest of the Hyuga elders, who were interested to see what Naruto could do.

Sitting not far from them were the Hokage's advisors Danzo, Koharu and Homura. Who like everyone else was interested in watching this year's Chunin exam and to see more of Naruto abilities with their own eyes.

-In the Arena-

"I must say Senju-san, I was actually starting to believe that you wouldn't show up" Neji commented, as he faced off against Naruto.

"Hmph! As if I would run and hide from the likes of you" Naruto scoffed, before he started to crack his knuckles. "I told you before at the preliminaries, when we meet again, I would beat you into the ground and I always keep my word."

Seeing Naruto cracking his knuckles, Neji began to frown, as the memory of Naruto's super human strength was still fresh on his mind. He knew he would have to be careful when fighting Naruto, as his immense strength was no joke. Lee's current condition and the state of the fighting arena in the forest of death tower, was a testament to the destructive power of Naruto's strength.

The best way to deal with that was to use his Jūken (Gentle fist) and to seal up Naruto's tenketsu and prevent him from using his Chakra. The only problem with that was that he needed to get close to Naruto, which would then give the young Senju the opportunity to send him right through the arena wall with one punch.

As the two boys continued to glare at one another, the match referee Genma suddenly spoke, "Now that both of you are here and are ready, let the first match of the Chunin finals Begin!"

Despite Genma yelling begin, neither boys moved forward, instead they kept their distance and fell into their individual fighting stance.

Seeing that Naruto hadn't gone for his Katana, the young Hyuga Branch member began to frown, wondering way Naruto wasn't going to try and use his Katana, which would give him a clear advantage in their fight. But as he wondered why, he suddenly remembered Naruto's fight with Lee and smirked.

Seeing the young Hyuga smirking Naruto frowned, "Care to let me in on the joke teme?"

"It's nothing" replied Neji, who was still smirking. "I've just notice that you haven't reached for you Katana yet. Does that mean you acknowledge me as a worthy an opponent and wish to fight me fairly?"

"Heh, hardly" Naruto replied with a scoff, making the Hyuga frown. "I acknowledge that you're strong, but that's it. When I fought Lee I wanted to fight him fairly because I not only respected him as a Shinobi, but also as a person, I don't regard you in the same way. As far as I'm concerned, Lee is a hundred times better than you will ever be."

"Then why?" Neji asked in an irritated tone, as the idea of a failure like Lee, being better than him, irked him.

"I won't be satisfied by just cutting you up with my Katana, as that would be too easy, you going to suffer just like you made Hinata-chan suffer in the preliminaries.

"I see" Neji said with a frown before he activated his Bakyugan. "Well then, your welcome to try, but I will tell you now this match has already been decided. For I have seen the outcome with my eyes, destiny will see me as the winner."

"We'll see about that" Naruto replied as he narrowed his eyes before he formed a hand seal and cried "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique)!" and created eight clones of himself.

-In the Audience-

"Smart move" Anko remarked.

"What an interesting kid" Kotetsu commented in amusement.

"**Kage Bunshin **is a Jonin level technique. I didn't know he could use it" Izumo said in surprise.

"Well we shouldn't be surprise given all the rumours we have been hearing about him lately and something tells me we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg" Kotetsu responded as he looked down at Naruto and his clones.

-In the Arena-

"_**Kage Bunshin?**_" Neji thought with a frown as he remembered hearing of the Technique from his sensei Gai. "I see, if the Charka is distributed equally among the clones…even my Byakugan cannot tell which of them is the real one. But still it doesn't matter, as there can only be one real one."

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are Senju, you will still lose."

"I suggest you don't act so tough" all nine Naruto's said together before four of the Naruto clones charged forward.

In an impressive feat of speed, two of the Naruto clones suddenly appeared behind Neji and attempted to attack the young Hyuga prodigy from behind, while the other two attack from the front.

Seeing the clone appear behind him, thanks to his Byakugan, Neji easily evaded the Naruto clones by flipping into the air and over the forward clones.

After landing back on the ground, two more Naruto clones charged forward and attempted to flank him from both side. But before they could hit them, Neji spun around and skilfully slapped away their hands, while at the same time kicking them off their feet, causing them to fall to the ground.

Once the two clones hit the ground, another Naruto clone appeared in front of Neji when he stopped spinning and attempted a sharp knee kick to his chin, which appeared to hit the Hyuga Prodigy and send him up into the air. But in reality Neji had skilfully evaded the knee kick and by leaping backwards into the air.

Realizing he hadn't hit Neji, Naruto had four of his clones surround the Hyuga Genin and attack him from all sides.

Once they had surrounded him, the four Naruto clones attacked from all sides, but right before they could hit him. Neji jumped into the air again and preformed a mid-air double spin kick, hitting all four Naruto clones and causing them to explode into smoke.

But as soon as the first four clones were destroyed the second group appeared and like before, they attempted to attack Neji from both sides, where the first two attacked together from behind and the other two attacked from the front.

Seeing the two clones coming from behind with his Byakugan, Neji skilfully slapped away the clone's punches and allowed to them to run pass him. After which he then delivered double palm strikes to their chests, just as they were turning around to face him.

After the two clones were destroyed, the last two attempted to use the smoke of the destroyed clones as cover. Sadly though their plan failed as Neji easily saw through the smoke with his Byakugan and delivered a double hand strike to their stomachs causing them to explode into smoke like the others.

After seeing all his clones destroyed Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "_So the stories about the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan Bloodline are true. It's as if he really has eyes at the back of his head_."

Back when Naruto was gathering info on Lee and his team, Naruto had heard some of the stories involving the Hyuga Clan and their abilities. He had even asked his mother, Jiraiya and his teachers about the Hyuga Clan's bloodlines and given what he was told; Naruto knew how dangerous Neji was in close combat.

"It will take more than this to defeat me, Senju. I can see much with these eyes of mine."

"Oh and what exactly do you see?" Naruto asked in a board tone and folded his arms.

"They allow me to see the truth of this world. Like everyone else, your talent is determined when you're born. In other words, everything is predetermined at birth."

"Huh, so that's what you believe, well I'm afraid I don't buy into any of that fate crap, we make our own destiny" Naruto replied with a scoff, although frowned again when he saw Neji smirk.

"That's rather amusing coming from you, as you are the perfect example of what I have said. Think about it? Everyone in the Shinobi world has heard of the legendary Senju Clan, who were known for having the strongest Shinobi. Your own ancestors were the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokages and your own mother is one of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja), so it is of no surprise why you are so strong, you were fated to be strong before you were even born."

Narrowing eyes, Naruto spoke again "Why do you always try to label people like that?"

"I am speaking only the truth, you and I were fated to be stronger than others, just as Lee and Hinata-sama were fated to be born as failures. It didn't matter how much they wanted to win, they were fated to lose to us from the very beginning. Everyone is different; they can only live in the indisputable flow of life and walk the path that has been laid out before them. But there is just one fate that everyone possesses… and that is death."

-In the Audience-

After hearing everything that Neji had said a sober look appeared on everyone face, as many could find little flaw with what Neji was saying as there was a ring of truth in it.

But the one that was taking what Neji was saying the hardest was the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi. "_Those eyes…He still curses the Main family for what happened._"

-In the Arena-

"Are you done?" Naruto asked with the same board tone and look.

"What?" Neji asked with a frown.

"I told you before I don't believe in fate, we make our own destiny by the choices we make, and the reason I am strong is not because of who I am related to. It's because I worked my ass off to get this strong, and because I had good teachers supporting and helping me. Even if what you said is true, it wouldn't change a thing, as I intend to beat you no matter what."

After he said this Naruto then formed the same hand-seal as before and created a large number of Shadow clones.

"Clones again? I would've thought you would come up with something more original by now" Neji remarked as he stood in front on the small army of Naruto's.

"You know the old saying if at first you don't succeed try, try again" all the Naruto's replied before they circled around Neji and surrounded him from all sides and attacked.

Unafraid of the group of Naruto's, Neji stood his ground and prepared to defend himself from the coming onslaught of clones.

He did not have to wait long as within seconds they were upon him.

Thanks to his Byakugan being activated, Neji was able see the Naruto clones from all directions and skilfully evaded and blocked all their attacks with ease.

This continued for the next few minutes, all the while one Naruto stood back from a safe distance watching Neji closely as he fought the other Naruto's.

"Do you think I'm a fool Senju?" the Hyuga Prodigy asked as he avoided a leg swipe from a Naruto clone by flipping backwards. "Your pitiful strategy in wearing me down with these clones will not work. All I have to do is hit the real you and I already know which of you is the real one."

The next thing Naruto and the clones knew Neji disappeared in a blur and in an impressive feat of speed. He sped through the army of clones before they could stop him and went right for the Naruto that stood away from the group and hit him with a strong hand strike to the heart.

"I'm disappointed Senju, I expected more from you. It was obvious that you were the real one, as you were the one who attacked the least, because you fear I would hit your Tenketsu if you got to close to me. The more you had your clones attack me, the more you stood out" Neji said with a satisfied smirk, believing he had won. But to his shock the Naruto he hit smirked and before he knew it, the clone exploded, blasting him away and sending him flying to the other end the arena.

-In the Audience-

"That's **Bunshin Daibakuha** (Great Clone Explosion)!" Izumo said in surprise. "To think a Genin could use an A-rank technique like that?"

"Not bad" Kotetsu commented, who was rather impressed with Naruto, "To think he has mastered the **Kage Bunshin Technique** to that extent."

"Alright Nii-san, you show him!" Konohamaru yelled as he stood up from his seat and cheered Naruto on

"That brat pretty sneaky, I'll give him that, he was already well ahead of that Hyuga punk" Anko remarked with a smirk.

"Trust me Anko, you haven't how seen how sneaky Naruto can be" Kushina replied, given all the pranks she and Naruto had done over the past few months.

-In the Arena-

After being sent flying to the other end of the arena by the explosion, the Hyuga prodigy slowly got back onto his feet. The explosion had thankfully not been too powerful and mainly singed him. But it was still strong enough to cause some injuries, where he had a few small wounds that were bleeding and some light burn marks on his face and arms.

"_Uhnnn__, Damnit he was already a step ahead of me, he had one of his clones stay back while he hid with the rest of the clones. He knew I would attack the one that stayed behind, believing it was him and lured me in…how was he able to get his clone to explode like that?_" Neji thought angrily as he couldn't believe he had been tricked so easily.

"You shouldn't be so confident Hyuga-teme, I told you before not to underestimate my abilities" the real Naruto said as he walked forward and stood in front of the clones.

Glaring at the blonde, Neji spoke "I did not think you would use such a cheap trick Senju."

"Heh, Have you forgotten? We're Shinobi, that's what we do. Besides the cheap ones are usually the best ones" Naruto replied with a smirk before he ordered the rest of his clones to attack, while he stood back and watched the battle.

-In the Audience-

"What is Naruto doing, why is he only using Clones? Why doesn't he use his other Jutsu? He's much stronger than this" Sakura said as she watched Neji fight with Naruto's clones.

"Because he's thinking ahead" Kushina answered, gaining Sakura's and the others attention.

"What do you mean Kushina-sensei?" Ino asked.

"When you are running in a marathon, you don't go all out at the very beginning, you pace yourself and use you energy wisely and save yourself for the end."

"So your saying that Naruto is holding back, because he doesn't want wear himself out" Sakura said, realizing what Kushina was saying.

"Precisely, if Naruto was to use his more powerful Jutsu or other abilities to beat Neji, the opponents he would later go against would know what to expect and be prepared for it. By fighting this way, Naruto will have his bigger guns to surprise his opponents with later."

"That may be true Kushina, but I'm sure there is more to reason why he's using Shadow clones this way than just keeping his better abilities hidden" Asuma added as he joined the conversation.

Kushina did not reply of course, but smirked, which told the younger Sarutobi that he was right.

"What do you mean Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.

"If I were to guess I would say, that the kid is using his clones to study Neji?"

"How so?" asked the blonde girl.

"Well unlike other clones, Shadow Clones can use high level Jutsu and when they are destroyed everything that they saw or heard is sent back to the person. This makes them ideal when scouting or spying on people, as once they disperse all their info is sent back to the user. By sending his clones to fight and watching them from a distance, Naruto gets to see two separate points of views, which allows him to analysis Neji's fighting ability and find any weak points."

"Not bad Asuma, you catch on quick" a smirking Kushina commented. "_But I would expect nothing less from the son of the __Professor_"

"That's actually pretty clever" Anko remarked as she was rather impressed.

"How strong is Naruto-kun really?" Ino asked turning to Kushina.

"That you'll just have to wait and see" the red headed woman replied as she continued to watch her student's battle.

-In the Arena-

As the battle continued, Naruto had some of his clones fall back and thrown Kunai, Shuriken and Senbon needles from a distance, making it even more difficult for Neji to fight the clones.

But despite being attack from long range and close range, Neji was still able to block or avoid all of the clones attack, thanks to his Byakugan and his lightning fast reflexes.

Seeing this, Naruto had the majority of his clones attack Neji all at once from all side, so to see how he would defend against this.

Reacting fast, Neji quickly fell into a Taijutsu stance that Hiashi, his daughters and the Hyuga elders all recognised instantly, and where shocked beyond words to see him use it.

"**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" Neji yelled, where with lighting fast speed, he struck at all the clones from all directions with powerful hand strikes that destroyed them instantly.

Naturally the audience had been stunned by how quickly Neji defeated all the clones. But before the Hyuga prodigy could enjoy his moment, he suddenly saw several projectiles coming towards from behind.

Acting fast, Neji quickly fell to his knees to avoid them, but was unable to evade all of them, where a Senbon needle hit him in the shoulder.

Seeing this Naruto smirked, "_I final found it…hah, I knew it, no defence is absolute, everything has a weakness and I found his. Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji has a three hundred and sixty degree vision and can see through objects and see things from far off distances, making in nearly impossible to sneak up on him. Adding his lighting fast relaxes he's able to counter, block or avoid enemy attacks from almost any direction. That's why he was able to avoid my clone's projectiles, or at least most of them, as one of them was able to get through. Meaning that he wasn't able to see it coming and avoided it, therefore he has a blind spot at his upper back. And if I'm right, there is one other place I can attack from, where he won't see me coming from._"

After realizing where Neji's weak point was, Naruto signalled his remaining clones with some regular hand seals, telling them to go for the next phase of his plan.

Nodding understanding, the clones took out several Kunai and from their utility belts and attacked Neji from all sides, who had just finished taking the Senbon needle in his shoulder out.

Wasting no time, Neji quickly fell into his **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** stance again and began to eliminate the remaining Naruto clones. But just when he was about to finish off the last clone, he suddenly felt a sharp pain from his back, causing him to fall forward where the last remaining Naruto clone delivered a stronger kick to his stomach and sent him crashing into the wall.

After hitting the wall, the young Hyuga slowly picked himself up onto his knees and pulled out several needles from his upper back, which he was surprised to find.

"But how? Why didn't I see these needles coming?" Neji muttered in confusion.

"I guess those eyes of yours can't see everything after all" Naruto mocked as he joined his last clone.

Hearing this Neji glared angrily at Naruto, but it was quickly replaced by realization when Neji suddenly realized what Naruto had been really up to the whole time. "You've been planning this from the very start; you used your clones to attack me from different direction, so to find my blind spot, not to wear me down."

"Bingo" Naruto answered with smirk as he began to walk towards Neji to finish him off.

-In the Audience-

"Neji has a blind spot?" Tenten said is surprise as she didn't think he had a blind spot.

"So he did discover the Byakugan's blind spot" Hisahi's commented as he had figured out Naruto's plan not too long ago.

"Impressive" the Mizukage remarked, as she was rather impressed with how effectively Naruto used his shadow clones.

"Indeed" the Raikage replied, as he too had to grudgingly complement Naruto, as he wasn't even aware of the Hyugan Clan's Bykauan having a blind spot.

-In the Arena-

Angry at how he had been duped again by Naruto, Neji started to get up, but before he could, Naruto suddenly spoke again.

"Don't bother trying to move, those needles I hit you with were coated with poison that paralyzes your body, you won't be able to move for the next few hours."

But just when Naruto thought he had won the fight, he saw Neji smirk, making him stop when he was just a few feet from the Hyuga member.

"It seems that this time you're the overconfident one Senju and are underestimating me."

Before Naruto could even ask what Neji was talking about, the Hyuga Prodigy stood up and fell into his **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** stance once again.

"_Impossible!_" Naruto thought in surprise, as the poison that coated the Senbon needles should have completely paralyzed his body.

"Did you really think I was not prepared for this?" Neji asked. "I watched both your battles against Hattori Mai and Lee closely and studied you as much as I could. Given your training as a medic-nin it was obvious that you would've been trained to use poisons in battle so before I came here, I injected myself with an Antidote, making me immune to most poisons."

"_Shit!_" Naruto thought realizing that Neji had fooled him and drawn him in so that he would be in Neji's divination.

Before Naruto could even try to escape, Neji used his **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** to hit sixty-four of Naruto's tenketsu stopping his Chakra completely. After being hit by Neji's attack, Naruto spat up blood and began to fall to the ground.

"Heh, as I told you before Senju, I was fated to win this battle from the very start, as he who is prepared for any situation in battle will always prevail."

But just as Neji thought the fight was right he saw Naruto smirk and say "Your right" After which he exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing he was a shadow clone.

"_Another Clone!_" Neji thought in surprise realizing that Naruto must have used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Body Replacement Technique) to replace himself with his last remaining clone at the last second, preventing his tenketsu from being sealed up.

After discovering what Naruto had done, Neji quickly spun around to face the real Naruto who had appeared and attempted a spin kick on the Hyuga branch member.

Acting fast, Neji quickly blocked the kick with his arm and attempted to hit some of Naruto's tenketsu in his legs. But before he could hit them, Naruto used Neji's arm as a spring board and pushed himself away, avoiding Neji's strikes.

"So you were prepared for my attack?" Neji asked after Naruto had landed back on the ground.

"Like you said Hyuga-teme, the person who is prepared for any situation will always win. I'll admit, I didn't expect you to be immune to my poison. But I did prepare to replace myself, just in case you tried something."

"I see" Neji answered, "But do not think you've won this battle, as now I know where you intent to attack me from."

"Really, well I'm about to show you that you've one other blind spot" Naruto replied with a smile, where he once again formed a single hand seal and created four more Shadow clones.

-In the Audience-

"Another Blind spot?" Tenten repeated in surprise.

"Impossible" a Hyuga Elder said, who like the other elders was rather irritated by how Naruto revealed that the Byakugan's had a blind spot. Something they never wanted anyone outside their clan to know about."

"_Could there actually be another blind spot to the Byakugan? One that we aren't even aware of_" Hiashi thought was he watched Naruto closely.

-In the Arena-

"_What other blind spot is he talking about?_" Neji thought. "Could he be bluffing? No I can't take that chance that he isn't."

Not wanting to give Naruto a chance to attack, Neji quickly raced forward, but before he could reach Naruto or his clones, they dropped several smoke bombs which exploded and filled much of the arena with smoke.

Stopping, Neji quickly took up a defensive stance while circling around, so to make it more difficult for Naruto or his clones to hit his blind spot in the back.

"_What's he up to? He should know that this smoke won't hide him or his clones from my Byakugan_" Neji thought as he looked for Naruto and his clones and wondered what they were up to. It didn't take him long for him to find the four Naruto clones as he saw them coming at him from all four sides with his Byakugan.

Acting fast, Neji raised his arm up to slap away the first Naruto clone's fist, after which he then grabbed hold of the clone's outstretched arm and flipped him over so that he would crash into the second clone that was behind Neji.

With the first two clones momentarily dealt with, Neji then jumped into the air to avoid the punches from the other two clones, who had come at him from opposite sides. After avoiding their attacks, Neji then preformed a mid-air double spin kick and kicked the two of them in the side of their heads, destroying them in one go.

Once he landed back on the ground, Neji saw that the first two clones had gotten back onto their feet.

Not wanting to give them a chance to attack him, Neji immediately spun around and delivered a sharp double hand strike to their chests, causing them to simultaneously explode into smoke like the others.

After destroying the last two clones, Neji saw that the smoke from the smoke bombs had just about blown away.

"_Where is he?_" Neji thought as he began to search around the arena for Naruto, but couldn't find him.

"_Where could he have gone? He's not behind me or hidden in the trees and bushes and he not's above me, so that only leaves he's…_" Neji thought. But before he could finish his thought, Naruto erupted out of the ground from underneath him and delivered a strong punch to the chin, which sent Neji into the air.

Not letting up, Naruto quickly spun around cried "**Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick)!"(3) Where he delivered a powerful spinning back kick into the Hyuga's stomach, sending him flying into the arena wall again and making a large dent in it.

"Ugh!" Neji grunted in pain after hitting the wall, where he slowly picked himself up again and glared at the smirking Senju who was standing next to the hole he had made.

"Damn you, you tricked me again! There was no second blind spot; you just wanted me to think there was."

"Actually technically that was a blind spot. Like most people you're focused on what is happening around you and not what was happening underneath you, which was why I was able to sneak up on you. To quote Kakashi-sensei, a Shinobi must always look underneath" Naruto replied, although he knew what he just said wasn't exactly what Kakashi meant, it still fitted with what he was saying.

"Now if you don't mind, I think it's time we finished this battle of ours" said Naruto as he cracked his knuckles and then charged forward with his fist raised, intending to end the fight with a single punch.

Seeing the immense amount of Chakra focused in Naruto's hand with his Byakugan, Neji knew what was coming next and knew he had move or be splattered across the village.

Waiting until the very last second, the young Hyuga quickly rolled to his left, allowing him to narrowly avoid the punch.

-Enter Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

After Neji moved away at the last second Naruto slammed his fist into the arena wall, causing a large explosion and dust cloud.

Eventually the dust cloud died down and once it did the audience was shocked to see massive ten foot high and wide hole in the three foot thick arena wall.

-In the Audience-

"Oh my" the Fire Daimyo said in surprise.

"My Goodness" Madam Shijimi said in equal surprise.

"_I knew Naruto-kun was strong but I didn't think he was this strong!_" Rurichiyo thought in shock, as she had seen Naruto use his immense strength to defeat a wild bear.

"Incredible" Hiashi muttered, even though he was one of the few people in Konoha who knew Naruto's true capabilities, he still surprised at seeing someone like Naruto having such immense strength.

"Tou-san, how is this possible? How can someone have such incredible power?" Hanabi asked in surprise when she turned to her father.

"Many things are possible in the world of Shinobi, my daughter, you will see that when you are older."

"Amazing" one of the Hyuga Elders muttered. "To think a boy his age could possess such power."

"Indeed" Hiashi's father muttered, "He is truly his mother's son."

"Unreal" said Konohamaru who like the rest of his classmates was in awe of his elder brother figure immense power. But it did not take him long to get over it and once he did, he turned to his classmates who were still stunned by what they saw and said "Hah! Did you see that! I told all of you that Naruto-nii was awesome."

"He's incredible!" one student said.

"He's fantastic!" another student said.

"He's Great!" yet another student said where before long, all the young Academy students were cheering for Naruto.

The teachers of course didn't even bother to try and calm their students down as like most people they were still in shock at Naruto's strength.

"_What phenomenal strength_" Iruka thought, who was wondering if Naruto had been this strong when he fought Mizuki.

"Did you see that, Kurotsuchi?" Akatsuchi asked in surprise.

"Of course I did! I'm sitting right next to you, you idiot" Kurotsuchi snapped, who like her partner was stunned by Naruto's show of strength.

"Your Gramps will want to know of this" the large young man said, where his female partner just nodded.

"_Looks like Jiji was right, when he said there was more to this kid than meets the eye,_" the Iwa Kunoichi thought."_If he's this strong already, there no telling how strong he'll become later._"

"_It seems Naruto-kun is finally getting serious_" an amused Hattori Mai thought.

"Troublesome, Naruto just doesn't know how to hold back" Shikamaru muttered as he shook his head at what Naruto had done.

"_Amazing Naruto-kun…_" Hinata thought in disbelief, as this was the first time she had seen Naruto use his super human strength.

"Damn, it's times like this that make me glad I'm not the one fighting Senju" Kiba commented.

"Let's just hope that things don't turn out the way they did at the end of the preliminaries or else we might have to cancel the finals" Asuma said.

"Agreed" Yamato said, even though he told Naruto not to go too far, he knew his student would probably still go overboard.

"Unbelievable" a stunned Izumo said, "How can a kid like him be this strong? I mean sure I've heard the rumours, but I didn't think they were true."

"Yea" Kotetsu muttered, who like his friend, had heard the same rumours. The rumour had started circulating about a month ago, right after the preliminaries had ended and when repairs had begun on the arena in the forest of death tower. According to the rumour, the entire arena had been destroyed by two mere Genin when they fought, one of the Genin being none other than Senju Naruto. Who was said to possess the same kind of inhuman strength that his mother had.

"Impressive, he is just as strong as the reports say" Mei said after seeing Naruto punch through the arena wall, before turning to Tsunade. "Your son is truly a credit to you Tsunade-sama."

"Indeed he's quite impressive" the Kazekage added.

"Thank you Mizukage-sama Kazekage-sama, but trust me when I say this, you haven't seen half of what Naru-chan can do."

"Well regardless, I hope Naruto-kun shows a little more restraint here than he did in the preliminaries, as they're still trying to repair the arena in the tower" the Sandaime responded.

"Heh! No promises sensei"

As the three other Kages and the two Sannin continued to talk with one another, the Raikage remained surprisingly silent and stared down at Naruto. He was of course not surprised by Naruto's show of power, as he had heard about Naruto's strength from his brother Killer Bee when he sent a message telling him of how things were progressing in the exam.

Naturally when he first heard the news he was surprised and thought his brother might have been extravagating things. But after seeing Naruto punch right through a three foot thick stone wall and hearing what the Sandaime had said in the preliminaries, he had no choice but to accept everything his brother had said in his report.

"_This could be trouble_" the Raikage thought silently.

-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack-

-In the Arena-

When the smoke died down and Neji saw the massive hole in the wall, he silently thanked his quick reactions, for he was certain that if he had not moved just now, he would've been finished.

"What's wrong teme, starting to get nervous?" Naruto asked as he walked towards the young Hyuga and began to crack his knuckles.

"Hardly" Neji replied as he stood up and glared defiantly at the spikey haired blonde.

"Well you should be, as things are only going to get worse for your now" Naruto said before he created four more clones of himself and had them attack Neji. Who was quickly forced on the defensive and pushed back. But eventually he gained the upper hand and skilfully dealt with the clones.

But just as he had destroyed the last clone, Neji saw Naruto appear from above with his arm stretched out and a large amount of Chakra focused into it.

Knowing that he couldn't avoid Naruto's attack this time, Neji decided to play his trump card, where just as Naruto was about to hit him. Neji began to release a large amount of Chakra from all his tenketsu and then started to spin around at high speed, creating a rotating shield of chakra around him.

Once Naruto made contact with the spinning dome of Chakra, Naruto was sent flying backwards into the arena wall behind him, making a large dent into it.

"Gah! What the hell was that?" Naruto grunted after he hit the wall and painfully looked toward Neji, who was now standing in a small crater.

"Don't think that you've won this battle already Senju" Neji said as he smirked at Naruto when he saw the dumbfound look on the blonde's face. "I told you before, this battle was decided long ago and I am the one who is fated to win this battle."

-In the Audience-

Naturally when the audience saw what had happened, many were dumbfounded by the complete turnaround of the fight. As one second ago it looked like Naruto was about to win, but out of nowhere Neji used some strange technique to block Naruto's attack and send him flying into the arena wall.

"W-Wh-What was that?" Ino asked in surprise and confusion, as like most people she couldn't understand what had happened.

"I don't know?" Sakura replied. "It looked like Naruto's punched him, but instead of Neji being sent flying, it was Naruto."

"_That move? Could that kid actually mastered_ _**that**_ _technique_" Kushina thought, as she stared at Neji with a frown.

From the Kage booth, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the Hokage were all thinking the same thing as Kushina. Knowing that it was only feasible way Neji could've blocked Naruto's punch like that and send him flying.

"_Naruto_" Shizune thought, who was sitting next to Kushina and Yamato and had a look of concern as she saw her godson/surrogate brother in trouble.

She was of course not the only one as several other people were also showing concern for the young blonde.

Among the number of concern people was also the young Hyuga heiress Hinata. Who was also one of the few people who knew what technique Neji had just used.

"_That's_…" Hinata thought.

"**Kaiten **(Revolving Heaven)…" Hiashi finished in disbelief.

"Impossible!" a shocked Hyuga elder said, who like the other elders couldn't believe that Neji preformed another one of the main family's secret techniques.

"But how...could Hiashi have thought him it?" another one of the elders asked.

"He wouldn't" Hiashi's father said, refusing to believe that his son would teach a branch member the secret techniques of the main family.

"Then how?" another elder asked, who received only silence as none of them could answer him.

-In the Arena-

Confused and frustrated by what had just happened, Naruto stood, ignoring the pain he felt from smashing into the arena wall.

Wanting to figure out what Neji had just done, Naruto created eight more Shadow clones and sent them to attack Neji, where they quickly surrounded him.

Neji of course remained perfectly still and did not try to move away. Instead he waited for the clone's attack, where once they had surrounded him, they attacked him from all sides at the same time.

But like before, Neji immediately started to spin around and released his Chakra, once again creating the large spinning dome of Chakra, while crying out "**Hakkeshō Kaiten** (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!"

Like Naruto earlier, when the clones made contact with Neji's technique, they were all sent flying away and burst into smoke soon after.

-In the Audience-

"That move, but father that is…" Hanabi said, but before she could finish, her father interrupted her.

"Yes, that is **Kaiten** a secret technique that is only passed down to the successors of our Clan…or in other words, the members of the main family. But somehow he was able to come up with this move himself, just as he did with the **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō**? Such incredible talent…I never expected him to be so gifted..."

"To think a boy from the branch family, who cannot succeed as head of our Clan, has inherited our Clan's bloodline ability to this extent" a Hyuga elder with wonderment at Neji's skill and ability said.

"It a disgrace" another elder angrily spat, as he was furious at branch member being able to perform two of the main family's most carefully guarded secret techniques.

"_Perhaps I made a mistake when I choose Hiashi to succeed me as Clan head instead of Hizashi_" Hiashi's father thought as he stared down at Neji.

"_You're skilled Naruto-san, but I am afraid you cannot get by Neji's ultimate defence as it is perfect._" Tenten thought.

-In the Arena-

"What will you do now Senju Naruto?" Neji asked. "I told you earlier I had studied as much as I could about you; I knew I would have to face your immense strength sooner or later. That is why I developed this technique, so that I could counter your inhuman strength."

"No technique is without weakness teme, therefore your technique has one and I'll find it, just as I did with your Byakugan."

"Heh, your living in a dream world Senju, just like Lee with his foolish belief that hard work would allow him to overcome those of us who are gifted and make his dreams come true."

At the mention of Lee, Naruto remembered his battle with Lee and how no matter how hard he hit him the green haired boy kept getting up, he refused to back down or give up. He then remembered how Neji scorned and mocked Hinata during and after their battle.

Remembering this, Naruto grew even more determined to beat Neji, as he refused to let him get away with mocking his friends or spitting on their beliefs and dreams.

"Why don't you just shut your mouth" Naruto angrily said, "Just because you've more natural talent and ability than most people. It doesn't give you the right to put others down when they try their hardest and tell them they can never become stronger."

"That's rather amusing coming from you," retorted Neji. "Given how you were the one who destroyed Lee's career as a Shinobi…"

-In the Audience-

"That was low" Kushina said with a frown, as she knew how guilty Naruto felt over what happened to Lee, and how may have destroyed the boy's career.

-In the Arena-

Gripping his fist in anger, Naruto glared at the Hyuga member. "I never wanted to do that to Lee and if I could change things I would."

"Yet it did, so I don't see how you have the moral high ground here Senju."

"I never tried to kill him like when you did with Hinata-chan nor did I ever put him down or mock him for wanting to become a great Shinobi. In fact I respected and admired him for it, he may have lost the fight, but as far as I'm concerned he proved himself as a great Shinobi. The fact that he nearly defeated me proves it, as I only won by chance."

"It was not chance…it was fate, I told you before Senju our fates are decided from the moment we are born, they cannot be changed no matter what you believe or how hard you try to fight it. The fact that Lee still lost to you despite how close he came, proves that, as does Hinata-sama's fight with me."

"What is it with you?" Naruto asked. "Why do you persist to go on with this fate crap? What is your deal with the Hinata-chan and the main family of your Clan?"

"I don't see why it should concern you?"

"The fact that you tried to kill Hinata-chan, who is my friend…makes it my concern."

"Very well I will tell you since you seem to care so much…about the Hyuga's Clan fate of hatred!" Neji said with an angry look as he remembered. "The Hyuga Clan has a secret technique that has been passed down within the main family. This technique is called the **Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu **(Hyūga Main Family's Cursed Seal Technique)."

"_Curse seal? As in like the one that Orochimaru put on me?_" Naruto thought in surprise.

"That curse seal symbolises a cage bird…and is also a symbol of those who are bound within an inescapable destiny." Neji said before he took off his headband and revealed his Curse seal, after which he continued on with his story. "With it, the main family controls the fate of all members of the branch family. It allows the head family to destroy the brain cells of any branch member who tries to fight their fate, killing would be just as easy as well. And this curse seal will only disappear after I die when it seals up my Byakugan."

"But why?" Naruto asked in surprise, as it made no sense to him for a Clan to do something like this to their own members.

"The Hyuga Clan as you know has a unique Bloodline limit and there are many who are after it or want to learn it secrets. So to protect it, this curse seal was created to ensure that the branch family protects the main family and keeps our Clan's secrets, as well as ensure that no branch member goes against a member of the main family."

"So you hate Hinata-chan because she is a member of the main family, and because they are the ones who forced the curse seal on you?"

"It is hardly that simple."

"Then explain"

"One day when I was four this detestable seal was carved into me with that Cursed Seal Technique. On that day there was also a large ceremony in the village, celebrating a new peace treaty between Konohagakure and Kumogakure…"

"I already know about this" Naruto interrupted. "On that day that the treaty was to be revealed, the head Ninja who was sent by Kumo to negotiate the treaty was revealed to be a spy. The treaty was a cover created by Kumo to allow the head Ninja to enter the village so that he could kidnap Hinata-chan and steal the Byakugan Bloodline and learn its secrets. But the plan failed as Hinata-chan's father stopped it by killing the head Ninja before he could escape with Hinata-chan. When it was revealed, Kumo denied any knowledge of what the head Ninja had done and blamed Konoha for what happened. They then demanded that Konoha pay, resulting in a Konoha Shinobi having to sacrifice himself to prevent a war from breaking out."

"He did not sacrifice himself, he was murdered" Neji replied angrily, "With their head Ninja dead, Kumo demanded that Konoha give up a Shinobi, or to be more precise they demanded the body of the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi."

"But he's alive" Naruto answered

"Precisely" Neji replied as he narrowed his eyes angrily, "Wanting to avoid a war at all cost Konoha agreed, but instead of Hiashi being sacrificed the main family replaced him…with my father, who was Hiashi-sama's identical twin brother."

"No way" Naruto said, as didn't know any of this.

"Yes" Neji replied with a pained and angry look. "To protect the main family…to protect our Clan's secrets…to avoid another war with Kumo, the head family _murdered _my father."

When he finished speaking Neji closed his eyes in sorrow as he remembered the pain of seeing the dead body of his father, who was killed just to protect the main family.

Naruto of course said nothing, as he had no clue of any this, he did not know that there was more to the story than what he was told.

-In the Audience-

In the stands the audience remind silent, digesting everything that Neji had said.

When Neji had finished his story on the Hyuga incident, several Shinobi like Kushina frowned, as like her. The incident had left a bitter aftertaste in their months and they did not agree with what happened.

Up in the Kage stands the Sandaime just lowered their heads, with some shame. He remembered those days all too well, in the grand scheme of things, sacrificing one man's life to stop a war that would result in the death of hundreds if not thousands of Shinobi seemed like a small price of pay. But still, it had not made it any easier; especially knowing the pain that Hizashi's loved ones would feel with his death.

At the same time both Jiraiya and Tsunade frowned, they were familiar with that incident, since in the end, both Konoha and Kumo suffered, because of it.

The Raikage himself also frowned, as he did not like remembering how bad that incident turned out for his village. The plan had seemed so simple yet perfect, but in the end it turned into a gigantic mess, where they'd not only lost one of their best Shinobi, but his village's reputation fell greatly. Even Hizashi corpse gave them nothing thanks to his curse seal sealing up his Byakugan and when they later learned that Konoha had tricked them. They couldn't do a thing since if they tried they would look even more petty than they did before.

"_Damn, our village really screwed this guy over_" Omoi thought, who could not help feel a bit ashamed for what his village had done.

-In the Arena-

"Now you see why you can never change your fate, like my father who could not escape his fate of being used to protect the main family. You cannot hope to defeat me, your fate is sealed."

"From what I can see this fight is far from over teme, so don't go preparing your victory speech, as I am far from done" Naruto replied, staring back defiantly at the Hyuga boy, who frowned with annoyance.

"I may not know what it feels like to lose a father, since I never knew mine. But if that is your sole reason for you believing that our fate is predetermined, then you're a bigger fool than I thought."

Frowning again, Neji retied his headband to his head and said, "I tried to open your eyes Senju, but you stubbornly refuse to see the truth."

"I see just fine, the only one who is blind to the truth is you."

Angered by this remark, Neji charged forward, intending to shut Naruto up with a hand strike to the heart. But just before he could hit Naruto, the blonde Senju used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **to replace himself with a wooden log.

The next thing Neji knew, Naruto reappeared behind him and threw several Shuriken at him, in attempt to hit his blind spot. But before they could hit him, Neji preformed his **Kaitan** again to block the incoming Shuriken, forcing Naruto to **Shunshin** away and reappeared high up on the side of the arena wall opposite Neji, channelling his Chakra to his feet to keep from falling off.

"_Dammit, thanks to that __**Kaitan**__ technique, I can't hit his blind spot any more, but I think I am beginning to understand how it works now. I just need to see it one more time to make sure_" Naruto thought.

Creating three more clones, Naruto had them go to different ends of the arena wall, so that they would surround the Hyuga prodigy on all four sides.

At the same time Neji positioned himself to the centre of the arena, so that he could see any incoming attack with his Byakugan.

Once the Shadow clones were in position, Naruto had the clone on the left side of the wall throw several Kunai. He then had the one on the right thrown several Shuriken and the clone standing on the opposite end of the wall from him, throw several Shenbon needles.

At the same time Naruto also had his clones preform the **Gen'ei Tajū Shuriken** **no Jutsu **(Multiple Phantom Shuriken Technique), multiplying the number of projectiles greatly.

Knowing he couldn't avoid all the flying projectiles, Neji once again forced to preformed his **Kaitan **to deflect them.

After he had deflected the majority of the projectiles, Neji slowed down and in impressive feet of feet of skill and accuracy. He caught the last three shuriken and individually threw them at one of the Naruto clones, hitting them dead centre in the head and destroying them.

"_I think I now understand how the technique works. Obviously it compensates for the Byakugan's blind spot and relies on Neji releasing a huge amount of chakra from his body. But just releasing the chakra from his body wouldn't be enough to stop physical attacks. That's why Neji needs to spin around and by doing that he is also able to turn the energy of an opponent's own chakra against them, which also explains how he was able to block my enhance punch and send me flying_" Naruto thought, as he now understood the basics of Neji's technique.

"_But still, that doesn't tell me how to counter it_" Naruto thought as he continued to try and think of a way to break Neji's defence. "_If I use any of my Suiton_ (Water Style) _and Doton_ (Earth Style) _Ninjutsu, he'll just block them like he did my punch. The same goes for my __**Surasshu-fū **_(Wind Slash) _technique. I can't draw the battle out in the hope of reducing his Chakra reserves since I need to conserve my own energy for my other fights, so I need to finish this match quickly. I suppose I could try something like what Yugito-chan did in her fight with Kiba and use Ninja wire to trap Neji or at least prevent him from spinning. But I doubt that would work, as Neji has keener eyes than Kiba and will probably see them and figure out what I'm doing if I tried. Then again if I used my __**Mōkushōku no Jutsu**_ (Wooden Tentacle Technique_), I could probably catch him off guard and restrain him. But if I do that I reveal my ability to use Mokuton_ (Wood Release) _and Kaa-chan and Kushina-sensei said I should hold off from using it unless I have to, especially if I go against either Yugito-chan or Gaara._"

"_If only I could use __**Yomi Numa**__ (Swamp of the Underworld) like Ero-sennin!_" Naruto thought. "_I could then just let him sink into the mud. I suppose I could summon a Toad or a Slug to help me, but I like to keep my ability to summon hidden until I really need it…__ Damnit how the hell do I beat this guy's technique?_"

-In the Audience-

"Looks like it's a stalemate" Yugito commented, as right now neither Naruto nor Neji could successfully attack the other.

"Agreed" replied Samui.

"What is Naruto-kun doing? Why isn't he attacking that Neji guy?" Ino asked, since Naruto hadn't moved from his position for several minutes and just kept staring at the Hyuga branch prodigy.

"My guess is that he is trying to think of a way to counter or break through Neji's **Kaiten**" Asuma answered.

"I don't see how it's possible" Kurenai replied. "Since the **Kaiten** is one of the Hyuga Clan's most powerful and prized techniques."

"Every technique has it weakness no matter how powerful, Naruto just has to figure it out" Kushina responded.

"But why hasn't Neji attacked, he hasn't moved since Naruto last attack?" Sakura asked.

"I believe it's because Neji-san knows that if tries to attack Naruto when he is on the wall, he will become vulnerable to attack from above. But if he stays where he is, he can see and incoming attack from any direction and block it, also he knows that Naruto is a close to mid-range fighter, meaning he will eventually have to come off the wall to attack" Yamato answered.

"_Naruto-kun…_" Hinata thought with concern as she wasn't sure if Naruto could actually beat Neji's **Kaiten**. She knew how strong the technique was, since she had seen her father use it several times.

"Come on Senju, don't let that bastard beat you, you promised to make him pay for what he did to Hinata-chan, so turn this fight around already!" Kiba yelled as stood up from his seat.

-In the Arena-

"_Dammit Kiba don't you think I would if I could_" Naruto thought angrily when he heard Kiba shout at him.

But just as turned to look at the Inuzuka, inspiration suddenly hit him, "_Wait! …Turn…That's it!_" After which Naruto turned his head to look at Neji before looking back at Kiba again.

"_Kiba, if you were a girl right now, I would kiss you_" Naruto thought with a smile and gave the male Inuzuka a thumb up in gratitude.

-In the Audience-

"Huh?" Kiba said in confusion when he saw Naruto smile at him and give him a thumb up. "What's that about?"

"Looks like you said something that helped Naruto" Kushin answered.

"But what did I say that helped him?" Kiba asked

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll see soon enough." Kushina responded where she then watched Naruto created a dozen Shadow Clones.

-In the Arena-

"_What's he up to this time?_" Neji asked inside his mind, when he saw Naruto create several Shadow Clones. But wasn't able to ponder the matter for long, as he saw the clones race down the wall and head straight for him.

Seeing the clones coming towards him, Neji fell into a defence stance, while at the same time keeping his senses alerts and watching the real Naruto, who remained on the wall overlooking things.

It did not take long for the clones to reach Neji, where they quickly surrounded him from all sides.

At the same time Naruto moved from his position on the side of the wall and raced up to the top the wall where he watched his clones battle with Neji.

After skilfully defeating three of the twelve clones with his Jūken, Neji caught a kunai with his right hand that a clone from behind had thrown at him and then used it to deflect two more Kunai that were thrown at him from his right side. He then caught a third Kunai from his left side and threw it right back at the clone that threw it, destroying it instantly.

When Naruto saw this, he smirked, as his plan was finally ready, where he drew his Katana from his back and jumped into the air with his Katana held forward. He then began to release a large amount of Chakra around himself while spinning counter-clockwise at a high velocity, taking the shape of small tornado falling toward Neji.

Naturally when Kiba saw this, he was shocked at how similar Naruto's technique was to his own **Gatsūga** (Fang Passing Fang).

At the same time the remaining Naruto clones repositioned themselves around Neji and prepared to attack from all sides at the same time.

Seeing that he was being attacked from all sides, (including above), with his Byakugan, Neji knew he had only one technique that could save him. Yet despite his situation he remained perfectly calm and confident.

"_Heh, I don't know what trick you're up to this time Senju. But it won't work as my __**Kaiten**__ cannot be broken_" Neji thought before he once again preformed his **Kaiten**, destroying all eight remaining clones instantly. But when Naruto's attack made contact with Neji's **Kaiten** a large explosion erupted, causing a large dust cloud to appear.

As the dust cloud began to envelope the arena below, the audience saw something fly out of the dust cloud and crash into the arena wall. But before anyone could get a better look at what hit the wall, the dust expanded further out and blocking their view.

-With the Audience-

"_Damnit this is nuts_" Shikamaru thought.

"What's happening? What's going on? Where Naruto-kun?" Ino asked.

"I don't know I can't see anything" Sakura replied.

"_Naruto-kun_…" a worried Hinata thought.

When the dust slowly began to settle, the audience saw a silhouette kneeling on the ground in the middle of a small crater in the center of the arena.

Eventually the dust faded and the audience could finally make out spiky yellow hair.

"Look its Naruto, he's alright!" Choji shouted after seeing the blonde boy, who looked slightly ruffled and dirty from the dust, but fine otherwise.

"Thank goodness" Ino sighed, not knowing that the young Hyuga heiress near her and several other girls nearby also sighed in relief.

"But where's Neji?" Tenten asked herself, and quickly got her answer, when she turned to the opposite end of the arena from Naruto and saw her Hyuga team-mate. Who was on the ground, coverer in injuries, struggling to get up and massive dent in the wall behind him "No way, Neji!"

"It can't be!" a Hyuga Elder said, "He used the **Kaiten**, how could he have lost?"

"I don't know" Hiashi's father replied, who frowned deeply.

"_What sort of technique did that boy use?_" the elder man asked himself not knowing that his son Hiashi was also wondering the exact same thing.

-In the Arena-

After the dust from the explosion settled, Naruto stood back up and sheathed his Katana back into its sheath on his back.

At the same time, Neji got back onto his feet, but was fairly shook up from Naruto's attack, where he was panting and shaking heavily, as well as covered in injuries that were bleeding and could barely stay on his feet.

"W…Wh…What w-w-was that technique you just used?" Neji asked slowly as he looked over at Naruto who was dusting himself off. "H-How did you break my **Kaiten**?"

"I call the technique **Kaigiri** (Spinning Cut) (A) and as to how I broke it. Well I told you before Neji-teme, no technique is perfect, every technique has it weakness and yours has three."

"What!" Neji yelled angrily, not believing the blonde.

"It's true; the first weakness is the Chakra requirements, since you need to release a large amount to preform it. That's why it's not an ideal technique to use multiple times in a drawn out battle. The second weakness is your requirement to spin around, since it's not enough just to release your Chakra, you need to spin and if I prevent you from spinning you can't use it" Naruto replied as he counted down the weakness of the **Kaiten** with his finger.

"And the third?" asked Neji.

"Well the third weakness, is the spinning itself"

"What do you mean?"

"As you already know, to perform the **Kaiten**, you release a large amount of Chakra from your body and spin around at high speed. This gives you a powerful defence that allows you to block almost any attack. But the real secret to your technique is its ability to turn the energy of an opponent's own chakra against them. That's how you sent me flying when you used your **Kaiten** to block my enhanced punch" Naruto explained, enjoying the stunned disbelieving look on Neji's face when he revealed the secret ability of the **Kaiten**.

Neji of course wasn't the only one who was shocked at Naruto knowing the secret ability of the **Kaiten**, as every other member of the Hyuga Clan who was in the audience (including Hiashi and his two daughters) mimicked the young boy's face.

"H-How did you…"

"…Know?" finished Naruto, "Wasn't too hard to figure out, as I had experienced it and seen you use it just enough times to figure the basics out. But as for that hidden ability, it was the only possibility that explained how you were able to deflect my super charged punch so effetely without taking damage."

"But that still does not explain the third weakness you mentioned?"

"The simple answer is that the spinning itself is both your greatest asset and your weakness."

"What?"

"Think of it like this, in the game of spinning tops when two tops that spin in opposition direction from one another collide, they normally cancel each other out. All I had to do was use an attack that used rotation in manner similar to your **Kaiten** and spin in the opposition direction that you were going."

"That why you mimicked the Inuzuka Clan's **Gatsūga**!" Neji said, realizing what Naruto was saying.

"Correct, although I'll admit I can't use it in the same manner that Kiba or the rest of his Clan do, which was why I had to go to the top of the wall and attack you from above."

"But that still doesn't answer how you were able to hit me, since as you said the two techniques should have just cancelled each other out?"

"Oh that is just another benefit from spinning in the opposite direction that you were going. Since as you know, when an opponent hits your **Kaiten** it sends the attacking energy right back to him or her. But given how I was spinning in the opposite direction from you, all the energy you sent back just doubled my attacks power, which was why you were blasted away."

"But how could you have known which direction I would have gone?

"That was actually the easiest part, you see when you took one of my clones Kunai you held it in your right hand, meaning you were right handed and would favour your right side. So the chances of your spinning in a clockwise direction were pretty high" Naruto answered, while silently thanking Shikamaru, since he had picked up that little tip from when he battled team ten.

-In the Audience-

"Impossible he actually found a way to counter the **Kaiten**" a Hyuga Elder in shock said.

"So it seems" Hiashi's father said, who like the rest of the Hyuga Clan elders, wasn't pleased at how Naruto not only found a way to countered one of their Clan's most prized techniques. But also with how he was humiliating their Clan, by revealing the weakness of their techniques and making it look so easy.

"Ingenious" Kurenai said in disbelief as she couldn't believe Naruto had come up with such a simple yet brilliant counter to Neji's **Kaiten**.

"Indeed" Yamato replied who was just as impressed with his student.

"Alright!" Kiba yelled as he pumped up his fist into the air excitedly, as despite being a bit peeved that Naruto copied one his Clan's technique, he was really impressed with the blonde. In fact the way Naruto did it gave him some ideas.

"Unbelievable, he actually found a way to defeat Neji's Kaiten" Tenten said in complete disbelief, as she honestly didn't think it was possible

"Extraordinary" Kohura commented.

"Yes the boy is talent in many ways, but it is to be expected from the new heir of the Senju" Homura replied.

"_Your skill is truly remarkable young Naruto, but show me what else you are capable of_" Danzo thought as he stared intently at the blond boy.

"_Not bad Naruto not bad_" Kushina thought with a smile.

"Yea! That a way Naruto-kun!" Ino cheered loudly

"Your amazing Naruto-kun" Hinata said with awe as she couldn't believe that Naruto figured a way to break one of her Clan's most powerful techniques.

"_As expected from my future husband_" Mai thought with a smile.

"I hate to admit it, but this guy is better good…for a Konoha-nin" Kurotsuchi commented, where her partner Akatsuchi just nodded.

"Not too shabby" Omoi commented with a smile as he sucked a lollipop

"Hmph, I guess" Karui replied who couldn't deny that what Naruto did was pretty impressive.

"It's to be expected, Naruto is not someone that we can underestimate," Yugito added as she joined the conversation. Although her team-mates noticed that she was smiling a bit, as if pleased that Naruto was winning.

"Agreed" Samui said, "Also it highly possible that Naruto-san has yet to show us is true ability, as for most of the fight he has only used his super strength and **Kage Bunshin.**"

"I would be surprised if he didn't have something else up his sleeve" Yugito replied, as Naruto was the type of person who always had a few tricks to use.

"Most impressive" the Kazekage said as he turned to Tsunade, "You were indeed correct Tsunade-sama, your son is a very capable Shinobi"

"I agree, to come up with something like that in the heat of battle is no small feat" the Mizukage added, where she was joined by the Raikage. Who nodded in agreement, since he had to grudgingly hand it to Naruto for coming up with such a simple yet effective counter to the Hyuga's Clan ultimate defence.

"Thank you, he takes after me" Tsunade said with a smile as she watched her son.

"In more ways than one" Jiraiya muttered quietly.

"Did you say something?" Tsunade asked, in a sweet but dangerously tone.

"Nothing" the white haired man said quickly, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the blonde woman's fist just yet.

-In the Arena-

"I suggest that you surrender now teme, I've broken your so-called ultimate defence, and you can barely stand let alone move."

After Neji had heard everything he grew furious at how Naruto was basically putting him down like he was some weakling.

"This battle is far from over Senju so don't act like you've already won!" Neji yelled as he charged at Naruto.

Seeing this Naruto just shook his head and thought "_And you call me a blind fool, you've already lost this fight, but you refuse to accept it._"

Before Neji could even cross half the distance between his and Naruto, the blonde Senju disappeared in a blur and appeared right underneath Neji, and delivered a powerful rising kick that sent the Hyuga Prodigy into the air. The next thing Naruto did was preform the **Kage Buyō **(Shadow of the Dancing Leaf), allowing him to match Neji's movement and appear behind him and hit one of Neji pressure points in the back, preventing from moving.

Normally Neji would have prevented this, but given the state of his body from Naruto's early attack, he was in no shape to counter Naruto.

After hitting Neji's pressure point, Naruto then disappeared and reappeared above Neji and performed mid-air flip, followed by his **Gekikyaku **(Hammer Kick) that was enhanced by his super strength and sent Neji crashing to the ground like a meteor, causing a large dust cloud to fill the area again.

-With the Audience-

When this happened a worried looked appeared on Hinata's face, as despite what happened between her and Neji, she hoped that he wasn't seriously hurt.

"_Neji!_" thought Tenten in concern when she saw what happened to her team-mate.

"Damn, that's gotta hurt, Naruto sure doesn't hold back" Kiba said, although didn't feel the least bit sorry for Neji and believed he deserved it.

"Yea" replied Choji, who had just stopped munching on some chips.

-In the Arena-

After sending Neji crashing to the ground, Naruto gracefully landed on the ground, just outside the large dust cloud.

Eventually the dust died down and when it cleared everyone could clearly see a badly injured Neji crumpled up in the ground. Surprisingly Neji remained conscious, but was coughing and spitting up blood and struggling to breathe.

"Ngh, my body…cough…can't move."

Seeing this Naruto slowly walked up to the Hyuga Prodigy and redrew his Katana from his back. Once he reached Neji he stood on the Hyuga boy's chest, causing him to hiss in pain, making Naruto guess that he had a bruised lung, along with several dozen broken bones.

Once Naruto stood over Neji, he pointed the tip of his Katana directly at the Hyuga's face.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked

"I was just thinking that maybe I should show you the same kind of mercy that you were planning to show Hinata-chan had Kushina-sensei and the others not stopped you, as killing isn't illegal in the exam."

When Naruto said this, Neji surprisingly remained calm, and stared directly at Naruto, "You won't...you're not the type."

"Your right" Naruto said as he removed his foot from Neji's chest and sheathed his Katana, "I'm better than you…I don't kill unless I have to."

"Nngh" groaned Neji in pain as his entire body was scremaing in pain right now and he couldn't move a figure thanks to his injuries. "It seems I was mistaken, I should have known that you were fated to win…you're a Senju after all."

"Tsk! This is why I hate being called a prodigy; as it makes me sound like someone like you. An arrogant teme, who belittles and looks down on those who don't have as much natural talent as you and think they are better than everyone else around them. But do you want to know what the funny thing is? You're nothing more than a coward."

"What?" Neji said angrily as he glared up at Naruto.

"You heard me your nothing more than a coward, when things don't go your way you blame it on fate or destiny, because you don't have the courage to face your problems and deal with them. You then put down others like Lee and Hinata-chan, who don't have the same natural talent as you do, just so that you can feel better than yourself."

"You know nothing, so don't you dare lecture me. People are born carrying an unchangeable fate."

"For a person who has the ability see more than most, you really are a blind idiot. Don't think that you're the only special one here. I may not know how hard you had it when your father was killed. But I do know that you've got the wrong idea to think that reason alone proves that our fate is predetermined and that it gives you the right to put others down. The fact is, people like Lee are stronger than you, as despite everything that went against him, he trained as hard as he could and more, just so that he could become stronger. Unlike you, he never hid behind some crap like fate or destiny; he faced his problems head on and overcome them. Even Hinata-chan showed more courage than you, when she fought you, she knew she couldn't win, but she still fought you with everything she had. She could've simply just given up, but didn't and kept fighting even after you injured her."

"It doesn't change anything, they still lost!" Neji retorted, "Fate cannot be changed."

"They may have lost" replied Naruto, "but they proved to be better than you, they never gave up like you did, while you hid behind so-called fate."

"You don't know what is like to have a curse seal placed on you against your will" Neji snarled. "To carry a seal that can never be removed. Someone like you could never understand what that feels like."

When Neji said this, Naruto remembered what it felt like when Orochimaru gave him his curse seal. He also remembered the seal of the Kyuubi and how it would remain in him for the rest of his life.

"Oh I understand better than you might think and it still doesn't give you the right to do what you did" Naruto answered, causing Neji to glare angrily at him. "It's not the head family or the curse seal that they placed on you that confines you to this so-called inescapable fate of hatred…It's yourself. You're unwilling to try and move pass it and try and change both yourself and the ways of your Clan. That's why as long as you remain this way, you can never be free or realize your true potential;"

"And how…cough… do you expect me to do that?"

"I could kill you right now if I wanted, but I won't. Destiny and predetermined fate are just excuses, we make our own fate by the choices we make and I choose not to kill you. If you're as smart as everyone thinks you are. Then you can learn to move past the strife of your Clan and change your fate and become stronger and when the time comes. If you are willing I will help you change the ways of the Hyuga Clan."

As the two boys spoke the match referee Genma walked over to them and after seeing that Neji was in no shape to move let alone fight, he decided to call the match.

"I hereby declare this match over…the winner is Senju Naruto."

-In the Audience-

As soon as Genma had declared Naruto the winner, the arena erupted into applause and cheers.

"He…he did it, he won!" Sakura yelled.

"I knew he would!" Ino cried.

"Alright!" Kiba raored as he pumped his fist into the air.

"_Naruto-kun_…" Hinata thought with a smile.

"Not bad, there were times I actually didn't think he would win" Kotetsu commented as he joined the crowed in their clapping for Naruto.

"Yea" Izumo replied who was also clapping his hands.

"Way ago Nii-san, you were Awesome!" Konohamaru yelled as he stood up on his seat and cheered loudly for Naruto and was quickly joined by his friends and classmates, who were going wild, jumping up and down in their seats cheering.

"_Just as I expected_" Mai thought as she smiled down at her "_fiancé_"

"He's pretty good, eh Kurotsuchi?" Akatsuchi asked.

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but he is" the young Iwa Kunoichi replied.

"I must say, Naruto-kun has certainly come a long way" the Fire Daimyo said.

"Of course, no-one can defeat Naruto-kun, since he plans to become Hokage one day" Rurichiyo replied.

"My Rurichiyo-chan you seem rather certain of young Naruto, could it be that you are rather _fond_ of the boy?" the girl's grandmother asked with a knowing smile .

Rurichiyo of course didn't answer, but did blush a little, which was all her grandparents needed and caused them and her guards to smile in amusement.

"_Nice going brat_" Kushina thought with a smile.

"_Well done Naruto_" Yamato thought with an approving nod.

"The kid did well" Anko remarked.

"Yes, he did very well, he was able to defeat Neji without revealing most of his abilities" Kurenai said.

"Yeah" Asuma replied, who was impressed with the way Naruto defeated Neji, not by overpowering him, but by staying calm, watching and analysing Neji's abilities and finding their weaknesses. These were traits that would serve a Chunin well, especially as a team leader.

"_To think he defeated Neji without having to use his Bloodline or the rest of his abilities, just how strong is this boy?_" Hiashi thought, not knowing that the Hyuga elders were thinking along similar lines.

"Looks like Naruto won" Omoi commented.

"Of course, I wouldn't anything less for Naruto" replied Yugito with a smile, as Naruto was keeping their promise to face each other semi-finals.

"Man this is just great, now that Naruto has won, I going have to fight next…why do I keep dealing with these troublesome things" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Wow he was great" a civilian said.

"He's spectacular" another civilian said.

"Well of course he is a Senju after all" a Konoha Shinobi said, "Not to mention he is Tsunade-sama son.

"Yeah and he pretty cute too" a Konoha Kunoichi added.

When Ino and Sakura heard this, both of then stopped cheering where sad looks appeared on their faces. Both of them of were course thinking about their respected matches in the preliminaries and how they lost to their opponents without much effort.

Knowing this, they realized how weak they truly were when compared to others in the Chunin exam.

"Hah! So much for Naru-chan losing, I told you he would win, his good luck is stronger than my bad luck" Tsunade said with a grin as she thought about all the stuff should buy with the money she won. But quickly decided to bet all the money she had won on Naruto's next fight, doubling her profit.

"Heh I never doubted the kid would win, I trained him after all, I was just worried your bad luck would jinx him that's all" Jiraiya replied.

"What do you mean by you?" asked Tsunade as she eyed her former team-mate dangerously. Since she and Shizune had done most of Naruto's training when he was growing up, while Jiraiya only popped in every so often to help a little.

"Ehh yea right…I mean WE…we trained him" the Toad Sage said quickly while laughing nervously.

-In the Arena-

As the audience continued to cheer for Naruto, the young Senju, smiled and waved back to them, but before long he looked down at Neji.

"I suggest that later, you apologise to Hinata-chan, although she probably doesn't hold any ill will towards you for what you did. It would mean a lot to her to know that the difference between you and main family could be put aside, since you're family after all."

After saying this Naruto then walked away and headed for where the rest of the Chunin finalists were waiting.

As Naruto walked away, the medics went over to Neji and began to load him onto the stretcher. As they did this Genma suddenly spoke "When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."

After he said this, he walked away and prepared for the next match, leaving the young Hyuga branch member with a lot to think about.

N/A.

Well that's another Chapter done, hoped you enjoyed it and the fight between Neji and Naruto. Now as you can guess, the next fight will involve Shikamarun vs Temari, then Sai vs Karui and finally Yugito vs. Chōjūrō.

Also since I forgot to nbot, I like to thank Masamune x23 for helping me with the pervious Chapter.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews as I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Kensai was one who helped teach Naruto swordsmanship when he was in the Fire Daimyo's estate. For more info on him go to Chapter eight.

(2). For image of Naruto and his new outfit go to my profile page for the address

(3). For more info on this technique go to the bottom of Chapter sixteen.

**Non-Cannon Jutsu**

(A). **Kaigiri** (Spinning Cut): A technique that Naruto created based on the Inuzuka Clan's **Gatsūga** (Fang Passing Fang), to counter the Hyuga Clan's **Kaiten** (Heavenly Spin) where he spins at a ferocious speed and deliver many strong cutting attacks. The problem Naruto has with this technique is that he finds it difficult to maneuver and, where he can only preform it from a high position when he is above his target.


	27. Chapter 27

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-seven: Cat in the Mist**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

**Perviously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_"I suggest that later, you apologise to Hinata-chan, although she probably doesn't hold any ill will towards you for what you did. It would mean a lot to her to know that the difference between you and main family could be put aside, since you're family after all."_

_After saying this Naruto then walked away and headed for where the rest of the Chunin finalists were waiting._

_As Naruto walked away, the medics went over to Neji and began to load him onto the stretcher. As they did this Genma suddenly spoke "When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."_

_After he said this, he walked away and prepared for the next match, leaving the young Hyuga branch member with a lot to think about._

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!**

-In the Arena Medical ward -

After losing his battle against Naruto, Neji was brought to the medical ward by the medics where they treated him for his injuries.

After a few minutes the medics finished treating most of Neji's injuries.

"Luckily there is no serious damage done to your internal organs with the exception of some bruising, so you should be on the mend in a couple of days. The best thing you can do right now do is rest and move as little as possible, as your body is still mending and you have used up most of your Chakra in your battle…"

As the medics were talking to him, Neji's mind was on other things where he thought back to what Naruto had told him during and after their battle.

Soon after, the door to the ward opened up and they were surprised to see the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi entered the room.

"Hiashi-sama" said one of the medics in surprise when he saw the Hyuga Clan head enter the room.

"My apologies, but if it is not too much trouble would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?"

Surprised by this the two medics did not know what to say, "Eh…But…eh"

"Please, it won't take long"

"Hai, very well"

"Thank you"

After the medics had left, Neji slowly but painfully lifted himself up, so that he was sitting up on the side of his bed. His body was fairly stiff and swore despite the pain killers the medics gave him.

"What business do you have?" Neji asked his uncle in a neutral tone, since he had no real wish to talk to his uncle.

"I came here to tell you the truth of that day."

"What do you mean?" Neji asked with a frown.

For the next few minutes Hiashi explained how after Kumo demanded his body as restitution for the death of their head Ninja. He was prepared to sacrifice himself to prevent a war between Konoha and Kumo. But before he could, the Hyūga elders proposed that Hizashi be used instead; as his body double. In addition to protecting him, Hizashi would also keep the Byakugan's secrets from being discovered.

Hiashi then went on to explain how he tried to prevent this, but Hizashi had already agreed and disabled Hiashi before he could stop them. He then explained that Hizashi told him he was not doing this to preserve the Hyūga's structure, but to save his (Hiashi's) life, to prevent war, and to choose his own fate for the first time in his life.

When Neji heard this he of course did not believe it and thought that his uncle was lying and that he was making up excuses for the head family. But before he could say anything, Hiashi took out a scroll from his robes and handed it to him.

"This is from your father, he told me to give this to you when I believed you were ready to hear the truth of what happened that day, it will confirm everything that I told you."

When Neji saw the scroll, he first thought it was a fake, but when he looked at it more closely he recognized his father's handwriting on the cover of the scroll which "To Neji."

Quickly taking the scroll, Neji opened it and began to read it.

As Neji read the letter, it confirmed everything that his uncle had told him. But the thing that stuck out most to Neji, was what his father said at the end of the letter. "…_Overcome destiny Neji. Destiny has to be taken in your own hands._"

When Neji had finished reading his father's letter he was shocked to see his Uncle on his knees with his head to the ground.

"This is the truth" the elder man said with clear regret in his voice, while keeping his head down, "I'm sorry."

After seeing this, Neji did not known what to say, as he never expected his uncle to be on his knees bowing before him. He also found he could not be angry at his him anymore, especially when he was like this.

Eventually Neji asked his uncle to get up and then asked him to leave, saying he wanted to be alone for a few minutes, so to digest everything he had learned.

After Hiashi left the room, a sort of calmness and peace came over Neji. As if finally knowing the truth of his father's death and reading his final words to him, gave him the closure he needed to move on with his life.

Soon after Neji turned to look out one of the small windows above him and thought about what he planned to do with his life now.

-In the Kage stand-

"The crowed seems to be very eager, your son's battle was very exciting Tsunade-sama" the Mizukage commented as she looked at the elder woman.

"I agree" added the Kazekage, "Your son has qualities that would indeed make him a fine Chunin. He was able to analysis and effectively counter not only the Hyuga Clan's **Hakkeshō Kaiten** (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven). But also find the Byakugan's blind spot, both of which are no small feats."

Both Sarutobi and the Mizukage agreed with the Kazekage assessment of Naruto, as they had been very impressed with how Naruto fought Neji.

Tsunade was of course very pleased with Naruto since her son had defeated the young Hyuga without revealing any of his other abilities to everyone. She was also very pleased with how well Naruto had grasped the value tactics. When he was younger, it had been quite hard to teach Naruto to plan ahead and learn to analysis things, since like most young boys his agee he believed in charging head on and simply beat his opponent.

Eventually Tsunade was brought out of her line of thought by the Kazekage, who was just finishing speaking to the Sandaime

"… I believe the next battle will be just as exciting."

"If I am correct, I believe the next battle involves your daughter Kazekage-sama?" the Sandaime Hokage asked.

"Yes Temari is a highly skilled and competent Kunoichi, I'm certain she will perform admirably."

After the Kazekage said this, Jiraiya frowned since it was unusual for the Kazekage to speak so much. Not to mention he was rather surprised by how much the Kazekage was praising his daughter. The last time Jiraiya saw the man was when he went with Minato to sign the new alliance treaty between Konoha and Suna, which funny enough sparked the whole incident between Minato and Tsunade.

During that time, Jiraiya found the man to be a rather cold individual who distant himself from his family and put his duty as Kage and leader of Suna first, above everything else, including his family.

Sure it was possible that he could've changed over the years, but Jiraiya highly doubted it. Since for some reason he felt that there was something off with the Kazekage and he decided to keep a closer eye on him.

-In the Finalist Box-

After defeating Neji, Naruto walked up to the box, where the other finalists were watching from.

When Naruto arrived he was greeted by some of the other finalists. Some like Haku, Yugito and Omoi congratulated him on his win, while others like Samui and Shino, simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Shortly after, their attention turned back to the arena, where Genma called down Temari and Shikamaru so that they could begin the second match.

Once Temari heard her name being called out, she quickly took her large fan out from behind her back and opened it up and then swung it in a wide arc, creating a large gust of wind. She then jumped out of the finalist box and hopped on the large fan and used it and the wind to ride down to the arena.

"Ah man she's a lively one, I hate lively women, this is so troublesome" Shikamaru muttered. "Why do I have to fight a girl? Better yet why do I even have to do this annoying exam? I prefer to just give up, it's just too much of a pain to do."

But before he could even try and give up, Naruto walked over to him. "Ah come on Shikamaru don't say that, now go down there and show her what you're made out of."

After saying this, Naruto then gave him a hard slap on the back, sending the young Nara flying head first into the ground at the other end of the arena, before slamming into the arena wall.

"Was that really necessary Naruto-san?" Shino asked as he had been standing next to Shikamaru before Naruto sent him flying.

In responce Naruto just smirked and said "They say lions push their cubs off a cliff to test their worthiness, I was just giving Shikamaru the push he needed."

"Yes, I understanding that, but I was just wondering, was it necessary to use your inhuman strength when you pushed him?"

"Some people need a harder push than others" Naruto replied with a bigger smile, making the young Aburame raise his left eyebrow up and wonder if the blonde Senju was right in the head.

-In the Arena-

"_Damn you Naruto…you jerk_" Shikamaru thought as lay on the ground. "_This is such a drag, I don't care if I become a Chunin or not, I prefer to lay down and watch the clouds go by. Maybe if I just lay down here they'll just let me quite and I can get out of this troublesome situation._"

Seeing that Shikamaru hadn't moved at all, Temari decided to make the first move, where she charged forward and attempted to club him with her massive fan.

Acting quickly, Shikamaru stabbed two Kunai into the wall and used them as stands to avoid Temari's attack, as well as to look down at her.

"I don't really care if I become a Chunin or not…but a man can't lose to a woman. So I guess I'll fight."

Angered by this, Temari swung her fan again to create a large gust of wind. But when the dust died down from the attack, Temari found Shikamaru had disappeared.

"_Hmph, looks like he ran away_" the Suna Kunocihi thought with an arrogant smirk, where she then started to look around for Shikamaru.

Near where Teamri was, the young Nara hid behind one of the trees, trying to think on what his next move should be. "_Man this is such a drag, a man can't lose to a woman, but then again, a man can't really hit a woman. Not to mention I don't want to get hit, either._"

Eventually though after enough time of studying the arena and everything around it Shikmaru came up with a plan

When Shikamaru began to send out his shadow to capture Temari, the Suna Kunoichi backed away further and kept her distance. She of course knew what Shikamaru's primary attack was, thanks to seeing his pervious match, and knew how it worked and made sure to stay out of his shadow's range. But despite this precaution on Temari's part, Shikamaru used various tactics to increase the distance of his shadow's reach. This forced her to retreat further back and buying time for the sun to set and give him more shadows to work with.

Temari later realized that Shikamaru was simply buying time for the sun to set, furthering the range of his shadow. After discovering this, Temari attempted to finish the match before that happened, by hiding behind her large fan and then planned to use a Clone to distract Shikamaru long enough to allow her to finish him with one blow. But before she could perform her plan, Shikamaru caught her with his shadow from behind.

Once Shikamaru caught her in his shadow, he revealed that he had been manipulating her into a position in front of the exit to a tunnel which was dug out by Naruto during an earlier match, where he could guarantee that she was caught by his shadow from behind.

But instead of finishing the Suna Kunoichi off, Shikamaru forfeited the match, claiming that he had exerted too much of his chakra when capturing Temari and would be unable to fight later battles. Moreover, he said he did not like to hurt or hit women.

-In the Audience-

When the audience heard that Shikamaru forfeited the match many were left stunned as Shikamaru had obviously won the battle, but forfeited the match.

"I don't believe it, what a waste!" Ino cried in disbelief before she turned to her other team-mate Choji and grabbed him by the collar and began to shake him.

"Why?" cried the blonde girl angrily, "He had the match won and had a good chance to become a Chunin!"

"He's just being himself" Choji replied with a knowing smile, as he expected this to happen from the start as he knew Shikamaru better than anyone.

"Man what a drag" moaned Anko, as she was rather disappointed with how things turned out.

"Really…I can't tell if he's being serious about this or not…" said Kurenai

"I don't understand either…" commented Asuma

"Regardless of whether we understand or not, it's obvious his intelligence and strategies aren't Genin level" Kushina said as she joined the conversation. "If a basic platoon had carried out a mission like this and followed his plan, they would've won easily. If we were to look at the qualities expected of a Chunin, that kid possesses the most important attribute...leadership."

After Kushina said this, both Kurenai and Asuma nodded their heads in agreement, since they knew what Kushina said was true.

At the same time the, former red headed ANBU captain couldn't help but smile at the young Nara, as the boy acted almost exactly like his father, back when she was in the Academy. She also thought about trying to organise some more joint training exercises between Naruto and team ten. In the hope of Shikamaru's calm demeanour rubbing off on Naruto, since she knew how reckless her student could be at times especially in battle. Sure Naruto's recent battle with Neji showed that he could analysis and formulates effective tactics against opponents. The problem with Naruto was that he could get too emotional at times, which in turn would affect his ability to make rational decisions.

"_It's unfortunate that he doesn't seem motivated…_" Asuma thought with some disappointment. "_But in exchange, he didn't lose his head and panic during the battle. That's why he was able to retreat calmly as he determined that the situation was bad. That comes from a clam discussion-making ability, which is vital as a team leader._"

"Most impressive" muttered the Fire Daimyo as he rubbed his chin, as he was rather impressed with the way Shikamaru fought.

"_Same old Shikamaru_" Iruka thought with a smile, as he looked down at the boy, ignoring the moaning and groaning from his students who were annoyed when Shikamaru gave up. But still, he had hoped that after seeing Shikamaru's battle, his students would see the value of making a plan and not rushing in head first into battle.

"_Hmph I don't know whether to call this guy a genius of an idiot_" Mai thought, as on one hand she was amazed at how Shikamaru defeated Temari. But on the other hand she was infuriated by how he simply gave up, just when he had won.

"Loser" Kurotsuchi muttered with a frown, after hearing Shikamaru gave up.

"It seems you were right Kazekage that was an interesting match, wouldn't you agree Jiraiya, Tsunade?" said the Hokage as he turned to his former students.

"Yea, despite forfeiting, that Nara kid did pretty well" Jiraiya replied, "That Sand girls didn't do too badly either."

"Agreed, he certainly has qualities that would make him a good Chunin and team leader and the girl shows some promise as well" Tsunade answered.

Most of the other Kages of course agreed with what Tsunade said about Shikamaru, since in attributes for a team leader Shikamaru understood the need to protect his team from danger over simply completing the mission.

Even the Raikage had to grudgingly complement the Nara heir, as he was impressed with Shikamaru's strategic abilities and his ability to calmly analysis the situation and make a successful plan.

-In the Finalist box-

After Shikamaru declared that he forfeited, Naruto was of course as surprised as everyone else, since it was obvious that Shikamaru would've won had he just finished Temari off. Also like everyone else, Naruto had been amazed by Shikamaru's strategies and tactical brilliance which clearly outshone his own.

"Hahahaha…oh man I should have known he would do this…hahahaa" Naruto laughed as his surprise finally wore off.

"What the hell are you laughing about Senju?" Karui asked. Who had moved next to Naruto and Shino at the railing along with the rest of her team, so that they could get a better view Shikamaru and Temari's match. "That idiot just threw away the match right when he was about to win."

"I'm laughing because this is just like Shikamaru" Naruto said with a smile. "He's the most unmotivated person I've ever met in my life. He doesn't care if he becomes a Chunin or not, in fact, he probably believes this whole exam is too troublesome to try."

"Then he's an even bigger idiot than I thought" Karui muttered.

"I wouldn't be calling this guy an idiot if I were you Karui" Omoi replied as he analysed Shikamaru carefully.

"What?" said Karui is surprise.

"I agree, in fact he is far from an idiot" Samui added.

"What do you mean?" Yugito asked, although she already had an idea what Samui and Omoi were getting at.

"Obviously his excuse of not having enough Chakra is a lie" Omoi said as he looked down at Shikamaru, who was making his way back to the finalist box. "Even given the length of the match and the number of times he attempted to capture Temari-san. He should still have enough Chakra to finish her off. But instead he chooses to give up. My guess is that he was thinking further on ahead, since if he had won he would've gone against Naruto and my guess is that he knows what Naruto is capable of and doesn't believe he can win or that he simply didn't have enough Chakra to last him in the second round. So he decided to forfeit the match."

"Agreed" added Samui, "It would be folly to enter a battle that you know you cannot win. He is clearly someone who remains calm under stressful situations and analyses all possible situations. The way he defeated Temari-san should prove this without question, even if he lost the match."

When Naruto heard this, he could not help but smirk at how quickly Samui and Omoi had figured out Shikamaru's reasons for forfeiting. But still they had been mistaken about one thing; Shikamaru had given up not because he knew what Naruto could do. He had given up because he knew too little, Shikamaru was the type of person who would avoid fighting an opponent for as long as he could. At least until he figured out what they could do and since his information on what Naruto could do was limited, he could not come up with an effective strategy to defeat him.

After listening to her team-mate explanation, Karui could only frown as she knew her team-mates had a point and what they said did make sense. "Yeah will I still think he was an idiot to give up so easily, he could've just finished the match and forfeited later."

"Maybe, but trust me when I say this Karui, Shikamaru is not someone you should take lightly" Naruto said as he joined the conversation. "I've fought Shikamaru before and if you underestimate him, you'll regret it later."

When the Kumo team heard this, they all raised their eyebrows in interest, since for someone like Naruto to say that, Shikamaru would have to be a dangerous adversary .

-Outside the Arena-

Standing at the entrance of the arena two Chunin guards listened to the shouts of the crowd, who were yelling for the referee to begin the next match.

"Sounds like things are getting really exciting in there" said one Chunin.

"Yea" replied his partner, "Wish we could go in a watch it."

Nodding in agreement the Chunin guard was about to reply, but before he could he saw two figures slowly walking towards them.

"Hey is that…" the Chunin said as he pointed to the two figures.

"Yea it is" his partner replied as the two figures walked closer and saw that they were none other than Maito Gai and his student Rock Lee, (who was using a crutch to walk).

"Welcome both of you" the first Chunin guard greeted.

"If you wish to watch the next match please hurry to the stands, as it will soon start" the other Chunin guard said.

"Hai thank you" Lee replied with a salute.

"Okay Lee let's go" said Gai as he did one of his ridiculous poses.

"Hai"

"The first two matches of round one have just finished and they're just about to start the third match, between the Kumo Kunoichi Nii Yugito and the Kiri Shinobi Chojuro" the second Chunin guard said.

Surprised by this, Lee quickly turned to the Chunin, "What about Naruto-kun and Neji's match?"

"From what we've heard, that match turned out to be very interested, Senju Naruto won without the Hyuga even being able to hit him or injury him much" the first Chunin guard answered.

When Gai and Lee heard this, the two of them were of course surprised by this, as they had expected the match to be a close match, given Naruto's inhuman strength and Neji's Juken (Gentle fist) fighting style.

"_Neji-kun lost…and he could hardly even injury Naruto-kun_" Lee thought in shock, while at the same time feeling slightly envious of Naruto defeating Neji. Something he had always dreamed of doing.

Eventually though Lee got over it and smirked, "Is that so…well done Naruto-kun."

Seeing this Gai of course could only smile with pride at how mature his student was.

-In the Arena-

Once both Temari and Shikamaru had left the arena, Genma called down both Yugito and Chojuro.

Both Genin quickly made their way down to the arena and once they were opposite one another, Genma began the match.

As soon as Genma yelled "Go!" Chojuro started things off, where lifted his large sword from his back and loosed the bandages. After which he then jumped up into the air and yelled "**Hiramekarei Kaihō** (Hiramekarei Unleashing)!" Where the sword then emanated a large amount of Chakra and took the shape of a large hammer, which Chojuro swung down on Yugito.

Seeing this Yugito quickly jumped back, where Chojuro then hit the spot she had just been standing in a moment ago and made a small crater in the ground.

Surprised by this, Yugito realized that she would have to make sure that she didn't get hit by the sword. But before she could make any kind of counterattack, Chojuro used his sword again, this time having it take the shape of a long-sword and swinging it horizontally at her, cutting her in two.

But just when Chojuro thought he had won, "Yugito" turned into a piece of wood.

Realizing that Yugito had replaced herself, Chojuro began to look around for the female blonde. But before he could find her, he was forced to bring his sword up to shield him from a hail of shuriken that he saw flying towards him from his right.

After blocking the shuriken, Chojuro lowered his sword in an attempt to see where Yugito was. But as soon as he did, he was greeted with the sight of Yugito's foot slamming him in the face and sending him sliding across the ground several meters away.

Picking himself up quickly, Chojuro was just able to block Yugito's katana, which she had drawn as she raced toward him and attacked him with it.

After Chojuro blocked Yugito's attack, a battle for dominance began, where the two of them each tried to push the other back. After a minute or so Chojuro gained the upper hand and started pushing Yugito back, but before he could press his advantage further, Yugito fell backwards and rolled away from Chojuro. Who immediately chased after her and had his sword change into a hook and attempted a sweeping slash.

Before Chojuro's sword could hit her, Yugito quickly used her advance speed to her advantage, and disappeared in a blur. She then reappeared behind him and swung her katana at his now exposed back.

But luckily for Chojuro, thanks to several months of training under Zabuza, the young Kiri Genin was able to avoid Yugito's slash and jumped away from her. Although for his trouble he did receive a slight slash on his back, but thankfully it had just cut his clothes.

Despite not wounding Chojuro, Yugito remained confident and pressed her attack, using her high speed to her advantage, Yugito unleashed a series of fierce sword attacks on the younger boy. Unable to do much, the young Kiri Genin was forced on the defensive and pushed further back into the arena wall.

Realizing he needed to do something, Chojuro had his sword once again take the shape of a hammer and slammed it into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. This forced Yugito to move away so not to be caught in it. But as soon as she jumped away, Chojuro emerged out of the dust cloud with his sword still in hammer form, directly above her.

"_Shit_" Yugito thought when she saw Chojuro falling towards her with his sword hammer ready.

Wasting no time Yugito quickly jumped forward to avoid the attack, where Chojuro's sword hit the ground, causing another crater and a large dust cloud.

After Yugito avoided his attack, Chojuro quickly deactivated his sword and spun around to face the blonde girl. But as he spun around he saw the blonde Kunoichi racing towards him at high speed. Knowing he couldn't bring his sword up in time, Chojuro moved to his right to avoid Yugito's slash. But unfortunately he was unable to avoid it completely and received a shallow cut to his left side.

"Hmph, not bad" Yugito commented, as she turned to face Chojuro again. "You were able to avoid both of my slashes without much harm, despite being caught off guard each time, you have pretty good reflexes."

"Thank you" Chojuro replied as he fixed his glasses, which had fallen forward during the fight. "I have had much practice avoiding deadly sword slashes ever since I started training under Zabuza-sensei."

After saying this, Chojuro thought back to the numerous training matches he had with the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) and couldn't help but shudder slightly. Since each time the blue haired boy had sparred against his sensei, he had barley come out of it alive.

Soon after, Chojuro focused his attention back on the match at hand and pushed the thoughts of his hellish training under the Kirigakure no Kijin away. He then had his sword take the form of a long sword and jumped into the air and attempted another downward slash.

Like the last time, Yugito jumped forward to avoid the attack, but before she could turn around and strike back at Chojuro. The young swordsman in training spun around and swung his sword in a horizontal slash, while at the same time channelling a large amount of his Chakra into the sword, allowing him to increase the reach of his sword and cut Yugito.

But when Chojuro finished swinging his sword, he was surprised to see that Yugito was gone.

As Chojuro looked around for any sign of the Kumo Kunoichi, he suddenly heard a familiar female voice say "Looking for me?"

After hearing the voice, Chojuro quickly turned to the direction of where he heard it from, where he was surprised to find Yugito kneeling on the end of his sword.

Before Chojuro could attempt anything, the blonde Kunochi quickly jumped off the sword and landed a few meters directly opposite the student of Zabuza.

"Your pretty good I'll give you that, and you can use that sword of yours well. But sadly for you it is a rather limited weapon to use, even with your sword's ability to take different shapes. Due to its weight and size you must either swing it down or to the side, making it extremely easy to predict. Not only that, but given the amount of Chakra it takes to form it shapes, I would say it also takes a toll on you, meaning the longer this battle lasts, the weaker you become.

-With the Audience-

Sitting up in the stands, the infamous Kirigakure no Kijin, Momochi Zabuza watched as his student fought the blonde Kumo Kuniochi.

As the two watched the battle unfold, Zabuza frowned slightly when Yugito revealed the weaknesses of Hiramekarei. Since like she said, due to its large size, Hiramekarei could only be swung in certain ways when attacking. Also given its weight and the amount of Chakra it takes for it to change shape, the sword was not the ideal weapon to use in a drawn out fight. Even though Chojuro's stamina and strength had improved from when Zabuza first started training him. The young Genin still had limits, which he was showing now as the blue haired boy was panting slightly and a few beads of sweat were falling from his face.

Zabuza was of course not surprised by this as Chojuro tired easily from using the sword multiple times, due to both its weight and the amount of Chakra it took to use it.

"_The girl is pretty observant, in only a few minutes she has already found the key weaknesses of Hiramekarei_" Zabuza thought.

"It's not looking good for Chojuro, Zabuza-sensei" Saito commented, who was seated next to Zabuza on his right.

"No it doesn't…but still, don't count Chojuro out just yet" Zabuza replied, "He still got some moves left."

Nodding at this, Saito turned back to watch the fight.

-Down in the Arena-

After Yugito revealed the weakness of his sword, Chojuro knew he had to finish this fight quickly, knowing that the longer the battle dragged on, the more it favoured Yugiro.

"_It seems that I have no choice but to use __**it**_" the spikey haired boy thought before he formed a single hand seal and used a large portion of his remaining Chakra to perform this Jutsu.

"I don't know how long I can maintain this; hopefully I can finish this fight before it eats up all my Chakra" Chojure thought before he said "**Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Hidden Mist technique)."

After Chojuro said this, a Mist began to form around the arena and quickly began to thinken, obstructing everyone's view of the fight.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Crap this could be trouble for Yugito-chan_" Naruto thought with a frown. "_If Chojuro is using the Kirigakure no Jutsu, then that means Zabuza has most likely trained him in __**Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu**_ (Soundless Murder Technique)_, and if that's the case Yugito-chan is at a serious disadvantage._"

-In the Arena-

Realizing what Chojuro was doing, Yugito quickly moved forward to attack, but before she could reach him, Chojuro disappeared within the mist.

"_So, he's trying the same kind of tactic that loud mouth Inuzuka used, he trying to obscure by vision so I can't fight properly._" Yugito thought, as she raised her Katana and fell into a defensive stance. "_Not a bad plan,_ _I'm also guessing given how his sensei is the infamous_ _Kirigakure no Kijin_ _that he has been trained in using __**Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu**_, _so he can find me by sound alone. If that's the case I probably try the new technique Sensei thought me last week._"

Hidden in the Mist, Chojuro silently thanked his sensei Zabuza for teaching him this. Zabuza had of course been listening carefully to what Naruto said about Yugito and her team during the preliminaries. So when it was announced that Chojuro was facing Yugito, Zabuza figured that the best way to help Chojuro stand a chance against her was to teach him the **Kirigakure no Jutsu** and the **Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu**.

Zabuza of course knew that the best way to defeat an enemy that was stronger than you was to put them in a situation that favoured you and put them at a disadvantage.

Needless to say **Kirigakure no Jutsu** was the perfect weapon to use, as it took away an opponent's ability to see fully and by using the **Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu**, you could find your opponent through sound alone and sneak up and kill them without making a sound.

Using what his sensei thought him, Chojuro silently moved through the Mist and listened for any sounds that his opponent was making.

After a minute or so careful listening, Chojuro picked up on the sound of someone moving and heavy breathing, only a few meters away from him.

Realizing that it was Yugito, Chojuro activated his sword again and used it to take the shape of a large board sword. He then silently moved through the Mist intending to finish the blonde Kumo Kunoichi with one move.

Like a silent phantom Chojuro appeared directly behind the blonde girl and with one swing of his sword, he severed her upper half from her lower half.

But just when Chojuro thought he had won, "Yugito" reverted into Lightning, which travelled through Chojuro's sword and into him.

"AAAggggaaa!" Chojuro cried as the Lightning travelling through his body and electrocuted him.

After the Lightning faded, Chojuro dropped his sword and fell to his knees, panting heavily and his body shaking from the pain.

But before he could even try to recover, the real Yugito appeared out of the Mist and delivered a stronger kick to his side, sending the young Kiri boy skidding across the ground and crashing into the arena wall.

Soon after the Mist began to fade and the arena finally became visible again to the spectators, where to the surprise of the Zabuza and the other Kiri shinobi watching. They saw that Chojuro was badly injured and slowly getting back on to his feet, while Yugito was unharmed, standing not too far from him

"_Damnit I was careless_" Chojuro thought as he slowly picked himself up and stared at the now smirking Yugito. "_She must have created a Lightning Clone to lure me out and disable me, making it easier for her to take me out._"

At the same time Yugito silently thanked her sensei Killer Bee for teaching her **Raiton: Kage Bunshin** (Lightning Style: Shadow Clone), which had proven to be a useful technique.

Seeing that Chojuro could barely stand and was now without his sword, Yugito moved forward to finish the younger boy off.

Unwilling to give up just yet, Chojuro formed a single hand seal and thought "_**Suiton: Teppōdama **_(Water Style: Gunshot)" after which he spat out several large glops of water from his mouth.

"_Shit!_" Yugito thought when she saw the large balls of water flying towards her at high speed and dropped to the ground narrowly avoiding them.

After avoiding the attack, Yugito quickly picked herself up off the ground and began to form four quick hand seals before thinking "_**Rankedama** _(Flaming Hairball))!" After which she then shot out several flaming balls of hair from her mouth.

Seeing the flaming hairballs, Chojuro quickly fired several more balls of water from his mouth, hitting the flaming projectiles dead on and extinguished the flames. But to his surprise the hairballs themselves continued flying towards him and before he could try and avoid them. They hit him and pinned his arms and body to the wall.

When Chojuro tried to move he was surprised to find that he could not, "What's going on? What is this this stuff? Why can't I move?"

"I wouldn't try to move if I were you" Yugito replied, gaining the boys attention. "The hair that is pinning you to the wall is very strong and dries within seconds of making contact with a person, where it becomes as hard as cement." (A)

"Now then do you surrender or do want to continue?" the blonde girls asked as she took out several Kunai and prepared to thrown them.

Realizing he was in a hopeless situation Chojure nodded his head and said "I surrender."

"Wise choice" Yugito responded as she placed her Kunai back in her pounch.

As soon as Chojure said he gave up Genma ended the match. "Chojuro of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) has surrendered…the winner is Nii Yugito of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud)!"

As soon as Yugito had been declared the winner and round of applause could be heard from the crowed.

-In the Kage Box-

"What a shame" the Mei said with a disappointed sigh, as she had been rather hopefully that Chojuro would pull out a win. But sadly Yugito had proven to be too skilled for him in the end.

"A well fought match, wouldn't you agree Kazekage-sama?" the Sandaime commented as he turned to his fellow Kage.

"I do, both Genin fought quite admirable, I was especially impressed with how the Kunoichi Yugito was able to defeat the boy despite being at a disadvantage in the Mist."

"Hmph, that was nothing to Yugito Kazekage-sama, you have yet to see her true skill. She is one of our most prominent Genin and the strongest Kunoichi our village has produce in years. I dare say she is the strongest Genin in this exam" the Raikage said.

When the Raikage said this, both Tsunade and Jiraiya frowned, since any doubts they may have had with what Naruto told them about Yugito had now been settled. Since they knew that the Yondaime Raikage would not boost about someone like Yugito unless he was certain of her skill regardless of her staus as jinchuriki.

"That is high praise for such a young girl Raikage-sama" Tsunade commented. "But I would not go and declare her the winner already. My son Naruto is more than capable of handling himself and has yet to show his true abilities either."

"I must agree with Tsunade-sama Raikage-sama, as my son Gaara is also a very capable Shinobi and is one of my village's strongest Shinobi" the Kazekage said as he joined the conversation.

"I would not count my village out either Raikage-sama, as Yuki Haku has yet to fight and like your Kunoichi Yugito. Haku is one of my village's most prominent Genin and Kunoichi and it would be unwise to underestimate her" the Mizukage added.

Narrowing his eyes the bulky Kage just grunted.

Seeing the tension building but between Tsunade and the other Kages, the Sandaime decided to ease things by changing the subject. "Ahem, So Kazekage-sama perhaps you could tell me your opinion of the match and do you think either Genin deserve to be promoted."

"Although both Genin fought quite well and showed impressive skill in both Swordsmanship and good use of Ninjutsu. I find I cannot recommend either of them for Chunin, since due to the Mist we could not see how exactly Yugito-san was able to overcome her disadvantage in the Mist and defeat the boy. Also with the exception of his fighting skill, the boy Chojuro, failed to show any other qualities that would make him a good Chunin."

When the Sarutobi heard this the old Hokage could not help but nod his head in agreement, since due to the Mist blocking their view of the closing part of the fight, they could not make a fair assessment of both Genin's skill.

"I'm afraid I too must agree with the Kazekage's statement" Mei replied with a touch of disappointed.

Surprisingly even A agreed with this assessment and stated that neither Yugito or Chojuro showed any attributes that would make them worthy of becoming a Chunin in their match.

"So who match is next?" Jiraiya asked, seeing Yugito leave the arena after Chojuro was free and taken away by the medics.

"I believe it's against another Kunoichi from your village Raikage-sama a girl named Karui, if I'm not mistake" the Sandaime said as he turned to the Raikage.

"Yes, that is correct" the Raikage responded.

"May I ask who she is facing against" the Mizukage asked.

"A young boy named Sai" the Hokage replied.

At the mention of Sai both Tsunade and Jiraiya displayed guarded looks, since they had heard from both the Sandaime and Naruto. That Sai was a member of Danzo's ROOT organization, and that he had been assigned to team seven to observe both Sasuke and Naruto, whenever he worked with team seven.

-With Naruto-

"Nice!" yelled Karui as pumped her fist after seeing Yugito had won.

"No real surprise there" Omoi commented with a smile, where his female teammate Samui nodded, as like her teammates she had been certain Yugito would win.

"Not too shabby" Naruto thought with a smirk after Yugito was declared the winner, since he hadn't been too sure if Yugito could win after Chojuro used **Kirigakure no Jutsu**.

Haku on the other hand, (who was standing not far from Naruto) frowned, since she had been surprised when Yugito defeated Chojuro after he used **Kirigakure no Jutsu**. She had been there when Zabuza started training Chojuro is using the **Kirigakure no Jutsu **and the **Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu**. Knowing how deadly the two techniques were in combination, Haku had been certain Chojuro could defeat Yugito using them. Even though he was nowhere near the level of their sensei, Chojuro was still quite skill in using them.

After Chojuro was freed from the wall and taken away by the medics, Yugito made her way back to the finalist box.

Once she arrived, she was greeted by her teammates who congratulated her on her win.

Even Naruto went over to her and commended her on winning her fight.

"Nice going Yugito-chan, you did great."

"Thank you"

"Also just curious, how did you beat Chojuro when he used the **Kirigakure no Jutsu**?"

At this question Yugito just smirked and said "You'll find out eventually Senju" after which they then heard Genma call Karui and Sai down for the next match.

Seeing this as her chance to further show everyone the strength of Kumo, Karui quickly made her way down to the arena, while Sai. Who had been quietly sitting in the corner painting, simply put his things away and calmly made his way down to the arena.

-In the Arena-

Once both Genin had arrived and were facing each other, Genma asked them both if they were ready.

Naturally both Genin nodded, where Karui drew her Katana out from behind, while Sai remained perfectly still.

Seeing this Genma nodded and raised his arm up and yelled "Then let the fourth Round of the Chunin finals Begin!" as he swung his arm down.

As soon as Genma began the battle Karui made the first move my charging forward yelled "**Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri** (Cloud-Style Front Beheading)!" where she performed a forward slash in an attempt to sever Sai's head.

Seeing this Sai quickly leapt into the air and over Karui where he landed several meters away from the dark skinned girl.

"Looks like you missed" Sai said with his usual fake smile as he landed back on the ground.

Annoyed by this, Karui quickly spun around and charged at the young ROOT agent and slashed at him again. But like before Sai leapt into the air to the avoid the slash, but as he flew in mid-air Karui quickly took out a Kunai and threw it at him.

Luckily though for Sai, he was able to draw out his Tanto and used it to deflect Karui's Kunai with it. After he landed Karui then charged at Sai again and tried to cut him in two, but once again the dark haired boy avoided the slash.

Undeterred Karui followed after Sai, where she then made yet another attempt to slash at Sai but like before she missed, where Sai used **Sumigasumi no Jutsu **(Ink Mist Technique) to avoid the slash and disappear.

Seeing that her opponent was gone, Karui quickly began to search for him. But before she could find Sai, she suddenly heard the whistling sound of something flying through the air.

When she looked up, Karui immediately spotted several Kunai flying through the air from above, acting fast, Karui skilfully deflected the incoming Kunai. But as soon as she did, several small Ink birds appeared and flew down at her.

With only a moment to act, Karui wasted no time and swung her sword in a single, large, crescent moon-shaped arc and yelled "**Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri** (Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading)!" After performing the large arc all three ink birds were destroyed instantly.

But as soon as they had been destroyed, Karui suddenly sensed danger coming from behind, and quickly spun around to block a strong downward slash from Sai, who had just appeared.

"Oh, it looks like you do have some skill after all" Sai remarked with his trademarked fake smile.

Grinding her teeth in frustration Karui tried to force Sai back, but sadly the undercover ROOT agent proved stronger than her and she was forced to jump back a few feet.

Seeing this, Sai relaxed his guard and smiled again "I have to admit you're not bad, but you seem to let your emotions get to you. I suggest that you learn to control them better."

"Tsk, as if I would take advice from a Konoha dog" an annoyed Karui replied as she readied her sword.

"You know you remind me a lot of my so-called team-mate, I believe you fought her at the preliminaries" a still smiling Sai remarked.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!" Karui yelled angrily, "I'm nothing like that weakling!"

"Oh no, I wasn't saying that you were weak like her at all" Sai said calmly as he waved her off. "I was saying you're alike in other ways…you're both ugly, loud, irritable, violent, not to mention you both seem to have rather large foreheads and you are both… Pettanko."

-In the Finalist box-

As soon as Naruto heard Sai say this, the blonde Senju slapped his forehead and thought "_OOhhh Boy!_" although had to admit as well, that Sai did have a point as Karui did share many similar traits with Sakura.

At same Omoi rolled his eyes and thought "_This is not going to end well."_

Samui on the other hand simply closed her eyes and shook her head, while Yugito just covered her eyes with her right hand, knowing what would happen next.

-In the Arena-

After Sai had finished explaining the similarities between Sakura and Karui, the young Shinobi artist could hear the angry cries of his pink hair team-mate. Who was currently being held back by Asuma, Kurenai and Yamato, preventing her from jumping down into the arena, and beating Sai to death.

As Sakura struggled to break free from the hold of the three Jonin, the pink haired girl started yelling about how she was going to kill him, once she got her hands on him.

Sai for his part simply ignored the girl's rants and focused his attention on his female opponent. Who right now had her face lower, preventing him from seeing it , although he could see a murderous red aura around her. He also figured, given the way her sword was shaking in her hand right now, that she wanted nothing more than to use her katana to cut him into a million pieces.

Feigning an innocent smile, Sai simply said "Did I say something wrong?"

-Enter Naruto OST Anger-

When Sai said this Karui raised her head began to chuckle darkly.

"Heh…heh…heh…heh, something wrong you say? No you didn't say anything wrong…IF YOU WANTED TO DDDIIIEEE!" Karui roared as she charged forward with her sword, ignoring the cries of her team-mates, telling her to calm down.

"_Heh, idiot_" Sai thought with a cold smirk, where when Karui charged at him, five ink Snakes appeared out of the ground behind her and went to strike at her from behind.

Seeing this Omoi and the others yelled out to warn her, but Karui seemed too focus on killing Sai to hear their voices or notice the Ink snakes coming from behind her.

Just as the Ink Snakes where about to bite her from behind, Karui suddenly spun around and yelled "**Kumo-Ryū Uragiri** (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading)!" where with single swing of her Katana, Karui severed the heads of all five ink snakes, causing them to revert into puddles of ink.

Seeing this, Sai was of course surprised, as he had expected Karui to be so angry that she would lose focus and fail to pay attention to her surroundings and not notice the ink snakes.

Once the ink snakes had been dealt with, Karui immediately turned back around to face Sai, where before the pale skin boy could even attempt to move away. She slashed his head off with one quick motion.

"I told you not to underestimate me" Karui said coldly as she watched Sai's head fall from his body. But to her surprise, "Sai" reverted into a large puddle of ink.

"_Shit…a clone!_" Karui thought in surprise, realizing she had been duped.

"And I told you, that you should learn to control your emotions better" the real Sai said who was hiding behind one of the nearby trees and had just finished drawing several ink lions and sent them to attack Karui.

Seeing the ink lions coming towards her from the corner of her eye, Karui quickly spun around and channelled her Chakra to her Katana and converted it to Lightning.

Once the ink lions were close enough Karui then engaged the large beasts and skilfully defeated them without much effort.

As soon as all the ink lions were destroyed, Karui then took out several Kunai with exploding notes tide to them and threw them at the tree Sai was hiding behind.

After the Kunai hit their target, Karui activated the notes, causing them to light up and explode, destroying the tree. But just when Karui thought she had dealt with the pale face boy, she saw a large dark figure shoot out from the cloud of smoke caused by the explosion, at high speed.

Before Karui could figure out what it was, she was force to the ground, by a large gust of wind.

Quickly regaining her bearings, Karui began to look for the source of the wind and the dark figure she had seen a moment ago. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Sai sitting on a large ink bird, flying directly above her. She then quickly realized that the figure she had seen shooting out of the smoke was the ink bird, and the wind the forced her to the ground was caused when the bird when it flew up into the sky.

Once Sai was high above the Kumo Kunoichi, he began to draw a dozen or so more ink lions and sent them down to attack her.

Wasting no time, Karui quickly went on the offensive and attacked the ink creatures, knowing that if she didn't, they would surround her and attack her from all sides.

From above Sai careful watched as Karui easily destroyed his ink beasts, using her advance Kenjutsu style which was enhanced thanks to her Lightning covered katana. He was also surprised to see her throw several Kunai, which were enhanced with Lightning Chakra, to destroy his last three remaining ink lions.

"_Hmmm, her skill in Chakra flow skill is pretty good and her swordsmanship skill is just as impressive_" Sai thought with a small frown. "_I should finish this quickly as I can't afford to have this turn into a drawn out battle._"

After destroying the last ink lion, Karui stared up at her opponent, who remained safely up on his ink bird.

As she looked up at the large ink bird, she suddenly saw the large creature dive down at high speed and head straight for her.

"SHIT!" Karui cried as fell to the ground, narrowly avoid the ink's bird's claw and struggled to keep from being blown away by the backdraft of the bird as it flew back up above the arena.

"_Damn that_ _Bastard!" _Karui cursed angrily._ "I'm at a serious disadvantage here, I need to think of a way to get to him or at least bring him back down here_"

But before she could attempt anything, Sai threw down a small wave of Shuriken and Kunai at her.

"_Shit_" Karui thought as she moved around the arena, dodging and deflecting the projectiles with her Katana. But after deflecting the last Kunai, Karui noticed that several of the Kunai that had stabbed the ground near her had exploding notes tide to them.

Seeing this, Karui could only think "_Motherfucker_" after which she tried to move away from the exploding notes as they exploded.

After the notes exploded, a large cloud of smoke and dust covered most of the arena.

As the smoked filled the arena, Sai had his ink bird fly down low before dispelling it and dropping down into the middle of the cloud of smoke and dust.

Soon after, a slightly singed Karui emerged out of the edge of the cloud, covered in dirt and coughing heavily from the smoke and dust, but other than that looked relatively unharmed.

After a few minutes the smoke and dust began to dissipate and Karui began to make out a lone figure standing in the middle of the arena.

Realizing that it was Sai, Karui charged forward with here sword, intending to finish the battle once and for all. But just when she had crossed half the distance between her and Sai, a large group of ink snakes suddenly erupted from the ground underneath her.

The snakes then quickly wrapped themselves around Karui's body, causing her to drop her katana and pinning her arms and legs together, preventing her from moving.

-End Naruto OST Anger-

When Karui hit the ground the dark skinned girl struggled to free herself from the binds of the ink snakes. But sadly they were too strong for her to break.

Realizing that she couldn't break free from the snakes by herself, Karui crawled over to her katana, (which she had dropped after the ink snakes wrapped themselves around her). But before she could reach her blade, Sai appeared in front of her pointing his tanto in her face.

"Looks like I win" Sai said with his usual fake smile, which irritated the Kumo Kunoichi.

It was at this point that Genma, (who had just appeared next to them), ended the match and said "This match is over…the winner is Sai of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf)."

As soon as Genma declared the match over, a thunderous applauds could be heard from the stands, as people cheered over the well fought match and Sai's win.

Once Sai had been declared the winner, the undercover ROOT agent sheathed his tanto sword and made his way back to the finalist box. But before he could get very far, he suddenly heard Karui call out to him.

"Hey!"

"Yes?" Sai asked as he turned around to face Karui with his normal fake smile

"Aren't you going to get these things to let me go?"

"No!" Sai replied simply.

"Why the hell not?" the girl asked angrily.

"Because I don't help ugly old hags" the boy replied simply with the same fake smile before turning back around and walking away. Leaving a furious Karui behind him, who preceded to scream out in rage, swearing she would get him back for this and that she would kill him.

N/A.

Well that's another Chapter done for Hope of the Senju Clan; I hoped you all enjoyed Yugito's fight with Chojuro and Karui's fight with Sai.

Now the next Chapter will finish up the reaming four other matches of the first round of the Chunin exam, which include Sasuke's fight with Omoi and Samui's fight with Haku.

Now as always Please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general, please note that I will answer your all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be help and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Non-Cannon Jutsu**

(A). **Rankedama** (Flaming Hairball): The user spits out a flaming ball of hair, it is very sticky, where if it hits a person it latches onto to them, allowing it to spread and causing the person to be quickly enveloped by its flames. But in the event that the flames around it are extinguished, the hairball itself can be used as a way to immobilize an enemy where it sticks to a person and hardens quickly.


	28. Chapter 28

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-eight: Storm vs Ice**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju talk/Thinking Jutsu**_"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_Once Sai had been declared the winner, the undercover ROOT agent sheathed his tanto sword and made his way back to the finalist box. But before he could get very far, he suddenly heard Karui call out to him._

"_Hey!"_

"_Yes?" Sai asked as he turned around to face Karui with his normal fake smile_

"_Aren't you going to get these things to let me go?"_

"_No!" Sai replied simply._

"_Why the hell not?" the girl asked angrily._

"_Because I don't help ugly old hags" the boy replied simply with the same fake smile before turning back around and walking away. Leaving a furious Karui behind him, who preceded to scream out in rage, swearing she would get him back for this and that she would kill him._

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.**

-In the Kage Box-

After Sai had been declared the winner, the Kages watch as the young boy calmly made his way back up to the finalist box, while his defeated opponent was still screaming out curses at him.

"Impressive" the Mizukage remarked with a small smile, "Wouldn't you agree Raikage-sama?"

"Not bad" the Raikage grunted, as he was rather annoyed with Karui's loss to Sai and hadn't missed the amused tone in the female Kage's voice, since this time it had been one of his Genin who lost.

It also irked him that Karui had barely been able to lay a hand on Sai and made her look like a fool in the end.

"The boy is quite skilled, and uses unusual techniques Hokage-sama" the Kazekage commented as he joined the conversation.

"Yes Sai is a capable young man and has the potential to become a fine Shinobi" the Sandaime replied. Not wanting to give much away about Sai, especially since he was from an organisation that is supposed to be disbanded.

"Indeed" Mei added, "The boy knows how to use his techniques and used his opponent's emotions against her."

"So what would your opinion on the girl and him, Mizukage-sama?" asked Tsunade.

"I believe the boy named Sai has potential, but I would like to see a little more of his capabilities before coming to a decision. As for the girl I'm afraid I cannot recommend her to become a Chunin. Despite the fact that she showed exceptional skill in swordsmanship and excellent use of Chakra flow. She still lacks disciple and was easily played by Sai-san who used her temperament against her. To be a Chunin one must remain calm under stressful situation and not allow their enemy to play on their emotions. Such actions like the girl took when she was angered, could result in her putting her team in danger when on a mission."

"I too must agree on the Mizukage's comment on the girl" the Kazekage added. "Her skill with a sword is impressive to say the least, but her emotional state and ability to make rational decisions is questionable. I believe with a little more time and seasoning, she will become an excellent Shinobi. Although the boy named Sai I believe would make a capable Chunin, given how well he performed in the match."

"Although I do agree with what you said about the young girl Kazekage-sama" the Hokage said. "I also must agree with what the Mizukage said about Sai. Since I believe we should wait and see what else Sai shows us in his next match before we decided if he should become a Chunin."

"I agree on both accounts" the Raikage said gruffly, as he had to agree with what the other Kages said about Karui. Plus he was also interested in seeing how well Sai would fair against Yugito, who would be his next opponent.

With the matter settled, the four Kages and the two Sannin turned their attention back on the arena for the next match, which would begin soon.

-In the Finalist Box-

After Sai had won his match, the young Shinobi artist made is way to the finalist box, where once he arrived he settled himself in the corner and started to paint again.

Not long after, an angry Karui, who had been freed from her binds by Genma, stormed into the box.

Upon seeing her former opponent the red haired Kumo Kunoichi glared murderously at the boy, who simply ignored her and continued painting.

Angered by this, Karui looked ready to beat the hell out of Sai. But thankfully before anything could happen, her team-mates came over and pulled her away to the railings, telling her to let it go.

After some heavy talking with her team, Karui eventually calm down, although remained in a sour mood, and glanced angrily back at Sai from time to time.

"How's Karui doing?" Naruto asked after Omoi re-joined him.

"She'll be fine, it's more wounded pride than anything else" Omoi replied, where Naruto just nodded. "But at least one good thing has come out of this."

"What's that?" a curious Naruto asked.

"Karui might actually let go of her grudged against you for beating her, since she seems to hate that Sai guy more than you now."

Hearing this Naruto just smirked and said, "Maybe, but I'll believe it when I see it."

Not long after the finalist suddenly heard Genma call out to them, "The next match between Kankuro of Suna and Aburame Shino of Konoha is about to begin, will the participants please come down."

When Kankuro heard his name being out for his match, the male puppeteer began to worry and started to wonder what he should do, "_My match isn't important. Besides I don't want to show Crow's hidden weapons before the plan. Not to mention if I win, I would have to go against Gaara and I am not fighting him, plan or no plan._"

Looking to his sister, who just nodded, Kankuro knew what he had to do.

Just when Shino was about to jump down into the arena, Kankuro suddenly called out to Genma. "Hey Examiner, I forfeit my match."

As soon as Kankuro send this a sudden stir erupted among everyone.

"_What?_" Shino and Genma thought at the same time in surprise and some confusion.

They were of course not the only ones, as many of the other finalist and members of the audience where also like minded.

"_What's going on here?_" Yugito thought with a frown.

"_Why is he giving up? If he had no intention of fighting, why did he wait until now to forfeit?_" Naruto thought as he stared suspiciously at Kankuro.

-With the Audience-

"Something doesn't feel right here" Kushina muttered as she stared down to the arena.

"I concur" Yamato said, where he was joined by Anko, Shizune, Asuma and Kurenai, who all nodded in agreement.

"Something funny is going on here" Tsunade muttered with a large frown on her face.

"Yea I know, there's something happening that we aren't seeing" Jiraiya said with a frown of his own.

The Sandaime was of course of the same mind, as like his students, he found Kankuro's sudden forfeiture suspicious. He was even more distrustful given recent events, such as Suna sending their jinchūriki into the Chunin exam. The appearance of Orochimaru in the forest of death, his attack on Naruto and Sasuke as well as the deaths of Hayate and the Oto Genin during the one month training period.

"I must say, I'm disappointed that your son gave up so easily Kazekage-sama" the Mizukage said.

"Indeed, I would have expected better from a Shinobi of your village, least of all your son" the Raikage added.

"Unfortunately, I cannot make any excuse for my son, all I can say is that if he forfeited, he must have had a good reason for doing it."

Naturally this didn't answer any of the other Kages quires. But they could not press the matter further since there was no rule against a finalist forfeiting before their match. Suspicious it may be, but it was not illegal.

-In the Arena-

"Kankuro of Suna has forfeited his match, therefore Aburame Shino of Konoha wins by default" Genma announced.

Naturally this announcement wasn't received well by the audience who were hoping to see another good fight, where many of them start booing and yelling angrily.

_"____Damnit this isn't how things were supposed to turn out__" _Temari thought angrily, since they thought the invasion would've started by now.

After Kankuro forfeited his match, Genma moved on to the next round which was supposed to be between Gaara and the Oto Genin Dosu. But given how Dosu was dead (unknowingly killed by Gaara), the match was an automatic win for Gaara.

Naturally this wasn't received well by the majority of the audience either, where once again people began to boo and jeer.

Ignoring the crowds anger, Genma decided to move on to the next fight, which was between Sasuke and Omoi. But the problem was Sasuke had yet to arrive.

-In the Kage Box-

"It seems that the crowd is getting rather noisy due to the recent forfeitures" the Kazekage commented.

"Yes I hear that" the Hokage replied.

"If I am not mistaken, Uchiha Sasuke and one of the Kumo Genin are schedule to fight next?" the Mizukage said

"Yes but sadly Sasuke hasn't arrived yet" the old Hokage replied.

"This is highly irregular Hokage-sama, my Shinobi had the decency to show up on time, the least yours could do is to arrive on time" the Raikage said with some annoyance.

"Yes I know that Raikage-sama, and I do apologise for this" the Sandaime said before his guard Raidō leaned over to him and whispered in his right ear.

"I'm afraid we still have not located Uchiha Sasuke or his sensei Hatake Kakashi. Perhaps we should disqualify him from the finals before everyone causes an uproar?"

"Perhaps we should" muttered Sarutobi, since they could not hold up the entire tournament for one Genin.

"_Damnit, where the hell are those two?_" Jiraiya thought with frown.

"_Did Orochimaru get to them?_" Tsunade wondered with a small frown of her own.

"I apologise for this, Raikage-sama, Mizukage-sama, Kazekage-sama, but it seems I have no choice but to disqualify Uchiha Sasuke from the finals and move on with the tournament.

"If I may Hokage-sama" the Kazekage spoke suddenly. "But could you hold on before disqualifying Uchiha Sasuke?"

"With all due respects Kazekage-sama, but those who think lightly of time as a Shinobi have no right to become Chunin, no matter who they are" Tsunade spoke.

"With respect Tsunade-sama, both you and your son narrowly arrived on time and were nearly disqualified" the Kazekage rebuked.

"I will admit to that but, we still arrived in time for the match and we did not hold up the tournament" the female Sannin retorted with a slightly irritated tone.

"I'm afraid I must agree with my former student Kazekage-sama" the Hokage said. "Unless there is a clear explanation that will convince the visiting Shinobi heads, Daimyo's and Feudal Lords here, we cannot delay the match."

"I see" the Kazekage said, "Then I'm pleased to say there is a good reason."

"Oh is there?" the Sandaime asked.

"Including myself, I can say that most of the visiting Shinobi heads, Daimyo's, Feudal Lords, as well as the Mizukage and the Raikage came here to watch not only Senju Naruto fight, but also Uchiha Sasuke. Since both of them are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and many would be greatly angered over not seeing both of them fight."

"Also" continued the Kazekage, "I can say with the utmost certainty that like myself, both the Mizukage and the Raikage wish to see their most talented Genin fight both boys to see how they would fair."

When the Kazekage said this, both Kages nodded, since technically the Kazekage was correct.

At the same time, both Tsunade and Jiraiya frowned deeply and stared at the leader of Suna as he confirmed what they had already suspected. The other villages were specifically targeting both Sasuke and Naruto.

Hearing this Raidō decided to interject and make his opinion known. "With respect Hokage-sama, there is no guarantee that Uchiha Sasuke will come…even if we delay the match."

Closing his eyes, the Hokage thought everything over, after a moment or two Sarutobi opened his eyes and spoke. "Very well…We'll put the match on hold, and wait for him. Do you have any objections?"

"I do not" responded the Mizukage, as she was interested in seeing Sasuke fight given what she had heard. Also if Haku won her match and Sasuke arrived in time and won his the two of them could face off, which could gain her village some much needed publicity.

"None" answered the Raikage, even though in most cases he would have voted to disqualify Sasuke. But the fact was he needed Sasuke to compete for his plan to humiliate Konoha to work.

"Sensei are you sure about this?" Jiraiya asked with some concern.

"I am" Saruotbi replied before he turned to Raidō and told to tell Genma of what they had decided upon.

Nodding to this, the Jonin quickly **Shunshin** (Body-flicker) down to the arena to inform Genma.

Once Raidō had left the Sandaime turned to his counterpart from Suna and said "It's rare for you to say so much Kazekage-sama or to go to such lengths, especially for a Genin not from your own village."

"As I said Hokage-sama, I am eager to see my son face against Uchiha Sasuke, for with the exception of Tsunade-sama son Naruto. I can think of no better opponent for my son Gaara than Uchiha Sasuke, as it is the perfect way to show the Daimyo's and the Feudal Lords the quality of our Shinobi."

Regardless of the Kazekage's reason both the Sandaime and his two former students remained suspicious, since they were certain there was more to this than what the Kazekage said.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Damnit, what the hell is taking Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke so long? Sure I know how Kakashi can't be on time if his life depended on it. But you think with Sasuke with him they would be on time? Since he's not the type of person who would miss out on something like this_" an annoyed Naruto thought.

"_So what happens next, will I get to fight Uchiha Sasuke or not?_" Omoi thought as he began to suck on his lollipop "_If he doesn't, does that mean the mission fails or do we continue to target Naruto?_"

"_Fuck! Where the hell is he? He should be here by now!_" Karui thought angrily.

"_This could complicate things_" Samui thought to herself, since if Sasuke was disqualified then they would fail their mission objective.

"_What the hell is Konoha playing at? Where is Uchiha Sasuke?_" Yugito thought with some irritation. Given the importance Sasuke's participation in the exam depended on their mission to improve their village's status.

"What are we going to do?" Kankuro whispered to his sister, "If he doesn't show our plan could…"

"I know" interrupted Temari, "All can do is wait and hope he comes before he is disqualified."

After saying this, the blonde Kunoichi glanced worriedly over to her brother near her. She then began to wonder if her brother had secretly killed the Uchiha, just like he did with the Oto Genin.

-With the Audience-

"Typical, Kakashi is late for everything" Anko muttered with some annoyance

"_Damnit what is Kakashi playing at, he should know better than this_" Kushina thought with a frown.

"_I hope nothing has happen to Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke_" Yamato thought, since he was becoming concerned that Orochimaru may have gotten to his former captain and his student.

"What are Kakashi and Sasuke doing?" Asuma asked out loud, not understanding why they were so late.

"What's happening, where's Sasuke?" Ino asked out loud, not noticing the concerned look on Sakura's face.

"_Sasuke-kun_…" a worried Sakura thought.

-In the Arena-

After Raidō arrived in the arena, he quickly told Genma what was happening and what the Hokage's decision regarding Sasuke was.

When Raidō finish explaining everything, the Tokubetsu Jōnin just nodded, telling Genma he understood. After which Raidō **Shunshin** back up to the Kage box.

Once Raidō returned to the Kage box, Genma began to speak to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, an examinee for the next match has not arrived just yet. Therefore this match will be delayed, and we will continue with the next match first."

Naturally when everyone heard this, most were surprised and confused by the sudden turn of events.

-In the Audience-

"Hey don't look so down Sakura" Ino said, after finally seeing the worried look on the pink hair girls face. "They're holding the match, so he won't be disqualified, so there still time for him to show up."

"Yea…I guess your right" Sakura said with a small weak smile, which showed she was still worried about the young Uchiha.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Looks like you lucked out Sasuke_" Naruto thought with a frown.

"_Good_" Yugito thought, who like the rest of her team looked pleased that Sasuke wasn't disqualified, since they still had a chance at completing their objective.

"Phew, we got lucky" Kankuro thought as he whipped the sweat of his forehead.

At the same time a look of relief appeared on his sister Temari's face, while a pleased looked appeared on Gaara's.

With the Sasuke's and Omoi's match delayed, Genma moved on to the last match, which was between Haku and Samui.

After Genma called them down, the two girls quickly made their way down to the arena, where Haku's used a **Mizu-Shunshin** (Water Body-flicker) to go down to the arena, while Samui simply jumped down.

"_This should be an interesting matchup_" Naruto thought, since he knew from past experiences that both girls were quite skilled.

"Hey Naruto" Shikamaru said as he walked over to the blonde. "You know these two girls pretty well, don't you?

"Yea"

"So who do you think will win?"

"Hard to tell" Naruto replied, "Both of them are no pushovers and are pretty strong. In terms of skill, I would think they are about even, although Haku has her Hyoton Bloodline which could give her the edge. But even with that it doesn't mean she will win, as Samui is not someone you should underestimate. Not to mention I haven't seen her fight seriously in a while, so who knows what she can do now since then."

After hearing this Shikamaru just nodded, as he was pleased that he was out of the exam and wouldn't have to fight either girl as both of them would have been too troublesome for him to deal with.

-In the Arena-

Once the two girls had appeared in the arena and were facing one another, Genma began the match.

As soon as Genma shouted "Begin!" Haku made the first move and took out a set of Senbon needles and fired them at Samui. Who in turn, drew her Katana from her back and skilfully deflected them. But as soon as she had dealt with the flying needles, Samui caught a blur at the corner of her eye.

Acting fast, Samui quickly spun around where she narrowly blocked a strike from Haku with her needles. Who had used the Senbon needles as a distraction to move around behind the Kumo Kunouchi and attack her from behind.

"_Fast!_" thought Samui as she blocked Haku's needles with her Katana. Before pushing the ice user back and attempted the **Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri** (Cloud-Style Front Beheading) technique in an attempt to cut her in two.

But when Samui swung her Katana at Haku, the Kiri Kunoichi reverted into a split log, revealing that Haku had used a **Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Body Replacement Technique).

Realizing what Haku must have done, Samui quickly spun and deflected several incoming Senbon needles using the** Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri **(Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading) technique. But after she did this, Haku appeared directly in front on her and delivered a sharp kick to Samui's stomach, causing the blonde girl to double over and drop her Katana.

Following up with her attack, Haku attempted a spinning back kick to the side of Samui's head. But to her surprise Samui recovered faster than she had anticipated and blocked the kick with her right arm and pushed the Kiri Genin away.

Unwilling to let go of her advantage, Haku moved forward and attempted a straight forward punch to Samui's face which the Kumo Kunoichi blocked with her right hand. She then attempted to punch Haku in the stomach with her left fist, but before her fist could hit Haku's stomach, the ice user disappeared in a blur. She then reappeared behind Samui in mid-air and attempted spinning kick to the back of Samui's head.

Unfortunately for Haku, Samui had anticipated her move and ducked under Haku's kick. She then grabbed hold of Haku's leg as it flew above her and then spun the ice user around before throwing her away to the other end of the arena.

When Samui threw her away Haku quickly recovered by preforming a mid-air flip, allowing her to land on her feet. But as soon as she did, she saw Samui racing towards her with her Katana in hand.

Wasting no time, Haku immediately took out a set of Senbon needles and blocked the Kumo Kunouchi's swing.

After Haku blocked Samui's Katana with her Senbon needles, a battle for dominance erupted between the two Kunoichi, each trying to push the other back.

After a minute or so of struggling, Samui eventually gained the upper hand and started to push Haku back, revealing that she was the stronger of the two.

Realizing that she could not win in a battle of strength with Samui, Haku began to preform several one-handed hand seal, much to the surprise of Samui and several other people in the audience.

-In the Audience/Finalist Box/ Kage Box-

"Wait! She can perform seals with just a single hand!" Izumo said in surprise when he saw Haku perform hand seals with her one free hand.

"Damn" Kotetsu said with equal surprise.

"Not bad Ice Princess" an impressed Mai mutter when she saw this.

"I didn't think something like that was possible" Akatsuchi said in disbelief.

"Looks like she more than just a pretty face" Kurotsuchi commented with some measure of respect.

"That Kiri girl is just like Hanzo's Granddaughter" Asuma remarked, where Kurenai and the others nodded in agreement.

"Impressive" the Sandaime commented, even though he had heard from Naruto and Kakashi that Haku had the skill to perform seals with one hand.

Naturally the most of the other Kages were in agreement, although the Raikage frowned slightly knowing that this could pose a problem for Samui.

"_Damnit, she even more skilled than we thought_" Yugito thought when she saw Haku using one handed hand seals.

"_This could be trouble_" Omoi thought with a frown.

-In the Arena-

After Haku finish performing her hand seal, she said "**Hijutsu:**** Sensatsu Suishō** (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!" After which a thousand long water needles form around them.

Once the Water needles surrounded them Haku had them fly forward attacking Samui from all angles, while she jumped away from the Kumo Kunoichi, leaving little chance for her to escape.

But when the attack ended and Haku land back on the ground a few feet away from Samui. The Kumo Kunoichi reverted into a wooden long, revealing that Samui had replaced herself at the last second, just as Haku jumped away from her.

As soon as she realized that Samui had escape, the Kiri Kunoichi immediately began to search for her opponent.

When she looked up, she saw several dozen of Kunai flying towards her.

Knowing she couldn't avoid them all in time, Haku quickly formed an ice dome around herself to block the incoming Kunai. But when the Kunai embedded themselves into the ice dome, Haku saw that several of the Kunai had exploding notes tied to them, where they then lit up and exploded, destroying the ice dome.

After the explosion, Samui reappeared a few feet from where the explosion happened. But as the smoke from the explosion dissipated, she was surprised to see that Haku was gone. Before she could do anything, Samui suddenly felt the air around her go cold, the next thing Samui knew she saw an ice mirror appear behind her with an image of Haku. Who then said "**Makyō Hyōshō** (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals) and fired a hail of Senbon needles at Samui back.

Seeing this, Samui tried to avoid the Senbon needles, but they came in too fast for her to avoid them all and was hit in the back by two needles, causing her to fall to the ground in a small heap.

After hitting Samui, Haku then emerged out of the ice mirror, which then melted away, where she then threw several more Senbon needles at Samui, who was still on the ground pulling the needles from her back.

Remarkable though, Samui was able recover quickly from her attack and was able to avoid the Senbon needles by jumping away. She then picked up her Katana again and raced towards Haku at top speed, intending to cut the Kiri Kunoichi in two with a wide horizontal slash.

Seeing Samui coming towards her, the female ice user waited until the last second to avoid Samui's slash and used her superior speed to appear behind Samui and strike at her from behind.

But what Haku didn't know was that Samui had predicted this and used the **Kumo-Ryū Uragiri** (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading) technique, where she spun around and swung at the female ice user right when she appeared behind her.

But luckily for Haku, thanks to the several years of training under Zabuza, she had developed excellent reaction speed and was able to avoid the slash by jumping backwards. Although she did receive a large slash on her blue top, exposing her fishnet shirt underneath a little along with her chest. (1)

After Samui's slash, Haku landed back on the ground several feet away from Samui, who was now facing her.

"Impressive, you are quite skilled, your swordsmanship is excellent and your Taijutsu is clearly superior to my own" Haku commented, as she looked at her now cut shit.

"Thank you, you're very skilled as well, your Ninjutsu skill is quite remarkable and your speed is vastly superior to my own" Samui replied. "I have heard rumours of there being a single survivor of the fame Yuki Clan of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) after the Bloodline purge. I had even heard that you were gift prodigy, and that you were a student of the infamous Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) Momochi Zabuza, clearly those rumours were true."

"Yes, I was and allow me to show you what else I have learned from Zabuza-sama" Haku replied, where she formed a single hand seal and said "**Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Hidden Mist Technique)." After she said this the arena once again became filled with a thick mist, much like when Yugito and Chojuro fought.

-In the Audience/Finalist Box-

"_That a girl Haku_" Zabuza thought with a smile, when he saw Haku use the **Kirigakure no Jutsu**. He knew better than anyone how skilled Haku was when fighting in the mist, as he had trained her how to fight effectively in places with limited sight range. Her skill in using **Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu** (Soundless Murder Technique) was vastly superior to Chojuro's and in some ways rivalled some of Zabuza's former comrades in the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist). Also using **Kirigakure no Jutsu** and **Sairento Kiringu no Jutsu** worked well Haku's way of fighting, where she preferred to take down her opponents quickly and efficiently using her high speed and natural stealth.

"Ah man not this again" Kiba muttered, since now they couldn't see the fight.

"_Samui, will have trouble now, as Haku is a lot more skilled in fighting in the mist than Chojuro is, thanks to her years under Zabuza_" Naruto thought.

"_So she using the same tactic as the Kiri Genin I fought_" Yugito thought before a small smile appeared. "_But if she thinks she will have a better chance of beating Samui with it, than that other Genin had with me. She's sadly mistaken, as Samui is the worst person to fight this way."_

-In the Arena-

Seeing the mist beginning to cover the arena, Samui quickly raced towards Haku in the hope of reaching her before she could hide in the mist. Unfortunately though for Samui, Haku kept her distance from the Kumo Kunoichi and soon disappeared within the mist once it fully formed.

After Haku disappeared inside the mist Samui found herself under assault from different directions, as Haku used her high speed to her advantage and circled around Samui firing Senbon needles.

As the battle progressed Samui did her best to block all the incoming needles, but sadly they were coming in so fast and because of the mist limiting her sight she couldn't deflect them all.

After a little while Haku decided to move in for the final blow, where she used her high speed to silently maneuver behind Samui and strike her in back of her neck and disable her. But to Haku's surprise Samui spun around and blocked Haku's strike with her Katana and then pushed the ice user away and attempted to slash Haku with her blade.

With little time to spare, Haku quickly jumped into the mist to hide, while at the same time thinking, "_How did she know where I was? She couldn't have predicted where I would strike nor could she have seen or heard me. So how was she able to block my attack?_"

Before Haku could think any further on the matter, the female ice user suddenly heard the sound of something flying through the air from her right.

Falling to her knees, Haku narrowly avoided several shuriken that whooshed past her head.

Once she got back on to her feet, she heard the sound of something flying towards her in the opposition direction of where the Shuriken came from. Not wasting a moment, Haku jumped backwards to avoid the flying projectiles, which turned out to be Kunai, after she saw them fly past her. But as soon as she avoided them, she found herself under attack again by Samui, who appeared out of the mist in front of her and attempted a vertical slash down on Haku head.

With only a moment to spare Haku threw the Senbon needles she had in hand at the blonde Kunoichi, forcing Samui to use her Katana to deflect the incoming needles. This then gave Haku enough time to disappear into the mist again. But to the ice user's surprise, Samui followed after, no matter how well she hid in the mist, Samui kept finding her.

After blocking another of Samui sword slashes with her Senbon needles, Haku pushed Samui back, where two Kunoichi once again faced one another.

"It seems I have underestimated you Samui-san, I did not know you were a sensor–type Shinobi" Haku said, since it was the only possibly explanation as to how Samui kept finding her. (2)

"A true Shinobi should only reveal their true abilities when they have to" Samui answered as she readied her sword again.

"Indeed" Haku replied, where she readied her Senbon needles while also performing a single one handed hand seal that deactivated the mist. Since with Samui now revealed as a sensor type Shinobi there was no point in having the mist since she could find Haku by sensing for her Chakra.

As the mist slowly faded, the two Kunoichi continue to stare at one another, each waiting to see who would make the first move. After a little while, once the mist had fully cleared, Haku decided she would make the first move.

Putting her Senbon needles away, Haku took out two medium size scrolls and opened them up and laid them on the ground.

Unsure as to what Haku was up to, Samui readied herself for an attack.

Once the scrolls where open and on the ground, Haku formed two simple hand seals and tap the centre of each scroll with her foot. After which a large amount of water erupted from the scrolls and flooded the surrounding ground.

"_Damnit!_" thought Samui, as she quickly realized what Haku was planning but before she could act, she suddenly felt a familiar cold chill in the air around her. After which Haku formed an unfamiliar hand seal and said "**Makyō Hyōshō**!" where the water began to turn into ice and in an instant, multiple mirrors of ice were created around the two Kunoichi. Before Samui knew what happen, she was trapped in a dome of twenty-one floating mirrors made out of ice.

-In the Audience -

"_So Haku has been forced to use the __**Makyō Hyōshō**_" Zabuza thought with a frown when he saw Haku trump card. "_Something must have happened in the mist between her and that Kumo girl to force Haku to use her best technique._"

"That bitch! She stole my idea" annoyed Mai thought, as she had used scrolls to create a small field of water when she fought Naruto in the Preliminaries.

"That technique!" said Sakura, recognising the ice user's technique.

"You know that technique Sakura?" Ino asked as she turned to her friend.

"Yes, I saw her use this technique when we fought her and Zabuza at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). She used it to defeat, Sai and Sasuke-kun and nearly defeated Naruto with it as well."

When Ino and the others heard this they were of course surprise, especially her former classmates. Who were surprised to hear of a technique that defeated Sasuke and nearly defeated Naruto.

"_So that's the technique, Kakashi and Naruto were talking about_" Kushina thought as she looked down at the ice dome. This was of course the first time Kushina and Yamato were seeing Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō** since Naruto had just defeated the ice user when they arrived at the bridge. But they had heard about it later on, from Naruto and Kakashi and from what they heard it was a dangerous technique to go up against.

-In The Kage Box-

"A most unique technique" the Sandaime commented when he saw Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō.** He of course knew about the technique from Kakashi and the others report after the mission in Nami no Kuni. In the report Kakashi and Sakura, had mention the technique, while Naruto, Sasuke and Sai had explained how it worked in their reports.

"Indeed" the Kazekage with a tone of intrigue, "Your Shinobi Haku has a great deal of talent Mizukage-sama."

"She does indeed Kazekage-sama" Mei replied with a smile, "I dare say she has this match won, as with the exception of one, no-one has ever escaped Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō**."

"I would not be so quick to claim victory Mizukage-same" the Raikage said, as he joined the conversation, "As the fight is far from over and Samui has yet to show her true skill."

This remark from the Raikage of course got the other Kages interest. Who were now curious to see what the Raikage was talking about and how exactly would Samui escape Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō.**

**-**The Finalist Box-

"Damn, this doesn't look good for Samui" muttered Naruto when he saw Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō**.

"You know this technique?" Yugito asked, turning to her fellow blonde.

"Yea, back when I first met Haku in Nami no Kuni she used this technique to fight Sai, Sasuke and me and nearly defeated us with it. Once Haku is in one of the mirrors it's possible for her to move between the mirrors at the speed of light. It's nearly impossible to follow her attacks as every mirror shows her reflection, one could say it's impossible to see all of Haku's attacks, since they come in too fast to see. Even if you try to attack the real Haku, she will have already moved to another mirror when you make your move. Without eyes like the Sharingan or maybe the Byakugan, it's impossible to keep track of her."

When Naruto finished, a look of concern for Samui was shared between the Kumo Genin, since from what Naruto told them. The technique sounded extremely deadly for anyone to go against.

"But you were able to defeat her when she used it, so there is a weakness to it" Omoi stated.

"Yea the technique has some weakness, one being that it focuses mainly on what happens inside the dome and is vulnerable to outside attack. So it would ideal if the person inside the dome had someone outside the dome to help, where they could make a coordinated attack. Another weakness is that it takes up a lot of Chakra to use and maintain, hence the longer the battles last, the weaker the user becomes. Haku although knows this better than anyone, which is why she will try and finish the person off as quickly as possible. That why the best way to beat this technique when you are alone and inside the dome, is to get outside the dome as quickly as possible. But that is easier said than done, as Haku will not let anyone out and the dome and the ice mirrors are not easily broken and are highly resistant to Fire techniques."

"How were you able to escape?" Karui asked.

"I created a large number of clones to create a distraction and used my Super human strength to break the mirrors, which forced Haku out and allowed me defeat her. But I only succeeded because I caught her off guard with my inhuman strength, so unless Samui has something up her sleeve her chances don't look too good."

When Naruto said this the three Kumo Genin gave each other a look, which told Naruto that they knew something he didn't, when he asked, they simply said he would see soon enough.

-In the Arena-

Once the ice mirror dome was fully formed, Haku backed into one of the mirrors and merged with it. After which an image of Haku appeared on each of the mirrors around the Kumo Kunoichi.

"Cool" Samui said both because of the chill in the air and because she was impressed with what Haku did.

"Now I will show you my true speed" Haku said, where she threw a Senbon needle, with such speed that Samui didn't know what happen until the needle flew past her and cut her left cheek. After which Haku unleashed a massive barrage of needles from multipliable directions, Samui did her best to try and deflect the Senbon needles with her Katana. But they came in too fast for her to block them all. It got so bad that Samui was cover in needles and cuts and was forced to drop her Katana and raise her arms to cover her face.

"_This isn't good, I can't defend myself against her attacks, there's too many of them and they're coming into fast for me to block them_" Samui thought.

Eventually after minute or so, Haku halted her assault and said "Please give up, I do not wish to hurt you. If you forfeit the match now I will not harm you any further."

"I'm afraid, I cannot do that" replied Samui as she slowly stood up. "If I surrender I would shame my village and my team-mates…and that would not be cool."

"I see" said Haku in a disappointed tone. "Then I am sorry to say you will lose, with the exception of one person, no-one has ever escaped my **Makyō Hyōshō** and there is no technique that can defeat it."

At this remark, Samui suddenly smirked, which was very unusual for her, since Samui rarely ever smirked, let alone smiled.

"Heh, I must say you Kiri Shinobi are certainly an arrogant people".

"Excuse me?" Haku asked in confusion, not fully understanding what Samui said.

"You say that there is no technique that can defeat this technique yours?"

"Yes"

"Well I am about to show you how wrong you are and how you shouldn't underestimated the power of the Shinobi of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud)" the blonde Kumo Kunoichi replied.

-Enter Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break)-

After saying this Samui then began to do a series of high speed hand seals where once she finished said yelled out "**Ranton: Reizā Sākasu** (Storm Release: Encouraging Crushing Chain Tormenting Principle)!" (3)

As soon as she yelled this out, bright blue laser beams shot out of her hands and broke into several more laser beams and flew straight for all of Haku's ice mirrors.

"_Impossible_" Haku thought in disbelief when she saw the beams of lights before they hit her mirrors and shattered them instantly.

As the mirrors shattered, Haku suddenly emerged from one of the larger pieces above Samui and attempted to strike her from above. But before Haku could reach Samui, the laser beams that Samui fired suddenly turned around and flew straight for her.

Seeing this Haku was forced to halt her attack and move out of the lasers beams path, which were coming in from multiple directions and collided together in a large explosion when she moved away.

-In the Audience -

"That's the way Samui!" Killer Bee cheered from the crowed, "She ain't down or out of the count… Her power is all a-flash, with some still left in her stash."

"Shit! She's a Bloodline holder too!" Zabuza said in shock, when he saw Samui use the **Reizā Sākasu** to break Haku's** Makyō Hyōshō**.

"What do you mean Zabuza-sensei?" Saito asked as he turned to his sensei.

"In Kumo there is a group of Shinobi with a unique bloodline called Ranton (Storm Release). Like Haku's Hyoton (Ice Release) it involves combining two nature elements with one another to form a new element. The Ranton Bloodline involves the user combining Water and Lightning to create beams of energy that move at a phenomenal speed and can destroy almost anything that gets in their path, it's a fearsome power to go up against."

"How do you know so much about it Sensei?" Saito asked.

"Before I first left Kiri, I once fought a Shinobi from Kumogakure, who possessed the Ranton Bloodline. He was known as Darui no Kuroi Kaminari (Darui of the Black Lightning)." Zabuza replied, remembering the Kumo Shinobi who had been powerful adversary when Zabuza fought him.

"So she's a Ranton user" Kushina muttered with a hint of surprise in her voice, "I have to admit I didn't expect her to be this powerful."

"Agreed" Yamato acknowledge.

"Looks like this battle has turned into a battle of Bloodlines, with Kumo's Ranton Bloodline facing off with Kiri's Hyoton Bloodline" Asuma remarked.

"Hmph! Looks like you won't have is so easy after all Ice Princess" Mai muttered after seeing Samui destroy Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō**. "Guess there's more to Cow-tits than just her big breasts."

-In The Kage Box-

In the Kages Box the other Kages (with the exception of the Raikage and his guards) were all reeling from the shock of Samui being a Ranton user, as none of them had expected the girl to be Bloodline Holder.

The Mizukage was of course the most shocked out of all the Kages, as she never expected Samui to actually destroy Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō. **

"As I said Mizukage-sama," a smirking Raikage spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "Samui is much more powerful than she appears."

Naturally the female Kage was slightly irked by what the Raikage said, especially when he was smirking. But to her credit she didn't let it show and said "She is indeed an impressive Shinobi, but I would not count Haku-chan out just yet, as she is a highly resourcefully Shinobi as well."

"_Very impressive_" thought a disguised Orochimaru, as he was intrigued with the two girl's level of skill and their Bloodlines. So much so that considered having his agents capture both girls when the invasion began. If captured they would make useful subordinates if he could successfully turn them or useful research material for his experiments. At the very least they could be usefully breeders for future vessels for him at a later time.

- In The Finalist Box-

"No way, Samui has a Bloodline!" Naruto said in surprise as he recognised the technique Samui was using.

"Wait you didn't know about this?" Shikamaru asked who was standing next to Naruto on his right side.

"I had no clue, she never used it when we first met and she never said anything about having one."

"That's because she hadn't learned how to use her Bloodline yet when we met you" Omoi replied, who was standing next to Naruto on his left side.

"_Huh, guess I wasn't the only one who was keeping a few secrets_" Naruto thought before his attention turned to Shikamaru who was speaking to him.

"So what exactly is this Bloodline of hers?"

"It's called Ranton and from what I heard it's a pretty powerful one, where it allows the user to fire powerful blasts of energy, only a select few people in Kumo have it."

"This is just too troublesome" mutter Shikamaru, "Both of them would such a pain to deal with, I am so glad I quite."

Naruto just smirked at this remark, although he did agree with what Shikamaru meant. Both girls were very strong Kunoichi and they would be difficult opponents to fight."

-In the Arena-

After Haku avoided Samui's attack, the female Ice user emerged out of the smoke caused by the explosion when the laser beams collided with one another. But she was soon followed by several more energy beams, which continued to pursue her no matter where she went.

Seeing that the energy beams were converging on from several different directions, Haku realized she could no longer avoid the beams and stop running and created an ice dome around herself.

As soon as the dome went up, the beams hit the barrier and exploded causing another large explosion.

-End Naruto OST 2 - Raikiri (Thunder Break)-

After the explosion much of the arena was filled with a thin lair of smoke, although was still clear enough to see through.

As Samui walked towards the point of the explosion, she could make out an unconscious Haku lying on the ground in the centre of a small crater caused by the explosion, which also damaged the arena wall behind Haku. But before Samui could walk any further, she suddenly took out a set of Shuriken and threw them at several Senbon needles that were flying towards her from her right and hit them with pinpoint precision. She then quickly spun around to her left and blocked another attack from an assailant with her Katana, which she had picked up earlier.

After the failed sneak attack, the assailant jumped back and landed several meters opposite Samui, revealing it to be Haku.

"I assume that you sense my attack and realized that the me you saw was a clone" Haku said as she stared at her opponent and glanced over at her clone, which broke and shattered into ice, revealing it to be a **Koori Bunshin** (Ice Clone). (A)

"Correct, I kept my senses alert for you, even when I saw your clone."

"I see I had hoped that my clone would fool you long enough to catch you off guard" Haku said. "You're even more skilled than I ever expected, I never suspected that you too possessed a Bloodline like myself."

"Thank you, you're equally impressive" Samui replied, "I did not think you would actually evade my attack, yet you did. I'm assuming that you used the dome to protect yourself long enough for you to create the clone to trick me and then used your **Makyō Hyōshō** technique to escape my attack at the last possible second."

"Correct" Haku answered, as she was impressed with Samui's deductive skills, as in just a few moments she had figured out how the ice user escaped her attack.

For the next few minutes the two Kunochi stared at once another, both looked worn from their long battle.

Haku was fairly scorched up from narrowly avoiding Samui's **Reizā Sākasu** twice, her clothes were also torn up a bit and she had several small cuts on her arms and legs.

Samui on the other hand was slightly worse off, where her clothes were cut up pretty badly from Haku's needle barrage and were covered in dried blood dirt. She even had a few needles still stuck in her arms and legs, yet despite her appearance she was still ready to continue the battle.

-With the Audience-

"That girl is good I'll give her that, I didn't think anyone, other than the Senju and Uchiha kids could push Haku like this" Zabuza thought.

"Man those two are intense" Kiba commented, clearly impressed with the two Kunouchi.

"They're very strong" Hinata said, who could not help but feel slightly inferior when compared to Haku or Samui.

She was of course not the only one as Sakura and Ino were also feeling the same way as they watched the battle and thought back to their own matches during the preliminaries. Naturally it was hardest on Ino, as she had been Samui's opponent during the preliminaries and was taken out within seconds by the older Kunoichi, with little effort.

"Both of them are very skilled" Kurenai remarked, as like most people she was highly impressed with the two foreign Kunoichi.

"Yea, Kiri and Kumo are taking this year's exam serious by sending these two to the exam" Asuma replied.

"Alright, now this is more like it!" cheered Anko, as she was enjoying the match between Haku and Samui.

"Who do you think will win?" Shizune asked, as she turned to Kushina and Yamato, who were sitting next to her.

"I'm afraid it's very hard to tell, both girls seemed to be quite skilled" Yamato said before turning to his former ANBU captain. "What do you think Kushina-senpai."

"Too close to tell, that Haku girl, as gotten a lot stronger since Nami no Kuni and as much as I hate to admit it. That Kumo girl is just as good, more than likely it will come down to who can last the longest or who makes the first mistake."

-In the Arena-

-Enter Naruto Shippuuden OST 2 Sunspot-

After staring at one another for about two minutes, the two Kunoichi finally made their move, where they charged at one another at the same time with incredible speed.

To the ordinary people in the audience, the two girls were nothing but blurs. Only the Shinobi members in the audience could see the two girls who were moving throughout the arena with impressive speed, clashing with other for a moment before disappearing again.

Eventually though the two girls slowed down where Samui then took out several Shuirken and threw them at Haku, who deflected them with her Senbon Needles. But as soon as Haku had dealt with the Shuriken, Samui appeared above her with her Katana now covered in Lightning and swung it down on Haku's head, cutting it in two.

But just when Samui thought she had won, "Haku" began to crack, before shattering into a hundred pieces of ice, revealing she had replaced herself with an ice clone.

After the fake Haku shattered into ice, the shards that made her up started to float in the air and surround Samui, before they then call converged in on her at once. Once the ice shards pierced Samui, the real Haku reappeared a few feet from her.

But as soon Haku appeared, "Samui" reverted into a wooden log, revealing that she had replaced herself at the last second. Also on the log was an exploded note, which lit up and exploded, forcing Haku to raise her arm and cover her face from the blast.

As the smoke slowly dissipated Haku lowered her arm where she then saw several Shuriken covered in Lightning spinning towards her at high speed.

Wasting no time Haku quickly moved to her right, where the Shirken flew past her and imbedded themselves deeply into the wall behind her.

After avoiding the Shuriken, Haku saw the real Samui emerge from behind the smoke and throw several more Lightning enhanced Shuriken at her, which she narrowly avoided again. After which she then preformed several high speed one handed hand seals and said "**Hyoton: ****Kōrihari** (Ice Release: Ice Needles)!" creating hundreds of small ice needles and fired them at the blonde Kunoichi. (B)

Acting quickly, Samui formed three high speed hand seals and thought "_**Suiton: Mizurappa **_(Water Style: Water Release: Wild Water Wave)!" and spat out a large stream of water, which washed away the ice needles.

At the same time she also converted some of her Chakra in her hands into Lightning and added it to the water to increase its effectiveness.

After the Lightning enhanced water wave washed away the ice needles it continued towards Haku, who immediately created a narrow wall of ice to hide behind, blocking electrified water attack.

When the water attacked ended, Haku notice several exploding notes floating in the water around her, she then realized that Samui had added some exploding notes to attack, which lit up and exploded, causing a large cloud of smoke and dust.

Shortly after the explosion Haku emerged out of the smoke in relatively good shape, but as soon as she appeared out of the smoke Samui appeared behind her and slashed.

But to the blonde Kunoichi surprise "Haku" reverted into water revealing that she had been a water clone. Using her sensory skills, Samui quickly located Haku behind the smoke, emanating a large amount of Chakra.

Realizing that Haku was preparing some kind of large scale Jutsu, Samui began preparations for her own Jutsu.

"_I had planned to save this technique for either Naruto-kun or __Sabaku no Gaara_ (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall). _But I have no other choice now, if I wish to win this match_" Haku thought as she performed the necessary hand seals. She then began to summon up most of her remaining Chakra and gather the water from Samui's last attack for the technique she had created during the one month training period.

At the same time Samui finished performing the hand seals needed for her technique and raised her right arm up with her palm stretched forward and her the other arm supporting the right. She then gathered most of her remaining Chakra for her strongest technique which she knew would be her last attack, win or lose.

Once the smoke and dust from the earlier explosion dissipated and the girls became visible to one another, both of them unleashed their final attacks.

"**Hyoton:**** Kōriryū** (Ice Release: Ice Dragon)!" Haku cried, as the water around her swirled around her and began to turn to ice and the form into a massive Chinese Dragon made out of water and ice, which began to freeze everything around it before charging towards Samui. (C)

"**Ranton:** **Reizāhō** (Storm Release: Laser Cannon)!" Samui yelled at the same time as Haku, where a massive bright blue beam of energy erupted from out strenghted plam and headed straight for Haku's Dragon. (D)

Within seconds the two large attacks collided with one another, where the laser beam sliced right through Haku's Ice Dragon before it hit the arena wall right below the stands causing yet another massive explosion.

-End Naruto Shippuuden OST 2 Sunspot-

* * *

"Both these girls are nuts" yelled Shikamaru, as he covered his eyes from the force of the explosion.

"Shit, I didn't think Samui would go this far!" Karui commented as she raised her arms to shield her face.

"Haku!" Zabuza yelled as he stood up, fearing the worest for his student.

"_Damn, what the hell is with kids these days?_" Jiraiya thought as he and the other Kages saw the massive explosion, where the smoke and dust cover the entire arena blocking everyone's view of the match.

Not long after the two attacks collided, the smoke and dust cloud caused by the blast began to disappate allowing the audience to see the arena again.

As the smoke and dust cleared the finalist could see a massive hole in the arena wall directly bellow the stands, which had been caused when Samui's attack hit it. The arena, which was already in pretty bad shape from earlier battles, was now cover in small pools of water from when Samui's **Reizāhō** destroyed Haku's **Kōriryū**.

"_Shit, Samui wasn't playing around_" Naruto thought when he saw the massive hole now in the wall, which was easily twice the size the one he made when he fought Neji.

Before long though, Naruto and everyone saw a single figure standing in the middle of the arena. As the smoke and dust cleared further, they saw that the figure was a weary looking Samui, who clothes were torn up and filfty.

"Alright! Samui I knew she could do it!" Karui cheered thinking that her team-mate had won.

"_Man that was too close_" Omoi thought as he let out a sigh of relief since he was starting to doubt that his blonde team-mate wouldn't win.

"_Somthing isn't right here_" Yugito thought with a frown, even though she was pleased to see that her team-mate and fellow blonde was ok, something didn't sit right with her.

"_**What's wrong kitten?**_" the Kitten asked, sensing her honest concerns. "_**Your team-mate won, I thought you would be happy?**_"

"_I am, it' just that something feel right_" Yugito replied, where as soon as she thought this, her concerns were answered when she saw an ice mirrior suddenly appear from behind Samui. After the ice mirror appeared Haku emerged out of the mirror and stabbed Samui in the neck with her Senbon needles.

Seeing this, the Kumo Genin all cried out to Samui.

-In the Arena-

After Haku appeared out the ice mirror and stabbed her in the neck with her Senbon needles, Samui turned around slightly to look at her Kiri opponent.

"I am sorry Samui-san, you were a wothery adversary, I hold no ill-will towards you, but you have lost this battle" a tired Haku said. Who like Samui was in a sorry state, and looked just as exhausted as Samui, after narrowly escaping the blode Kunoichi's **Reizāhō**. Her hair had broken from it's bun holder and fell down her back. Her black scraf was gone, her skirt was torn up and caked in dirt and her blue top was destroyed, leavingonly her fishnet shirt, (which was also fairly torn up) covering her upper body and she was covered in cuts, dirt and dried blood.

"You haven't won yet" Samui said, before she reverted into Lightning and electrocuted the female Ice user, revealing that she had been a Lightning clone.

"Ahgaaaahhh" Haku cried in pain as she felt the Lightning travel throughout her body.

Eventually the Lightning faded and Haku fell to the ground, barely concious and unble to move with the exception of the occusional twich, caused by the Lightning that traveled through her body.

After Haku fell to the ground, the real Samui appeared, who had been hidding in the field under the guise of a Genjutsu.

Seeing that Haku was unable to move, Samui slowly walked towards her opponent, with the intent of finishing this battle.

"It seems that you are the one who has lost Haku-san" Samui said as neared the student of Zabuza. But before she could do anything, she suddenly notice that her arms are legs start to feel cold and go numb. When she looked down, she saw ice slowly covering her body, before long, the ice covered her arms, lower body and began to cover her upper body causing her to fall to the grounder shivering and unable to move.

"W-W-Wh-What, h-h-hap-happing t-t-to m-me?" Samui has as her teeth chattered from the cold.

Seeing this a painful smile appear on Haku's face, "It seems that you were not able to completely avoid my **Kōriryū** after all."

"H-H-How?"

"My **Kōriryū** is not and ordinary technique, even if you destroy or evade the dragon itself you cannot escape the water that surrounds it and makes it up. All the water needs to do is splash your body and it will slowly freeze and cover your body in ice, causing it to go numb, leaving you unable to move. It seems we both lose Samui-san" Haku said with a sad smile before finally losing consciousness.

"N-N-Not C-C-Cooool" Samui said through her chattering teeth as she continued to shiver unable to move.

It was at this point that Genma reappeared in the arena, after he **Shunshin'd** (Body-flickered) away to avoid being caught up in the crossfire between the two Kunoichi.

"_Damn, those two sure did a number on the arena_" the Tokubetsu Jōnin thought as he scanned the arena, before turning to the two girls with impressed look. "_Who says girls don't know how to fight?_"

Seeing that Haku was now unconscious and Samui was covered in ice, unable to do anything, Genma decided to officially end the match.

"Both Haku of Kirigakure and Samui of Kumogakure are unable to continue fighting, this match is a draw!"

-With the Audience-

After Genma declared the match a draw the crowed broke into large applause, even though many where disappointed that there was no winner. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent battle and that both Kunoichi fought well.

"Looks like we're out this" Zabuza remarked, since with Haku now out, Kiri had no other Genin in the exam. But still he was quite proud with how well Haku had fought, as she had become a great deal stronger since Nami no Kuni. He was even amazed at Haku's **Kōriryū**, as he had not been aware that Haku created such a technique during the previous month and guessed she must have created it in secret, when he was busy training Chojuro.

"_The Battle was a blast, but ended with a duded_" thought Killer Bee as he was disappointed that Samui hadn't won.

"_**Perhaps, but Samui still fought well, you should be proud**_" the Hachibi said, where Killer Bee just nodded and said he was.

"A Draw, can't say I'm surprised, both of them were fairly evenly match" Kushina commented.

"I agree, I dare say even Naruto would have had difficulty fighting either one of them" Yamato added.

"_Hmph, not bad_" Mai thought, as she had been impressed with Haku and Samui.

"Guess that's it, but those two were pretty strong" Akatsuchi said as he turned to his female partner.

"They're not bad I guess" Kurotsuchi remarked with a shrugged, although had to silently admit to herself that she would have had a hard time if she had fought either one of them. "_It seems Kumo and Kiri have some good quality Kunoichi._"

"Man that was awesome!" said an ecstatic Konohamaru after the battle ended.

"Yea, did you see that blonde girl who shot the energy blasts, she was sooo cooollll" a young boy said excitedly.

"That girl Haku was just as cool as her" a young girl said, "Didn't you see how she would appear out of those ice mirrors and how she created that massive ice dragon?"

"Both of them were so powerful" said Udon.

"Iruka-sensei do you think the reason they are so strong is because of their Bloodlines?" Meogi asked.

"In part yes, but not entirely" Iruka answered, where when he saw the confuse look on the children's faces he explained further. "Although it is true that their Bloodlines are very powerful and they gave them a significant advantage. It is not the real reason why they are so strong, they are strong because they trained hard in both their Bloodlines and their individual skills. Strength and skill like theirs cannot be gained natural; it has to be earned through hard work and tireless training."

"So if I were to train hard like them, I could become as strong as they are one day?" a young girl asked.

"Yes you can, if you are willing to give it your all" Iruka replied with a kind smile. "Bloodlines alone do not decide if you are powerful or not, there are many great and powerful Shinobi out there who do not have Bloodlines and are stronger than those who do."

"Wow" said a young boy, "That's it I going to trained hard just like they did,"

"Me too!" said a young girl, "I'm going to train every day, and become just as strong as them."

"Count me in" yelled a young boy.

"Yea me as well" said another girl, where soon enough the whole class was declaring that they would train harder as well.

When Iruka saw this, the young man smiled, since his plan to stimulate the children and show them the value of hard work and training, by allowing them to watch the Chunin finals was working better than he had hoped.

-The Finalist box-

"A Draw?" said Karui in surprise as she couldn't believe that Haku had gotten Samui, just when it looked she had won.

"That Haku girl was a lot tougher than we originally thought" Omoi remarked while thinking, "_I guess the old saying is true, a battle is never done, until someone is down and out._"

"_**Looks like you were right Kitten, that ice girl still had a few tricks up her sleeve**_" the Nibi remarked.

"_Yes, I know, it seems Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and __Sabaku no Gaara aren't the only ones we should be wary of in this exam_" Yugito replied, as to be honest she was a little surprise by how things turned out. It also complicated things; since with Karui's loss to Sai and now Samui's tie with Haku, the only ones left to accomplish their mission were her and Omoi.

"_Man, Haku and Samui have really come a long when since I last fought them_" Naruto thought as he was amazed at how strong they were.

-In the Kage Box-

"_Damn brat you sure know how to pick them_" Jiraiya though with an amused smirk, after Genma ended the match and the two Kunoichi were taken away to be treated by the medics

"A draw, How disappointing" the Mizukage said with a sad expression as she had hoped Haku would have made it a little further in the exam. She of course could not fault the girl, as Samui had proven stronger than anyone expected. Yet despite being caught off guard by Samui's Bloodline, she was still able to pull off a draw, which was better than losing. Not to mention given how well Haku fought, she was certain that the battle had earned them some good publicity with the visiting Daimyo's and Feudal Lords.

Mizukage wasn't the only one who was a little disappointed with the outcome of the match. The Raikage had been certain that Samui could win her match, given her Bloodline and her fighting skill. Sadly though they had underestimated Haku, who was able to take Samui down with her.

"_It seems Naru-chan was right about those two being strong_" Tsunade thought. "_It's just as well the battle ended as it did, even if one of them had won, they would have been too tired and injured to fight in the next round and would have been forced forfeit._"

"That was a nice battle" the Kazekage suddenly commented.

"Indeed it was" remarked the Sandaime, "Both Kunocihi are a credit to your village, Mizukage-sama, Raikage-sama."

"Thank you Hokage-sama although I will confess I was a little disappointed with how things turned out as I had been certain that Haku would have won" the Mizukage replied.

At this remark the Raikage grunted as he too felt the same way in regards to Samui.

"Yes, but still it was a well fought battle and they both fought admirably and you should be proud of them for that" the Sandaime said.

At this commented the two Kages nodded, as they were indeed proud of the girls.

"Now in regards to being Chunin" the Sandaime spoke. "I vote to having them both becoming Chunin. The two of them showed excellent show of skill when fighting each other and showed an impressive use of Ninjutsu. Both of them also showed calmness of mind and did not panic when under pressure."

"Samui-san showed good sense in keeping her true skills hidden and did not hurry to use them, even when in a tight situation. When she eventually revealed her true skill, she revealed them when they would be of the most use and made good use of them, allowing her to gain an advantage over Haku. She even showed impressive skill in combining her Lightning affinity with her water attack to increase its effectiveness, and throwing in exploding notes to catch her opponent off guard when the attack ended. She also showed excellent foresight which nearly won her the match when she created the **Raiton Kage Bunshin** (Lightning Style Shadow Clone), and hid under a Genjutsu, waiting for Haku to appear" the Sandaime said before continuing on with Haku.

"Haku-san also displayed good qualities, using her superior speed to her advantage as well as showing the ability to adapt to difficult situations, such as using her ice clones as decoys and using their broken shards to attack Samui. She also used her surroundings to her advantage, where she used the water Samui created earlier to help her create her **Kōriryū**. Such resourcefulness and adaptability is essential both as a Chunin and as a team leader, where it can often decide if a mission will fail or succeed. Furthermore she showed remarkable talent and skill to create such powerful and versatile techniques like the **Kōriryū** and the **Makyō Hyōshō**, and used them to their full extent which allowed her to escape defeat."

Naturally after hearing the Hokage's reasoning the other three Kages nodded the heads and agreed to add their recommendation to make both Haku and Samui Chunins.

-In the Audience-

Once Haku and Samui had been taken away by the medics to be treated, many people in the audience began to mutter to one another with excitement. Since only one match was left in the first round of the finals and it was Sasuke and Omoi's match.

"The next match is finally the Uchiha's one!" said one man in the crowed as he looked at the leaflet for the matches.

"Yea, but who this Omoi kid that he is going against?" the person next to him asked.

"Hmmm…I don't know, but I beat he's nothing compared to an Uchiha."

"Yea you're probably right, but let's hope the match will turn out to be as good as the Senju and Hyuga battle or better yet like the one we just watched."

As the crowed people began to talk, rumours began suddenly spread about Sasuke late arrival. Some said he was forfeiting the match, others said he was injured from training and couldn't fight, while some said he had gone missing and hadn't been seen since the preliminaries.

As the crowed waited for the next match, the visiting Daimyo's and Feudal Lords used the time to place their bets.

-In the Kage Box-

"Has there been any sign of Sasuke yet?" the Hokage asked as he turned to Raidō.

"I'm afraid not Hokage-sama" the Tokubetsu Jōnin replied, which made the old Hokage and his two students worry, fearing the worst.

"I see, I have no choice then…" the Sandaime said as he lowered his head for a moment before lifting it up again. "We cannot let the guests wait like this."

But before the Hokage could tell Raidō to have Sasuke disqualified the Kazekage suddenly said "Ten more minutes."

"Excuse me Kaekage-sama?" the Sandaime asked.

"Can we try and wait for ten more minutes? The guests have been waiting to see the last Uchiha fight. It would be cruel to cancel it. Wouldn't you agree Raikage-sama?" said the Kazekage as he turned to his fellow Kage.

At this question the Raikage narrowed his eyes; normally the bulky Kage would have demanded that Sasuke be eliminated from the finals for being so late and for keeping them waiting. But given how his plan to humiliate Konoha at the Chunin exam depended on Sasuke being in the exam. He had no choice but to agree with the Kazekage's suggestion to wait a little longer.

When the Kazekage requested for more time to be given to Sasuke, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and stared at the Kage. He was already suspicious enough of him, given the way he was acting lately and how he asked the Hokage to delay Sasuke's match earlier. But now he was even more dubious of him, since this wasn't like the same man he knew. He was also mistrustful over why the Kazekage was going out on such a limb for a Genin that wasn't even from his own village, regardless of the reasons he gave earlier. If this was the Raikage, Jiraiya could understand slightly, since his Genin was fighting Sasuke. But since the Kazekage was the one who was making all the fuss to hold the match, Jiraiya was becoming more and more wary of him.

"_What's he up to?_" Jiraiya thought as he studied the man carefully.

Jiraiya was of course not the only one who was becoming distrustful of the Kazekage's actions. As his former team-mate Tsunade was just as suspicious of the Kage.

"With all due respect Kazekage-sama, we cannot hold up the finals for one single Genin, regardless of who he is or of how many people have come to watch him fight. We do have other Genin who are ready to compete and who arrived ON TIME. I myself would not ask for such leeway for my son Naruto if he was this late, a Shinobi cannot be late for a mission. If he is, it could cost him the lives of his client or his comrades, causing the mission to fail. If Uchiha Sasuke cannot arrive on time for his match, then how can he be trusted to be on time for a mission?"

"You make a sound argument Tsunade-sama, but we have waited a long time already. Waiting ten more minutes will not make that much of a difference" the Kazekage replied calmly.

"It can make all the difference in the world when on a mission or in a battle, where it can decide the fate of a comrade and the success or failure of a mission and I think we have been more than patient with him. If Uchiha Sasuke cannot be on time now, then he clearly does not deserve to be a Chunin" Tsunade retorted.

Hearing this, the old Hokage could only nod his head, as Tsunade made several valid points. But so did the Kazekage, he could even hear the cries of the people from the crowed, demanding to start the next match and saying that they wanted to see Sasuke fight.

"I must confess both of you make good arguments" the Hokage muttered as he thought what he should do.

"If I may interject Hokage-sama, but perhaps we could come to a compromise?" the Mizukage interjected, making her voice heard.

"Of course, Mizukage-sama, what do you propose?" the Sandaime asked, as he welcomed a possible solution to this conundrum.

"Well as the Kazekage has pointed out, if we disqualify Uchiha Sasuke from the finals many of the visiting Daimyo's, Feudal Lords and Shinobi heads will be greatly annoyed by this. Since for many of them, one of the main reasons why they have come here is to watch Uchiha Sasuke fight. I myself must confess that I would like to see the boy's capability with my own eyes. But at the same time I must agree with what Tsunade-sama said, as his tardiness cannot be tolerated and a Chunin cannot afford to be late for anything" the female Kage said where she then continued on.

"What I suggest is rather simple, we give him the ten extra minutes that the Kazekage asked for. But we remove his candidacy to become a Chunin, regardless of how well he performs in the finals, should he arrived in the allowed time. That way both parties are satisfied, where Uchiha Sasuke still has his chance to fight, but loses his chance to become a Chunin."

When the Sandaime heard this he could only nod his head in agreement, as he found the Mizukage's solution quite reasonable and was rather impressed with the young woman's diplomatic skills. Clearly showing that she was more than a skilled Shinobi and a pretty face and that she was worthy of being the Mizukage of Kiri."

"A very intriguing idea Mizukage-sama, do you have any problems with this Kazekage-sama, Raikage-sama?" the Sandaime asked.

"I have no problem with this" the Raikage replied, as it didn't really matter to him if Sasuke became a Chunin or not, all he needed was for him to be in the finals.

"Nor do I" the Kazekage answered.

"And what of you Tsuande?" asked Sarutobi, as he turned to his former student.

"I have no problem with this" Tsunade said, since she didn't really care if Sasuke got disqualified from the finals or not. She just wanted to see how far the Kazekage was willing to go to keep Sasuke in the finals, and now she knew that whatever the Kazekage was planning, it involved Sasuke.

"_I don't know what you're up to, but I'm on to you_" Tsunade thought as she watched the Yondaime Kazekage closely.

"Good, Raidō, please tell Genma of what we have decided" the Hokage said to scarred man.

Hearing the Hokage's orders the Tokubetsu Jōnin nodded and once again **Shunshin'd **away to Genma.

-In the Arena-

After the girls had been taken by the medic, Genma looked up to the finalist box and notice that Sasuke had still not appeared yet.

"_Uchiha Sasuke will have to give up his match at this rate_" Genma thought.

Seeing that Sasuke hadn't arrived yet, Genma held off on disqualifying Sasuke to see if the Hokage wanted to do anything about it.

After a few minutes he got his answer when Raidō arrived and told him of what the Hokage and the other Kages had decided.

When Raidō finished explaining everything to Genma he went back up to the Kage box.

"_I see_" Genma thought, as he took out his pocket watch and looked at it, seeing that it was five to two, "_A ten minute extension, eh?_"

"Ladies and Gentle, due to the fact that Uchiha Sasuke has yet to appear, he will be given a ten minute extensions, if he does not appear in this time, he will be disqualified from the exam" Genma announced.

* * *

Naturally when this was announced the crowed did not react very well, as many were angered by the fact that they might not see Sasuke fight.

"Where's the Uchiha?" one person shouted

"Come on, bring him out!" shouted another person

"Yeah, I paid good money to watch the Senju and Uchiha heirs fight!" roared a different person.

"_Sasuke-kun!_" thought a worried Sakura.

"_Geez, I know Kakashi-sensei likes to show up late but this is getting ridiculous! What the hell are Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei playing at?_" Nauto thought as he was getting really annoyed with all these delays, especially since his fight with Temari was after Sasuke's match.

"For Kami's shake, what the hell is taking him so long?" Karui asked angrily. As she was starting to get really annoyed with the Uchiha, regardless of how good looking she thought he was.

"_So the next ten minutes will decided if I fight the Uchiha or not_" Omoi thought with a frown and began sucking on a new lollipop he just took out.

"_I don't know what Konoha is playing at? But he better show if we want a chance of achieving our mission_" Yugito thought with a frown of her own.

"_So Uchiha, will you show up or will you chicken out?_" Sai thought, who decided to stop painting and walk over to the railing to see if Sasuke would show up or not.

"Damnit, how much longer do we have to wait?" Kankuro muttered quietly to his sister, as he was starting to get nervous, especially since Sasuke had still not appeared. "Is the Uchiha going to show or not?"

Before his sister could ask, Gaara, who was standing near him spoke.

"He will… I'm sure of it."

When Gaara said this, his siblings could see the bloodlust in their younger brother's eyes. It was a look they knew all too well and they could tell it had only grown as he watched the other finalists fight.

Seeing that Gaara was not far from losing control of himself. The two older Sand siblings could only hope that their young brother could contain his bloodlust long enough for the Uchiha to arrive and for the invasion to begin.

"_Please Sasuke-kun…Please come_" Sakura thought as she prayed for the safe arrival of her team-mate/Crush.

-In the Arena-

Standing in the middle of the arena, Genma watch as time ticked away until eventually his watch hit five past two.

"_Times up, guess that is it for the Uchiha_" the Tokubetsu Jōnin thought.

"The deadline is up and Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived, therefore he…." Genma said. But before he could finish speaking, a large whirlwind of leaves appeared in front of him. Once it died down he saw Uchiha Sasuke and his sensei Hatake Kakashi standing back to back to one another, where Kakashi then looked over to Genma and said.

"Sorry…Are we late?"

N/A

And that's it for another Chapter of Hope of the Senju Clan, hoped you all enjoyed Haku and Samui's fight, showing what happens when two strong Kunoichi face each other . Now I know I promised to have Sasuke's fight with Omoi in this Chapter. But as you can see the Chapter turned out bigger than I expected when I was writing it up so I was forced to leave it here, which was the best way to end the Chapter in my opinion.

Now as you can no doubt guess, the next Chapter will involve Sasuke's fight with Omoi. Also I will have Temari's fight with Naruto, along with Yugito's fight with Sai and then finish off the second round of the finals.

Also I would like to say how sorry I am with my Chapter arriving late, but like I said before the Chapter took a little longer to write than I thought and I was delayed with work, so my writing time was cut. I will do my best to update on time one week from now with another one of my stories.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

As for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Note:**

(1). For those of you who have forgotten what Haku's new outfit looks like for the Chunin exam. Go to my profile page and the address for the image is number seven in the Hope of the Senju Clan section.

(2). Yes I am aware that there is nothing to state that Samui is a senor type Shinobi, but given how we know next to nothing of her skill and it unlikely we ever will, given how she is sealed inside Benihisago.

(3). Same reason as number two in regard to her having Ranton (Storm Release).

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Koori Bunshin no Jutsu** (Ice Clone Technique): **Koori Bunshin no Jutsu** is similar to the Shadow Clone Technique except it creates clones out of ice. Like other solid clone techniques, the clones can be used to perform tasks the user is unable or unwilling to do for themselves. The range of the clone is limited however, as it cannot travel very far from the original body without losing control. Like other clone techniques, if the ice clone are injured enough they will crack and shatter into ice shards. When in battle, Haku can even use these shards as projectiles and have them surround her opponent and attack them from multiple directions.

(B). **Hyoton: ****Kōrihari** (Ice Release: Ice Needles): Using this technique, Haku gathers some water from the air and the surrounding environment into hundreds of long needles and then turns them into ice. She can then direct them to a specific target at high speed, leaving the target little chance to escape.

(C). **Hyoton:**** Kōriryū** (Ice Release: Ice Dragon): This is a technique Haku created during her one month training period. By using a large source of water and turning it into ice, Haku can manipulate it to take the shape of a giant Chinese Dragon made out of water and ice. The dragon flies towards opponents and instantly freezes anything it touches. Even if the target evades the dragon itself, if they touch the water that fly's around the ice dragon, they too will freeze, although it takes a few moments to take effect. Also any water techniques the Dragon comes into contact with will freeze instantly. Haku avoids using this technique due to the massive chakra requirements.

(D). **Ranton:** **Reizāhō** (Storm Release: Light Cannon): After preforming the necessary hand seals Saumi raises her hand forward with the other supporting it. Once she has gathered enough Chakra, she unleashes it in the form of a large blue energy wave at the opponent, inflicting a high amount of damage.


	29. Chapter 29

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Round Two**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju talk/Thinking Jutsu**_"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_Standing in the middle of the arena, Genma watch as time ticked away until eventually his watch hit five past two._

_"__**Times up, guess that is it for the Uchiha**__" the Tokubetsu Jōnin thought._

_"The deadline is up and Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived, therefore he…" Genma said. But before he could finish speaking, a large whirlwind of leaves appeared in front of him. Once it died down he saw Uchiha Sasuke and his sensei Hatake Kakashi standing back to back to one another, where Kakashi then looked over to Genma and said._

_"Sorry…Are we late?"_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.**

-In the Arena-

Upon seeing the two tardy Shinobi, the examiner Genma could only shake his head in amusement.

"Name?" he asked, even though he knew it already who Sasuke was.

"Uchiha Sasuke" the raven haired boy replied. Who was wearing his new attire which was a black, one-pieced version of older outfit with many small arm-belts adorning his left arm and similar bands around both legs

-In the Audience-

With the arrival of the Uchiha heir, the crowed broke into a thunderous cheer, happy to see that the Uchiha had finally appeared.

"Sasuke-kun" Sakura said happily, when she saw the young Uchiha safe and sound.

"Yosh, he made it just in time" Lee said, who was sitting next to his team-mate Tenten and his Sensei Gai.

-In the Kage Box-

"Well now, it seems that he has finally arrived" the Mizukage said with an amused smile.

"Hmph, it's about time" the Raikage scoffed, since he was rather annoyed with how long he had kept them waiting. But despite how annoyed he was, he was still pleased that Sasuke had arrived in time, since now his plan for humiliating Konoha in the finals could work.

When Jiraiya and Tsunade saw that Sasuke had finally arrived, they both glanced over at the Kazekage, who looked rather pleased, if not a little excited.

They of course weren't the only who notice this, as the former Sensei the Sandaime saw the same look in the Suna Kage's eyes, which made him more cautious of the man.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Geez, he caused everyone a lot of trouble and he doesn't look the least bit sorry about it_" an annoyed Shikamaru thought. "_He's probably just waited until now to show up, just so that he could make a bigger entrance._"

"_And not a second to spare, yesh_" an irritated Naruto thought when he saw Sasuke and Kaskahi finally appear. "_I seriously hope Jiji or someone chews Kakashi-sensei out for being this later, as he held up whole finals and nearly got Sasuke disqualified_."

"About time!" said Karui, who was upset with the whole delay. Not to mention the fact that she was fighting the urge to punch Sai in the face, who was standing near her with his annoying fake smile.

"_Looks like you just made it Uchiha_" Sai thought, as he looked down at the two Sharingan wielders, while ignoring Karui's angry glares.

"_Finally he's appeared, now we have a chance at accomplishing our mission_" Yugito thought before turning to Omoi who just nodded.

"Looks like I'm up" Omoi muttered before he jumped over the railing and down to the arena.

-In the Arena-

"Well, um…It's hard to ask this after we've entered the stage with such a flashy performance…But did Sasuke get…disqualified?" asked an embarrassed Kakashi as he scratched his head nervously.

At this Genma just shook his head in amusement and smiled slight, "He must've caught your bad habit of being late."

"So is he…"

"No he isn't, Sasuke match was put on hold…twice in fact… you both arrived just in time, so he didn't get disqualified."

"I'm glad to hear that" Kakashi said with a look of relief on his face.

"But there is something you should both know" Genma said suddenly with a serious tone, gaining both Sasuke's and Kakashi's attention. "The other Kages were not pleased with how late you both were and how we had to hold up the exam for you. So a penalty had to be placed on Sasuke for arriving late should you arrive in the given time."

"What sort of penalty?" Kakashi asked with some concern.

"They have removed his chance at becoming Chunin, regardless of how well he performs in the finals he will not be promoted."

When Kakashi heard this, the silvered haired Jonin wince slightly, as he didn't think the Hokage would do something like this. But he quickly realized that he may not have had a choice, since the other Kages would most likely have been greatly displeased with the hold up. He also couldn't really blame the old Hokage, as he had been more than generous by delaying the match until now. They were lucky that the Hokage hadn't disqualified Sasuke at the very beginning.

When Sasuke heard the news that he had lost his chance at becoming Chunin, he frowned slightly.

Seeing this Genma turn to the Uchiha "Do you want to compete or do you want to forfeit your match? It's your choice kid, as regardless of want you choose I'm afraid you won't make Chunin."

When Genma said this the raven haired boy just smirked, "I didn't train for the past month or come here just for the chance of becoming a Chunin. I came here to fight and that is what I intend to do."

Hearing this Genma smirked again "Fair enough."

"Well then, I'll take my leave then" Kakashi said before he wished Sasuke good luck and **Shunshin** up to the stands.

-In the Audience-

After Body-flickering to the stands, Kakashi saw several familiar faces sitting in the front stands and decided to join them.

"Ohayo, Yamato-kun, Kushina-sen-Ack!" said Kakashi before he received a hard punch to his one exposed eye.

"Uooooo, what was that for Kushina-senpai? Kakashi asked as he covered his new black eye.

"You know damn well why I did that you idiot!" Kushina rounded where she then smashed her fist down on Kakashi's head. "You're over two hours late and you nearly got your student disqualified from the exam."

"Itai, Itai, Itai (1)" said Kakashi as he crouched down on the ground holding his head in pain, with a very large lump on his head.

When he looked up, he could see his former ANBU captain towering him with her arms crossed and angry look in her eyes. Her red hair flew wildly around her and a dark crimson red aura surrounded her, making her appearance seem almost demonic.

"Please Kushina-senpai it wasn't my fault, we-Guah!" Kakashi said as he tried to explain why he was late, in the hope of avoiding the fury of the infamous Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero). Who could make even his late sensei, the Yondaime Hokage cower in fear when faced with her wrath. But before he could finish speaking the red headed Jonin grabbed him by the collar of his flak jacket and lifted him up into the air.

"I don't want to hear any of your lame ass excuse!" Kushina yelled, "Do you not realize how much trouble you two caused by being late?"

"But it's true, I was training Sasuke to master a new Jutsu that he would need later on in the finals and we lost track of time. When we realized what day it was we hurried back here as fast as we could" Kakashi said hoping that he could ease Kushina's anger.

Sadly though it did not, in fact it only made Kushina angrier, where she proceeded to shake Kakashi about like a rag doll.

"And you think that is a good enough excuse?" Kushina shouted angrily. "You're his FREAKING sensei you moron, you're supposed to keep track of the days. I swear Kakashi, if you were still in ANBU under my command, I would have you running laps around Konoha until your legs fell off, and then assign you to guard duty on the Ame no Kuni (Rain Country) boarder for a month, in a leaky old shack!"

Eventually though Kushina let go of Kakashi, but it didn't mean he was off the hook, as Kushina continued to yell at Kakashi.

"It's your fault that Sasuke now lost his chance at being promoted."

"Wait you know about that?" Kakashi asked in surprise since he had only just heard it from Genma.

"Of course, before you arrived Shizune had gone up to talk to Tsunade, who told her what the other Kages decided, where she then told us. You should be damn grateful that they didn't outright disqualify him at the start!" Kushina rounded, although she was suspicious over why the Kazkage went to such lengths in keeping Sasuke in the exam.

As Kushina continued to verbally berate the Silver haired Jonin over how late he was. Yamato, Shizune and the others sat back and enjoyed the show. As it wasn't every day that they would see Kakashi being scolded like this.

Asuma, Kureani and Yamato all smirked at the sight while Shizune giggled. Anko on the other hand was in tears from laughing so much. Especially when Kakashi lowered his head in shame, like a young Genin who was in trouble with his sensei, where he would nod his head every so often and say "Yes ma'am, No ma'am, I know ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am, It won't happen again ma'am" as Kushina continued to reprimand him. At least until Kushina bashed him on the head again, telling him to stop calling her ma'am.

She wasn't old enough to be called ma'am in her mind.

Naturally Yamato was enjoying this sight most of all, given all the trouble Kakashi gave him back when they were still in ANBU together.

The young Genin however could not help pity Kakashi slightly, especially Kiba, who knew what Kakashi was going through right now.

"_Damn, she as scary as Kaa-chan if not worse_" the young Inuzuka boy thought. "_Guess Senju doesn't have it so easy after all, with her as his sensei._"

Eventually after verbally tearing Kakashi apart, Kushina final settled down and sat back down on her set.

Sighing with relief that it was all over Kakashi went to take the empty seat next to Shizune. But before he could even sit down, Kushina suddenly spoke.

"What do you think you're doing?" the angry red head said, as she glared at the one eye Jonin.

"I-I-I'm j-just taking my seat" a nervous Kakashi replied.

"You're not sitting there; seats are for people who are ON TIME! You're sitting there!" Kushina said as she pointed to the ground.

"B-B-But…" Kakashi stuttered but before he could say anything more, Kushina gave him another angry glare.

"Now!" the former ANBU captain barked as she pointed to the ground again. "That is unless you want to become my sparring partner for the next week."

At this the Copycat-nin gulped and quickly took his seat on the cold hard ground, as he would rather do a dozen of Gai's stupid challenges than be Kushina's sparring partner, especially when she was angry. The woman was simply vicious when she was pissed.

As Kakashi sat on the floor, a dark cloud of depression hung over the Sharingan user, where he stared down on the floor and started drawing circles on the ground with his index finger.

"You didn't have to get so angry Senpai… it's not like I meant to be late" a pouting Kakashi said.

This was of course too much for the rest of the group to handle, where they all busted out laughing. At the sight of the famed Copycat Kakashi acting like a five year old, who had just been scolded by his mother and sent to the corner as punishment.

Although no-one dared make that comparison to Kushina, for fear that the red head would turn her wrath on them

The Jonin Genin also joined in the laughter, where Choji spat out some chips from laughing, while Kiba actually fell off his seat from laughing so hard.

Even Kushina herself spared a small smirk of satisfaction when she saw Kakashi act like this and thought, "_I still got it._"

-In the Arena-

After Kakashi left the arena, Sasuke looked over to Omoi, who was slowly walking towards him and Genma.

Once the two boys were facing one another, Genma spared a quick glance at each of them before "Are you both ready?"

Both boys just nodded at this, as they were unwilling to take their eyes of one another.

"Ok, then let the final match of the first round begin!" Genma yelled where he raised his arm up and swung it down to signal the beginning of the match.

As soon as Genma gave the signal to go the two boys took out their individual weapons, where Sasuke took out a Kunai, while Omoi drew his Katana. After which the two male Shinobi raced towards one another.

Once their weapons clashed with another a battle for dominance began between the two of them, where they both tried to push the other back.

Seeing that it would be pointless to continue like this, Sasuke allowed Omoi to push him back. He then fell backwards and spun around to Omoi's left and preformed a strong roundhouse kick, sending the dark skin boy skidding across the ground.

Recovering quickly, Omoi quickly brought his Katana forward to block any attack Sasuke would attempt. But by that time it was already too late as Sasuke proved faster than Omoi anticipated and was already underneath him, where he performed a high speed leg sweep with his right leg causing the Kumo Genin to fall backwards.

But before Omoi could even hit the ground, Sasuke brought his left leg up and spun in the opposition direction he did earlier. Allowing him to perform a powerful reverse heel kick, causing Omoi to drop his Katana and send him flying to the other end of the arena.

Naturally after seeing this, the crowd erupted into cheers, seeing that Sasuke was living up to his reputation and showing Omoi no mercy.

But what the crowd failed to notice was the exploding note that Omoi had dropped on the ground as Sasuke kicked him away, which then exploded right below Sasuke after he kicked Omoi away.

Naturally after seeing the explosion, many of the people in the audience began to fear that the young Uchiha heir had been killed, including Sakura. Who cried out Sasuke's name after seeing the explosion.

Her concerns although, proved unwarranted, as after the explosion, Sasuke emerged out of the smoke from the explosion, slightly singed, but unharmed.

After Sasuke emerged out of the smoke, Omoi suddenly reappeared right in front of him, with his Katana in hand, and stabbed the Uchiha in the in the chest, before he could do anything to stop the other boy.

But just when the Kumo-nin thought he had won the match, "Sasuke" reverted into a wooden log.

"_Shit_!" Omoi thought as he realized that Sasuke had replaced himself using the **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique).

After realizing that Sasuke had tricked him, Omoi immediately found himself under attack from several Shuriken coming in from his left. But just as he skilfully deflected them with his Katana, Omoi notice something from the corner of his eye and quickly spun around to block a Kunai stab from behind by Sasuke.

After barely blocking Sasuke's sneak attack, Omoi then pushed the young Uchiha back and then leapt a few feet backwards so to gain some distance between the two of them.

"_Damn, looks likes the rumours about this guy being good were true. I can't afford to underestimate him or else I'll lose, or worse…be dead_" the white haired boy thought.

After Omoi moved back from him Sasuke then took out several Shuriken from his pouch and threw them at Omoi, who of course deflected them with his Katana. But when he deflected all the Shuriken, Omoi found Sasuke right in front of, under his guard, where he then grabbed hold of both Omoi's wrist, preventing him from using his Katana.

"Looks like I have you" Sasuke said with a smirk, but was surprised to see Omoi smirk and say.

"I wouldn't be so sure that!"

After which Omoi then spat his lollipop into Sasuke's face, causing the Uchiha to close his eyes momentarily. Allowing Omoi to lift both his feet into the air and double kick Sasuke in the chest and him skidding backwards.

Sasuke of course quickly recovered, where he then saw Omoi race towards him and preformed the **Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri** (Cloud-Style Front Beheading) technique and attempted to several Sasuke's head with it.

Wasting no time Sasuke quickly jumped backwards to narrowly avoid the slash, although did receive a slight slash cut on his shirt.

After avoiding Omoi's attack, Sasuke threw several Kunai at him with exploding notes tied to them and caused them to explode right when Omoi was about to deflected them.

When the notes exploded, Sasuke then took out a large Fuma Shuriken from his pouch.

Once he had unfolded the Fuma Shuriken, a slightly singed Omoi appeared out of the smoke from the explosion, showing he had survived the explosion, just as the Uchiha suspected.

Not wasting his chance Sasuke then threw the oversized Suriken at Kumo-nin, just as he emerged from the smoke. Unable to avoid the high projectile in time, Omoi could only watch as the large Shuriken flew towards him and cut him in two.

But just when Sasuke though he had won, "Omoi" reverted into Lightning, revealing he was a Lightning Clone.

"_A Clone!_" Sasuke thought in surprise, before the real Omoi appeared to his right and performed and roundhouse kick right into Sasuke's face, sending the raven haired boy crashing into nearby arena wall.

-The Finalist box-

"Alright, that's the way Omoi!" Kauri yelled as she punched her fist into the air, while her team-mate Yugito just nodded and smile.

"_That's what you get for underestimating Omoi Sasuke, he's not someone you can take lightly_" the Naruto thought.

-In the Arena-

After crashing into the wall, Sasuke slowly picked himself up and wiped the blood from his lip after Omoi's kick and smirked.

"I see, your better that I thought, looks like I will have to bring this out" Sasuke said, where he then activated his Sharingan.

"_So that's the Sharingan_" Omoi thought with a frown, after seeing the famed Doujutsu of the Uchiha Clan, "_I will have to be even careful now._"

Not wanting to give Sasuke any opportunity to use his Doujutsu against him, Omoi quickly moved forward and raced towards Sasuke with impressive speed.

Wasting no time Sasuke skilfully evaded Omoi's sword slash by jumping into the air and used the arena wall to propel himself away from Omoi and to the middle of the arena.

Seeing this Omoi immediately spun and raced towards his opponent, who had taken another Fuma Shuriken out from his pouch and threw it at him.

After Sasuke threw the oversized Shuriken, Omoi noticed by chance that there was a second Shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first.

Realizing that Sasuke was using **Kage Shuriken Jutsu** (Shadow Shuriken Technique) Omoi moved forward skilfully deflected the two Shuriken in one quick motion. He then raced toward Sasuke, believing that the Uchiha was now vulnerable to an attack.

But what Omoi didn't know was that he had fallen into Sasuke's trap, as the Uchiha heir had tied a thin line of Shinobi wire to the Fuma Shuriken. He then used the Shinobi wire to pull the Shuriken back after Omoi had deflected them with his Katana, so that he would stab the Kumo-nin in the back.

Seeing Sasuke tug at something, Omoi notice the thin line of Shinobi wire shining in the light and quickly realized that he had played right into Sasuke's hand.

Knowing he had only seconds before the Fuma Shuriken hit him in the back. Omoi used the **Kumo-Ryū Uragiri** (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading) to spin around and sever the Shinobi wire from the Fuma Shuriken and at the same time deflect the large projectiles.

Sasuke although had predicted all this and had wanted Omoi to use the **Kumo-Ryū Uragiri**, as when he used the sword technique to deflect the Fuma Shuriken. He left himself exposed to attack from his raven haired opponent. Who performed seven high speed hand seals and yelled "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)!" and spat out a large Fireball at the now vulnerable Omoi.

After spitting out the large fireball, Sasuke watch as his attack flew towards Omoi and engulfed in him flames.

Thinking he had won, Sasuke waited for the flames to die down, but to his surprise and confusion, all he saw was a badly burnt log lying in the middle of a small crater created by his attack.

Before Sasuke could ponder on the matter further, he suddenly heard the sound of something flying through the air.

Looking up, Sasuke was able to see several high speed Shuriken, flying towards him, thanks to his Sharingan.

Realizing that somehow Omoi had somehow replaced himself before his attack hit, Sasuke quickly evaded the spinning projectiles. But to his surprise and confusion he still received several light cuts on his arms, despite successfully avoiding the Shuriken.

Before he could put much more thought on the matter, he suddenly saw Omoi directly in front of him. Who was just finishing doing some hand seals before holding out his hand and yelling "**Raigeki no Yari** (Lightning Attack Spear)!" causing a blast of Lightning in the shape of a spear tip to erupt from his hand. (A)

Acting fast, Sasuke quickly jumped to his right narrowly avoiding the deadly Lightning Spear, which hit the wall behind him and caused a small hole in the arena wall.

"That was too close" Sasuke mutter, before he was force to move again when he saw several Kunai flying towards him.

After avoiding the Kunai, Sasuke barely had time to take out his one of his own to block a horizontal slash from Omoi who had just appeared in front of him. But what he didn't expect was Omoi's Katana to be coated with Lightning Chakra and cut through his Kunai like a hot knife through butter.

Seeing this, Sasuke barely jump back in time and threw his few remaining Shuriken at Omoi, forcing the Kumo Genin to jump back.

"Damn, I almost had him" Omoi thought with some annoyance.

"Now I understand" Sasuke said, after he gained some distance from Omoi, where the two boys where now at opposite end of the arena. "You channel your Lightning affinity into your weapons to gain even more cutting power. Also by adding your Chakra to your weapons, you increase their cutting rang, that's how your shuriken were able to cut me when I avoided them."

"Hmph, pretty good, you catch on quick, I can see why they call you a prodigy." Omoi replied with a small smirk.

"_Yea, well figuring it out was the easy part; the only problem is that I have to keep my distance from him. Since he can enhance the cutting power of that sword of his, making it difficult to get close to him. I could use what Kakashi taught me, and break that sword of his, but I want to keep "__**that**__" secret for a little longer. At least until I face either Haku, the Kumo girl Samui or better yet Gaara_" Sasuke thought.

As Sasuke thought about how he should keep his distance from Omoi. The Kumo-nin in question thought on doing the opposite, since he wasn't very good at fighting from long range.

After about a minute or so of staring at one another, Omoi decided to make the first move where he threw several Kunai, at Sasuke. Hoping that they would keep Sasuke distracted long enough for him to get close enough to him and finishing off.

Figuring what Omoi was doing already, Sasuke threw some of his own remaining Kunai at Omoi, hitting them with pinpoint precision and deflecting them away. After which in the space of only a few seconds, Sasuke preformed the necessary hand seals and yelled "**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)!" where he then spat out a volley of small fireballs, which flew in an unpredictable manner, making it difficult for the Kumo boy to avoid them.

After the attack ended, the arena ground had several scorch marks on the ground from the flames. Omoi was in a fairly rough state with his clothes slightly scorched. But luckily he had been able avoid any serious harm from the flames, although gained very little ground.

Before Omoi could plan his next move, he was surprise to see Sasuke preform another set of hand seals, one that was very familiar to him. When Sasuke finished the hand seals, he held out his hand and yelled "**Raigeki no Yari**!"

"_Shit! That's my technique!_" Omoi thought in surprise, before he narrowly avoid being hit by the Lightning attack. "_Crap he must have used his Sharingan to copy my technique when he saw me use it._"

After barely avoiding the powerful Lightning attack, Omoi saw several Kunai flying towards him from Sasuke's direction. Knowing he couldn't avoid all them, Omoi used his **Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri** (Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading) technique to deflect the multiple projectiles with one quick motion. But when he did this, Sasuke appeared behind him and delivered a sharp elbow to the back of Omoi's head, causing the young boy to fall forward.

Fortunately though for the Kumo Genin, he was able to remain conscious despite the hit he took to the back of his head, where he dropped several smoke bombs when he fell forward.

As the smoke bombs exploded the surrounding arena was filled with smoke. But it wasn't ordinary smoke, as mixed in with the smoke was pepper powder to blind Sasuke.

Omoi had got this trick from Naruto, after remembering his first run in with the blonde and thought it would be a useful way to handle a dangerous opponent like Sasuke.

After turning back around, Omoi saw Sasuke stumble out of the smoke covering his eyes with his hand.

"_This match is mine_" the dark skin boy thought where he race towards Sasuke with his Katana, with the intent of ending this match. But just as Omoi swung his Katana, Sasuke disappeared right before his eyes.

"_What the…?_" thought Omoi, before he saw Sasuke underneath him and kicked him right in the chin, sending the Kumo-nin flying into the air.

Before Omoi knew what happened, Sasuke used the **Kage Buyō** (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) to match his movements in the air and appear behind him and hit a pressure point in Omoi's back, preventing him from moving.

"Sorry but the same thing won't work on me twice" Sasuke commented. "Naruto played the same trick on me before, so all I had to do was close my eyes until I was out of the smoke and pretend that you blinded me."

"_Crap_" Omoi thought as he realized he had been tricked by Sasuke. Who then spun his leg around to hit Omoi on his right side, causing the elder boy to drop his Katana. After which Sasuke then took advantage of the kick to counter spin and hit Omoi on his left side, causing the boy to fall towards the ground. Sasuke then continued his assault with a strong elbow to the chest and finished up with powerful drop kick while shouting "**Shishi Rendan** (Lion Combo)!" sending Omoi crashing to the ground like a falling rock.

When Omoi hit the ground, the Kumo Genin cried out in pain and spat out a large amount blood, as the damage done to his body was extensive.

Once he had finished his attack, Sasuke gracefully landed next to Omoi and deactivated his Sharingan. After which he then looked over to Genma, who was slowly walking towards them.

"I think that you should call the match…he's done" Sasuke said knowing that Omoi wouldn't be able to get up after that.

After walking up to the two and looking down at the Kumo-nin, he saw that Omoi was barely conscious and couldn't move his body, due to his injuries.

"_I have to admit, that Uchiha kid isn't half bad_" Genma thought before he looked up to the stands and said "Omoi of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) is unable to continue battling…the winner is Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagkure."

-With the Audience-

After Sasuke was declared the winner, the audience erupted into a thunderous applause, the loudest being Sakura, who cheered at the victory of her crush.

As the audience continued to cheer Kushina and the others could hear people say things like.

"Did you see how he handle that Kumo-nin?" one person ask

"Yeah, not to mention how he copied his technique and used it against" another person said.

"He great" a different person said.

"Of course he is he's an Uchiha after all" yet another person said. "I bet in the final match, it's going to be the Uchiha heir versus the Senju heir."

-In the Kage Box-

After Sasuke was declared the winner the Kages immediately began to discuss amongst themselves.

"That was an interesting wouldn't you agree, Hokage-sama, Mizukage-sama?" said the Kazekage.

"Indeed it was Kazekage-sama" the Sandaime Hokage replied

"I concur" the Mizukage, who found Sasuke match quite entertaining.

"What did you think of the match Raikage-sama?" the Suna Kage asked as he turned to the Kumo Kage who remained surprisingly silent.

"I found the match to be acceptable" the bulky Kage answered with a small grunt. Although at the same time, the Raikage was silently cursing Konoha. His entire plan to humiliate Konoha was falling apart right front of his eyes; in fact his plan was having the opposite effect, where they were being humiliated by Konoha. With Samui tying with Haku and Karui and Omoi losing their respected matches against Sai and Sasuke, only Yugito was left to compete.

"_Damnit, how does Konoha continue to have so many talented Shinobi? I did not think he would have mastered the Sharingan to this degree_" the Raikage thought angrily. "_If only Samui had won her match against that Hyoton_ (Ice Release) _girl, Omoi's loss wouldn't have mattered._"

Seeing the annoyed look on his leaders face, C decided to calm the Raikage down.

"Raikage-sama, I know this isn't how you expected things to turn out, but still there is no need to be worried. Yugito is still in the exam and regardless of how skilled the Genin in this exam are, none of them are strong enough to defeat Yugito, not even Suna's Jinchūriki Gaara.

When C had finished, the Raikage nodded in agreement, his plan could still work, as he was positive that Yugito could win the exam and defeat both Naruto and Sasuke.

After finish talking with C, the Raikage's attention was suddenly turned to the other Kages who were speaking to him.

"I apologise Hokage-sama, but could you repeat that?" the Raikage asked, "As I'm afraid my attention was drawn elsewhere."

"Yes, well the other Kages and I were discussing the events of the match, and were discussing whether or not to recommend your Genin Omoi to become a Chunin. Since Sasuke is no longer qualified and we were wondering if you agree with our assessment" the Sandaime said.

"Of course, and what have you decided?" the Raikage asked.

"We decided that even though your Genin Omoi-san showed impressive skill as both a Shinobi and as a Swordsman. Not to mention remarkable resourcefulness in his battle against Uchiha Sasuke, he still needs a little more seasoning as a Shinobi before qualifying as a Chunin."

Nodding at this, the Raikage simply said he agreed with their assessment and then turned to look down into the arena and waited for the next match to start.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Too bad Omoi, you were close, but Sasuke was better_" Naruto thought sadly as he saw his Kumo friend being taken away by the medic on a stretcher. "_If I hadn't used the same trick against Sasuke when he went out of control from the Curse seal, it might have worked and Omoi would have won._"

"Damnit, that idiot Omoi blew it" Karui yelled angrily as slammed her fist on the railing. "If he hadn't been so cautious and had been more aggressive he could have won."

"That enough Karui" Yugito said suddenly. "We knew there was a possibility that Omoi would lose against Uchiha Sasuke given his skill level. Omoi was not at fault here, he did his best and the fact is you cannot criticise him, as you lost your match as well. In fact if you had been a little more cautious and had not let your opponent provoke you, you might not have lost your match."

At the same time Yugito was also thinking, "_Things aren't going as well as we had hoped. Uchiha Sasuke is just as skilled and the rumours say, although I'm certain he hasn't shown his true abilities yet. Omoi's loss wasn't entirely unexpected, but I had hoped that Omoi would have injured or worn Uchiha Sasuke out enough for Samui to defeat him in the second round. But with Samui drawing with Yuki Haku, that is no longer possible and now I'm the only one left._"

After being told off by Yugito, Karui blushed red from embarrassment and anger, which grew when she glanced at Sai. Who was standing not far from her and gave her another one of his fake smiles after hearing her being told off.

Eventually after making his way up the stairs Sasuke arrived in the finalist box, where he made his way to the railings, where Naruto and the others were.

"Well, Well, Well, nice of you to finally appear Uchiha, you sure took your sweet time" Naruto greeted with a small smile.

"Nice to see you too Senju, as for being late, you can blame Kakashi-sensei for that," the Uchiha heir replied, as he stood next to the blonde.

"Yea, I figured as much" the male Senju replied with a scoff.

"So I'm guessing since your here and Hyuga Neji isn't, that you won your match?"

"Of course, as if I lose that fate believe prick" Naruto answered with a frown since he was still rather angry at Neji for trying to kill Hinata.

This was of course no real surprise to Sasuke, since he was one of the few people who knew just how strong Naruto really was.

It was also at this point that he finally took notice of Naruto's new attire.

"I see that you went for a new look."

"I could say the same thing about you" Naruto remarked.

"What's with the coat, trying to be like the Yondaime?" Sasuke asked, since he knew that Naruto greatly admired the former Hokage and wanted to be like him. Something Sasuke found a bit funny, given the strong resemblance between the two of them, which was only highlighted with the coat on.

"Heh, nah, just something Ero-sennin gave me before the exam" Naruto replied with a smirk.

Hearing this Sasuke just shrugged not really caring that much and began to look around the box at the remaining candidates. Naruto of course explained that Karui, Kankuro and Shikamaru had all lost their matches and that Dosu hadn't shown up for his match against Gaara. While the others remaining finalist were with the medics, recovering from their injuries after losing their matches.

Nodding at this, Sasuke was slightly surprised to see that neither Samui nor Haku was here. Since he knew that their match was after his and that he would have to fight the winner of their match.

"I don't see Haku or that Kumo girl Samui, didn't they show up?"

"Oh yea that's right" Naruto said, "Since you hadn't shown, the Hokage and the other Kages decided to put your match on hold and have Haku's and Samui's match, while we waited for you and Kakashi-sensei to appear. It was actually a hell of a battle, where they were pretty even with one another. Even more surprisingly was that during the battle, Samui revealed that she had a Bloodline limit as well, something I didn't even know about."

"A Bloodline limit" Sasuke repeated in surprise, where Naruto just nodded.

"Yea, it's called Ranton (Storm Release) and it allows her to fire powerful beams of energy. She was able to use this to completely destroy Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō** (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)."

Naturally Sasuke was surprised to hear this, since he knew first-hand how deadly Haku's **Makyō Hyōshō** was and how strong the mirrors were. But before he could comment further on what Naruto had told him, the blonde continued.

"Also you saw the all the water around the arena and the large hole directly below the stands?" Naruto asked where Sasuke nodded.

"Well the water all came from Haku's last attack, which was a massive dragon made out of ice that froze everything it touch. The large hole in the wall below the stands was made by Samui's last attack, which was a massive beam of energy that destroy Haku's ice dragon in an instant.

"I thought that you did that, using that insane strength of your" Sasuke said, since he had notice the damage done to the arena walls when he first arrived.

"Actually, I made the one over there" a slightly embarrassed Naruto said, where he pointed to a large but smaller hole in the wall at the opposite end of the arena from them.

After hearing this, a large frown appeared on Sasuke face, since Samui had proven to be even stronger than Sasuke had originally expected. It was also obvious that Haku had become a great deal stronger from when they fought at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country).

"Who won?"

"Actually that was the most surprising thing; it ended in a draw, Samui was able to knock Haku out with a Lightning clone. But she in turn was caught in the aftereffects of Haku's ice dragon, where her body froze."

When the Uchiha heard this, his frown only deepened, since he had wanted fight both of them.

Haku because she had defeated him at Nami no Kuni and Samui because when he had first met her, he could tell that she was strong and wanted to test himself against her.

When Naruto saw the frown, he of course knew why Sasuke was annoyed by the events; since with Haku and Samui now out, he would automatically move to the third round of the finals. Now normally a person would welcome this, but Sasuke wasn't like most people, he enjoyed the challenge of a good fight and to test himself against strong opponents.

This was of course something that both he and Naruto had in common, since like Sasuke, Naruto welcome the chance to fight strong opponents and to become stronger. But before he could say anything to the Uchiha, he suddenly heard Genma speak down in the arena.

-In the Arena-

"With the first Round matches finally completed, these will make up the matches for Round two. The First match will be between Temari of Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) versus Senju Naruto of Konohagakure. The Second match will be Nii Yugito of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) versus Sai of Konohagakure. The Third match will be Gaara of Sunagakure versus Aburame Shino of Konohagakure. Uchiha Sasuke will automatically proceed to Round three, due to the double knockout in the match between Yuki Haku of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) and Samui of Kumogakure."

At hearing this, the crowd erupted into loud cheers, where people quickly began to place their bets for the next match.

After a few minutes, once the crowd had settled down, Genma spoke again. "Now will Temari of Sunagakure and Senju Naruto of Konohagakure, please come down to begin the next match."

-In the Kage Box-

"So it's your Daughter against Senju Naruto, Kazekage-sama?" the Mizukage said, as she turned to look at the Kage from Suna.

"Yes, so it seems" the Kazekage replied, "It should prove to be an enteraining match, as my daughter is a powerful Wind user, as you saw early."

When Tsunade heard this, she just smirked and held her betting slip on Naruto tightly. "_The girl maybe good at using Wind Jutsu, but so is Naru-chan._"

-In the Finalist Box-

After hearing her name being called Temari started to get worried, "_Damnit, what the hell are they waiting for now? Both the Uchiha and the Senju kids are here; the operation should have started by now._"

"Hey Temari, maybe you should forfeit, your battle isn't that important, all we were told was that both the Senju and Uchiha kids had to be here and they are" Kankuro whispered in his sister's ear.

Hearing this Temari just nodded, believing that her younger brother was right, since it didn't matter if she won or lost the Chunin exam. The only reason she fought last time was so not to draw too much attention to them as they waited for the invasion to begin, while at the same time buy time for Sasuke to arrive, who was now here. There was also the fact that she didn't have much Chakra left after her long fight with Shikamaru.

Just when Temari was about to tell Genma that she was going to forfeit, she suddenly heard Naruto call out to her.

"Hey fan girl don't tell me you're chickening out already, like your pansy brother did?"

"What did you say you brat?" Kankuro yelled angrily

"You heard me as only a pansy would wear that much make-up on his face not to mention spends all his time playing with dolls and quit right when his match was about to start" mocked Naruto.

"Its war paint not makeup and they aren't dolls, they're PUPPETS!" a furious Kankuro yelled as he was about two steps away from using crow on Naruto.

"Tsk, Tomato, tomato, same thing!" Naruto said as he waved his hands in a mocking way. "You must really be bad at finding yourself a girlfriend, or is that you prefer to "_play_" with your _dolls_."

Getting the meaning of what Naruto said, Kankuro turned bright red with rage, and roared "I'LL KKIIIILLLL YYYYOOOUUUU!"

Quickly side stepping the puppet user as he lunged at him and causing him to trip, Naruto jumped onto the railing and turned to Temari. "So how about it fan-girl, do you want to finish what we started at the preliminaries or are you going to chicken out, when faced with a _real_ Shinobi."

Gritting her teeth in anger, Temari reigned in her temper at Naruto's remarks, as she had their mission to complete.

At the same time not far from the Senju heir, Yugito stared at the blonde boy with a small frown, "_What are you up to Naruto?_" since she knew this wasn't like him.

Seeing that he was getting to Temari, Naruto pushed further by smirking arrogantly.

"Yeah, I thought as much, I would expect nothing less from a cowardly Suna-nin, who only picks on little kids and fights defenceless opponents. It's no wonder Suna has become so weak with Kunoichi like you. Then again you're just a _weak little girl_, from a third rate village who hides behind her..." Naruto said but before he could finish insults a massive burst of Wind erupted in the Finalist box and blew Naruto off the railing and into the arena.

"_Shit!_" Sasuke thought, as he raised his arms up to protect his face from the Wind and tried to keep himself from blow away.

"_Damnit Naruto…now you've done it, you've seriously pissed her off_" Shikamaru thought as he did the same thing as Sasuke.

"_Fuck, she's lost it_" Kankuro thought, who was struggling against the Wind his sister created.

Gaara for his part just watch, as his sand protected him from the Wind and was mildly amused by how Naruto goaded his sister.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" roared the furious Suna Kunoichi, as she held her now fully open fan. "IF YOU WANT A FIGHT SO BAD I GIVE IT TO YOU, AND SHUT THAT SMART MOUTH OF YOURS ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

After being blown out of the Finalist box, Naruto quickly recovered by preforming a mid-air back flip, allowing him to land gracefully on the ground in the middle of the arena next to Genma.

"_Well that was quick_" the Konoha examiner remarked inside his head.

At the same time a still smirking Naruto looked up at the angry Temari who was now standing on top of the railings glaring at him.

"_Too easy_" Naruto thought, as he looked up at the angry Suna Kunoichi. "_She may be a level headed Shinobi most of the time, but if you push the right buttons. She's more hot headed than her brother. Kaa-chan always did say I had a knack for pissing people off. Now that I stopped her from forfeiting, I can find out what Suna is really up to in the exam._"

Seeing Naruto was unharmed and still had that annoying smirk of his, the blonde haired Kunoichi growled angrily and quickly jumped down to the arena.

Kankuro of course tried to stop her by saying "No Temari wait! ...Don't you see! He's baiting you!"

But it was too late as all Temari could see what red and think on how she was going to crush the smart mouthed Senju for his insults.

-In the Kage Box-

"My, your daughter seems to be more eager to fight than last time, Kazekage-sama" Mei remarked after seeing Naruto be blown out of the Finalist box and Temari following after him.

"So it seems, although I must wonder what has gotten into her, as she is not normally like this" the Suna Kage replied.

"Knowing the brat he probably said or did something to piss her off" Jiraiya said, since given his vast experience, he knew an angry Kunoichi when he saw one.

-In the Arena-

"_Damn and I thought she was eager before_" Genma thought when he saw Temari land on the ground with a large gust of Wind. Although he quickly realized why Temari was acting this way, when he saw the blonde Kunoichi glare murderously at the other blonde next to him

"Well since you are both here now, I think we can get the match started" Gema said.

"Before we begin Genma-san could you hold on one second" Naruto said where he then went inside his coat behind his back and took out a small pill bottle and threw it to Temari, who caught it.

"What's this?" Temari asked angrily.

"It's a pill bottle, I thought that would be obvious" Naruto said to her as if she was stupid.

Gritted her teeth and her fan tightly, the Suna Kunoichi glared at the male blonde. "I know it's a damn pill bottle, I'm asking what's in it!"

"Soldier pills" answered Naruto

"Soldiers pills" Temari repeated in surprise.

"To restore your Chakra, since you probably don't have much left after amount you wasted when you fought Shikamaru and after he _let_ you win" Naruto replied, further antagonizing Temari. Who was still angry over how Shikamaru forfeited after he had her.

"Do you think I'm stupid or something Senju?"

"Eh is that a trick question" Naruto asked with a goofy looking smile, causing Temari to glare even more.

"You think I actually take your word for it, for all I know they could be poison making it easier for you to beat me."

"I don't need tricks like that to beat someone like you, especially with the way you are now. I want this to be a fair fight, so that when I beat you won't have any excuses, like being low on Chakra or being worn out. I'm going to defeat you the same way you beat Tenten-chan, you're going to lose without even laying a figure on me and you're going to know what it feels like to be completely helpless against an opponent."

"My, aren't we arrogant" Temari remarked.

"I prefer the term confident" Naruto replied, "But if you still don't trust me then just give me one, it doesn't matter."

Raising her eyebrow, Temari decided to do it and poured the pills from the bottle into her hand, where she then threw one of the pills from the bottom of the bottle.

After catching the pill, Naruto then placed the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. He then opened his mouth again to show his female opponent that he had indeed swallowed it.

Seeing this, Temari waited a few minutes to see if anything would happen.

Seeing that nothing was happening to Naruto, Temari decided to take the risk, as she had nothing else to lose and swallowed one of the pills and poured the rest back into the bottle and threw it back to Naruto.

Within a few seconds Temari felt her body filled up with Chakra again and found that her body didn't feel tired anymore.

-In the Kage Box-

"Your son just threw away a huge advantage Tsunade-sama" the Raikage commented.

"Yes I know Naruto has a rather strong sense of honour when it comes to fights like these. He hates having an unfair advantage over his opponent. Since he prefers to fight them on even terms" Tsunade replied with a slight frown.

"Hmm, well we'll see if this doesn't backfire on him" the Raikage said, who found Naruto action naive and slightly foolish. Although at the same time he could not help but respect it, as he could understand the desire to want to have a fair fight with someone.

-With the Audience-

"Why did Naruto-kun do that?" Rurichiyo asked in confusion, "Now he will have a harder time fighter her."

"It because beating her the way she is now, would be hollow…" Kensai said, gaining the Fire Princess and her grandparent's attention. "Naruto wants a fair fight and beat her when she is at her best. Since there is no satisfaction when beating a weaken opponent." (2)

"It seems that young Naruto-kun has inherited your sense of honour, Kensai-san" the Fire Daimyo remarked with an amused smile.

"It does indeed" the young Samurai remarked with a small smile of pride at his one time student.

-In the Arena-

Once Temari had recovered her Chakra and Naruto had put away the pill bottle, Genma asked them both if they were ready, where the two blondes just responded with a nod, as they watched each other closely.

Seeing this, Genma nodded his own head and raised his arm into the air and said "Then let the first match of Round two begin!" as he swung his arm down.

Wasting no time Temari struck first by swinging her fan creating a massive gust of Wind that hit Naruto dead on.

But when the Wind attack hit the blonde boy "Naruto" reverted into a piece of wood, revealing he had replaced himself.

Upon seeing this, Temari quickly jumped away, narrowly avoiding several Shuriken that came at her from behind. She then turned around with her fan open to protect her from any more projectiles and upon seeing the spikey haired blonde, fired another blast at Wind at him.

Seeing the Wind blast, Naruto quickly channelled his Chakra into his Katana and converted it into Wind. He then swung his Katana downward and yelled "**Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash)!" creating a crescent shape blade of Wind that sliced through Temari's attack, causing it to dissipate.

"_Shit!_" Temari thought, before she jumped to her right, barely escaping the deadly Wind blade. "_Damnit I was careless, I let my emotions get the better of me. How could I forget that he was a Wind user as well?_"

After evading Naruto's attack, Temari saw that Naruto had sheathed his Katana and was now preforming several hand seals.

Not wanting to give Naruto anymore of an advantage than he already had, Temari lifted her fan and prepared for to fire another blast of Wind. But before she could fully swing her fan, Naruto finished his hand seals. After which several dozen vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around Temari's body, preventing her from moving and forcing her to drop her fan.

"Wh…What is this?" Temari cried, as she felt the vines squeezing her.

"A little technique I learned from my sensei Kurenai," Naruto replied as he slowly walked towards Temari. "Now then Fan-girl, I have some questions for your and you better answer them truthfully."

-In the Audience-

"What's going on?" Ino asked suddenly, "Why have they stopped fighting? And why did that girl just drop her fan so suddenly."

"My guess would be that Naruto has her under a Genjutsu, am I right Kurenai?" Kushina said as she turned to her fellow female Jonin.

"Yes, and if given the hand seals he just used, I would say he's using **Magen: Hyoushiban **(Demonic Illusion: Binding Vines), which I taught him several months ago." (3)

"What is that technique?" Sakura asked.

"It's a technique that allows the user to create an illusion of vines around the target. Thereby the victim will be tormented with the sensation being squeezed tightly by vines, while at the same time taking away their body's freedom. It's quite useful when wanting to capture or interrogate an enemy" Kurenai replied.

When the two girls heard this, they shared concern looks along with Hinata, who already knew about the Jutsu, since it was clearly a Jutsu that they wouldn't want to be under.

At the same time both Kurenai and Kushina were wondering why Naruto placed Temari under that Genjutsu, since there were many other more effective Jutsu to defeat Temari with.

-In the Arena-

"Damn you" Temari hissed angrily, as she glared at the blonde boy who had her trapped.

"Curse me all you want fan-girl, but the truth is that you let your anger and your pride rule you and that is why you're in this position." Naruto replied. "Now tell me is your brother Gaara the Jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku (One-Tailed Shukaku)?"

At this question a look of shock appeared on the Suna girls's face and thought "_How does he know about Gaara?_" but she quickly hide her surprise so not to give it away.

"I don't know what you're talking about" the girl replied before she screamed out in pain as the vines tightened around her.

"I thought I told you not to lie to me" Naruto said coldly.

"I'm not lying" Temari yelled.

"Yes you are" Naruto replied, "I'm a trained medic, so I know when people are lying to me, by watching their bodies involuntary reactions. Like for example, one way to tell when a person is lying is by their eyes. Since when people tell the truth like remembering their favourite book, their pupils dilate and their eyes involuntary move up and to the left accessing the visual cortex of their brain, therefore they are telling the truth. But if a person eyes go up and to the right, then you are accessing the creative side of your brain, therefore you're lying."

At this a look of fear and surprise appeared on Temari's face, although what she didn't know was that Naruto himself was lying. Since what he said was just junk and he couldn't really tell when people were lying. He just wanted Temari to think he could tell when she was lying, which was why he asked about Gaara being a Jinchūriki, when he already knew he was. This way when he asked his real questions she would be less likely to lie.

"Now then fan-girl, I ask you again is your brother Gaara the Jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku?"

At this question Temari could feel the vines tighten around her again, squeezing the life out of her.

After a minute or so, Temari could take no more and yelled, "Yes he is!" after which the vines loosened a little, allowing her to breath.

"Good, that's one question out of the way, now onto the next one. Tell me your orders regarding Sasuke and me?"

"What?" the girls asked in surprise.

"Do you think I am an idiot, it's no coincidence that Suna enters its Jinchūriki to the Chunin exam when both Sasuke and I are in it. Not to mention the fact that your village is suffering a decline in strength, thanks to your daimyo reducing you're funding and mission requests. You have orders regarding us, and I want to know them."

_"____Damnit, he's on to us! How does he know so much_?" a panicking Temari thought, before she felt the vines squeezing her body again.

"Now tell me what are your orders regarding Sasuke and I, were you ordered to kill us in the exam?" Naruto asked.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, w-w-w don't have any- Gah!" Temari said before she cried out in pain, as the vines began to squeeze her tighter.

"I told you not to lie to me!" Naruto said coldly, as he had seen the relieved look on both Kankuro's and Temari's faces, when he first arrived and again when Sasuke arrived. His mother and Jiraiya even said that it was very likely that Gaara was sent into the exam to kill them. Since it made the most sense as to why Suna would send someone as unstable as Gaara into the Chunin exam.

"I know that you want us for something and I know it involves some kind of plan. I overheard you and your brother talking about a plan as we were waiting for Sasuke to appear, now tell me what your orders are regarding us?" Naruto demanded, as he didn't like doing this. Since as both a person and as a medic, he didn't enjoy seeing people suffer or being the cause of it, in fact he hated it.

But the reality was he needed know what Suna had planned for Sasuke and him, in the event that they had some other goal they weren't aware of. This was why he wanted to get his answers as quickly as possible so that he could end this.

"Just tell me what I want to know, despite what you may think of me; I don't enjoy this. So the sooner you tell me the quicker this ends. Now tell me what are your orders regarding Sasuke and me?"

After about a minute or so of squeezing from the vines Temari final broke. "Ack! Our orders were to monitor you both and to make sure that the two of you made it to the finals, that's it, I don't know anymore, I swear!"

"And what is your plan? Why did your village send your brother and why do they want us in the finals?" Naruto asked

Feeling the vines squeezing tighter, Temari tried to think of way to get out of her.

"_Guagh! I need to do something fast, I don't know how much more I can take. If I lie he'll know it, but if I tell him the truth, our mission fails_" Temari thought. "_This has to be some kind of Genjutsu, as it's the only explanation as to where these vines came from. But how do I get free, when my hands are bound like this._"

As Temari tried to think of a way to free herself from the Genjutsu, she suddenly remembered something her sensei told her not long after her team was first formed.

-Flashback-

"Temari!" Baki said, "Can you tell me how you escape from an opponent's Genjutsu?"

"Eh, you need to stop the flow of Chakra in your body, and then apply an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's Chakra; this is called **Genjutsu Kai** (Genjutsu Dissipation)" Temari replied.

"Very good" Baki said with a nod, "Although another way to combat Genjutsu is to have a partner."

"Why's that" Kankuro asked, who was sitting next to his elder sister.

"It helps, because if your partner is unaffected by the enemies Genjutsu, they can free you from it by applying a sudden surge of Chakra into your body. This will of course have the same effect as using **Genjutsu Kai**."

"But what if you don't have a partner what could you do then" Temari asked.

"The best solution, which is also the easiest, is pain" Baki answered.

"Pain?" the two siblings repeated us confusion.

"Yes, intense pain not caused by the Genjutsu, like stabbing or cutting yourself, is the best way to break you from a Genjutsu. Remember that when you are in trouble and you can escape most Genjutsu."

-End Flashback-

After remembering this, Temari quickly bit down on her lip hard, causing it to bleed.

The pain was brief, but it was enough to free her from the Genjutsu, allowing her to move, after which she quickly picked up her fan and channelled her Wind Chakra into it before yelling "**Kamaitachi no Jutsu** (Sickle Weasel Technique)!"

Acting fast Naruto quickly jumped up into the air to avoid the powerful blast. "_Shit! Looks like she's more resourceful than I gave her credit for, guess I won't get my answers. Now I have to move to plan B._"

-In the Audience-

"Looks like she escaped Naruto's Genjutsu" Asuma commented.

"Yes, so it seems, although I cannot help but wonder what was happening when she was under Naruto's Genjutsu. Since Naruto could have easily knocked her out when she was under the spell, but he didn't for some reason" Kurenai replied.

Kurenai was of course not the only one who was wondering this, as both Naruto's sensei's Yamato and Kushina were wondering the same thing.

-In the Arena-

After avoid Temari's attacked, Naruro landed back on the ground where he then released his **Shishi Omomizuke Shīru** (Four Limbs Weighting Seals), allowing him to move at his full speed.

Seeing that Naruto avoided her attack, Temari spun around and swung her fan again. But like before Naruto avoid her attack, by using his high speed to move out of the way.

"_Tsk, I missed again_" Temari thought angrily, but quickly calm down, knowing what happened last time she got angry.

"I'm afraid you missed again, fan-girl" a familiar voice said behind her.

When the blonde girl turned, she was found Naruto leaning against the arena wall several meters from her with the same annoying smirk he had earlier.

Not wasting any time Temari immediately swung her fan at Naruto creating yet another vortex of Wind. But yet again Naruto evaded the powerful Wind attack, using his superior speed and appeared on the Suna girl's right hand side, several meters from her.

"You should really try a new thing called aiming, it can do wonders, where you _might _actually hit me" Naruto said after reappearing again.

"Damn you…Just hold still!" Temari yelled as she sent another blast at the blonde Konoha-nin, who again avoided it and appeared at another end of the arena.

"And why should I do that?" Naruto asked when he reappeared again. This continued for several minutes where each time Temari would send a blast of Wind at the blonde Senju and each time he would avoid the blast.

After a while a thin layer of dust caused by Temari's various Wind attacks began to cover the arena, although it wasn't thick enough to obstruct people's view of the fight.

"Damn you…pant, pant…do you intent to fight back at all?" Temari said angrily as she was starting to get tired from using her fan so much. She of course knew she shouldn't let Naruto's taunts get to her, but there was just something about the blonde Senju that got under her skin.

"Why would I do something like that? You're doing a pretty good job at wearing yourself out" Naruto said as he appeared directly in front of Temari, causing the girl to jump back a few feat in surprise. "Besides you've already given me the perfect way to beat you."

"What do mean?" Temari asked in confusion.

"I mean this…" Naruto said as he performed several hand seals and slammed his hand onto the ground while saying "**Doton: Dojinheki** (Earth Style: Earth Encampment Wall)!" (B)

After saying this, four large walls made out of Earth formed around Temari and Naruto in a square formation.

"What's going on?" What are you doing?" Temari yelled in confusion.

"Tell me Fan-girl, have you ever heard of a dust explosion?" Naruto asked

"A dust explosion?"

"Yes, a dust explosion is the fast combustion of dust particles suspended in the air in an enclosed location, like this one we are in and as you can see we are surrounded by dust, thanks to all the Wind attacks you preformed." Naruto said.

Seeing this, fear suddenly crept into Temari's eyes as she realized that Naruto had tricked her. But before she could say anything Naruto continued with his explanation. "Now dust explosions don't happen with just regular dust, even in an enclosed space like this. There has to be a large amount of certain kind of dust like coal dust, grain, flour, sugar or in our case pollen and since it's the middle of summer and my village is the middle of a vast forest, there is a lot of pollen in the air, more even thanks to your Wind attacks. All that's needed is a little spark and everything inside this square goes boom."

"Wait! If you do that then you'll be caught in the explosion with me!" Temari yelled, as she tried to stop Naruto.

At this Naruto just smiled and said, "Oh didn't I tell you, I'm a clone" after with he held up his right index finger and generated some Chakra into it before converting it into Lightning. This then ignited the dust cloud, and caused a small explosion, destroying the encampment wall and sending Temari flying into the arena wall.

After the explosion, the real Naruto appeared who had been watching everything safely outside the encampment wall.

Luckily for Temari the amount of pollen in the dust cloud wasn't high enough to cause a large explosion. But it was high enough to cause a small one, which destroyed the earth encampment and sent Temari crashing into the arena wall, wounding her badly, where she had several cuts, bruises and burns on her body.

"You've lost fan-girl, I suggest you give up" Naruto said as he stared coolly at the Suna Kunoichi and slowly walked towards her.

Angered, by how much Naruto had humiliated her, and ignoring her injuries that she suffered from the blast. Temari slowly stood up, using her now folded fan to help her up.

"You haven't one yet!" the girl replied, where she then charged forward with her fan raised and planned to us it like a club against Naruto.

Seeing this, Naruto just shook his head and thought "_Why do I keep getting the stubborn idiots?_"

As Temari drew closer, Naruto preformed a series of one handed hand seals, which then caused his right hand to be covered in Chakra.

Once the Suna girl was close enough, Naruto moved forward with startling speed. When Temari saw this she tried to hit the blonde with her fan, only to miss as he side stepped it. He then used his **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel) to sever the tendons in Temari's right arm causing her to drop the oversized fan. After which he then preformed a leg sweep, causing the female blonde to fall on her back, where Naruto then placed his foot on her stomach and redrew his Katana and held it directly above her face.

"Not nice is it? To be so helpless unable to do anything, while another hold your fate in their hands. Perhaps I should show you the same kindness you showed Tenten-chan when you defeated her in the preliminaries?" Naruto said as he stood over the girl and could see the fear in her eyes. "But luckily for you I'm not that kind of person."

After Naruto said this, Genma walked over to the two and upon seeing that Temari was basically at Naruto's mercy and could no longer fight, he decided to end the match.

"Temari of Sunagakure can no longer continue, the winner of the first match of Round two is Senju Naruto.

After Naruto was declared the winner, the audience once again erupted into a thunderous applause, where people cheered loudly at Naruto being announced the winner.

As soon as he was declared the winner, Naruto lifted his foot off Temari's stomach and sheathed his Katana, where he then preceded to walk back to the Finalist box. As Naruto slowly walked away, he suddenly stopped and glanced back at Temari, who was slowly lifting herself up.

"I suggest that you remember what happened here today fan-girl and remember what it feels like to be on the other foot. Before you ever try anything like what you did at the preliminaries again" Naruto said before turning his back to her and heading back up to the finalist box. Hoping that after her defeat today, Temari would have learn a little humility and would treat others with a little more respect than she did before.

-In the Kage box-

That was a very interesting match wouldn't you agree Kazekage-sama" the Mizukage said.

"Indeed it was, despite the fact that my daughter lost" the Suan Kage replied, "Although I must confess I was rather impressed with the unique way he defeated her."

"Yes, well if you ask me the boy was rather cocky" the Raikage commented, "He could have easily defeated her, yet he gave her a soldier pill to replenish her Chakra reserves. It could have easily backfired on him and cost him the match."

"That is indeed true, Raikage-sama" the Sandaime replied. "But to be fair Naruto-kun had the match in hand, not once did he lose his composure and given the way he defeated the Kazekage's daughter, it showed that he knew what he was doing the entire time and had complete control of the battle."

"That is indeed true Hokage-sama, although what I would like to know is what happened between Naruto-san and Temari-san when he had her under his Genjutsu" the female Kage replied. The other Kages all nodded at this, since many of them including Jiraiya and Tsunade were curious as to what happened when Naruto had Temari in his Genjutsu.

-In the Finalist Box-

After making is way up the stairs, Naruto arrived at the Finalist box, where Shino, Shikamaru and even Sasuke congratulated him on his win over Temari.

"Naturally Kankuro didn't look very pleased, given what Naruto said to him earlier and because he defeated his sister. Gaara on the other hand didn't seem to care that his sister lost, in fact, he actually seemed pleased that his sister lost to Naruto.

"Impressive win" Yugito said as she walked over to Naruto to congratulate him.

"Thanks!" Naruto replied.

"Although if you ask me, you were a little overconfident when you fought her, especially when you gave her than soldier pill" Yugito said.

"Yea, well I needed her to be a full strength, since I wanted to give her a dose of her own medicine, after what she did at the preliminaries. She'll think twice before doing that again, given how she now knows what it feels like to be helpess."

"Maybe, but one thing is for certain, it won't be a fight she will forget soon" the blonde Kumo-nin replied, where she looked over at Temari. Who had just entered the box and glared at Naruto before walking over to her siblings.

"You alright sis?" Kankuro asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine" Temari replied, as the medics healed her more serious injuries and she could move her arm again. "But we have a more serious problem to deal with."

"What do you mean?" the puppet user asked. "Senju Naruto…He's even more dangerous than we expected."

"How so?" asked Kankuro in confusion.

"He's on to us! He knows that Gaara holds the Shukaku."

"But that's impossible, how does he know that?" Kankuro asked in a loud whisper.

"I don't know he's more resourceful than we expected. He also knows that we are targeting him and the Uchiha and he knows that our village is on the decline thanks to the Wind Daimyo."

"Damnit, how does he know so much, does he know about the plan?" Kankuro asked in concern.

"I don't know how he knows what he knows, but he doesn't know about the operation or what we are planning. He only suspects something, that's why he placed me under a Genjutsu, he tried to get it out of me, but I was able to escape before he could" Temari replied,

When Kankuro heard this he frowned, although he was grateful that Temari was able to escape before she could give anything away. The fact that Naruto suspected them worried him, since it meant that Konoha was probably on to them as well, and that the mission was in jeopardy.

"_Fuck, what the hell are they waiting for? If they don't act soon, the entire mission could fail_" Kankuro thought, since his nerves couldn't stand all the waiting.

"Temari, I think we should tell Baki-sensei that Senju is on to us."

"No we can't" the elder blonde replied, "We don't know how much Konoha really knows, if we go to Baki-sensei and warn him about Senju, it could compromise the entire operation."

"The operation may already be compromise!" Kankuro retorted with a hissed.

"And what can he do?" Temari rounded in a low voice, "He can't stop the entire attack, as it is too far gone and could begin at any a time. All we can do is wait and see and hope we can still pull it off."

When Temari said this, her brother frowned, he didn't like it, but he did understand what his sister was saying, there was nothing they could do. They would just have to do their duty and see what happens.

After a few minutes the finalist heard Genma again, "Will Yugito of Kumogakure and Sai of Konohagakure, please come down to begin the next match."

Hearing his name being called, Sai **Shunshin'd** (Body-flickered) down to the arena, next to Genma, while Yugito jumped off the railings down to the arena. But before she left, both Karui and Naruto wished her luck in her match, although Karui also told Yugito to beat the shit out of Sai for her.

-In the Arena-

Once the two Genin were in their respected positions, facing one another, Genma asked them if they were ready.

When both Genin nodded, Genma then said "Let the second match of Round two begin!" and swung his arm down.

As soon as Genma said "Begin!" the two Genin raced forward and drew their individual swords.

Yugito struck first with her Katana where she attempted to stab Sai, only for him to deflect the stab with his own sword, after which he then ducked under a slash from Yugito. But as soon as he stood back up and attempted to strike back. He was kicked in the chest by Yugito, forcing him back a few feet, where he was then forced to bring up his sword and block a downward slash from the blonde girl.

For the next few minutes the two Genin continued like this, where they would each try to gain the edge over the other. But each time they avoided, deflected or simply blocked the others attacks.

As the fight continued, Sai blocked another of Yugito's slashes, where a battle for dominance erupted between the two, where they each tried to push the other back.

Deciding to take advantage of the fact that she had Sai staying in one place, Yugito had her right hand let go of her sword and used her Chakra to increase the length and durability of her nails, turning them into claws, where she then attempted to slash at Sai.

Seeing this, Sai quickly jumped back and barely avoided the sharp claws.

With her new added weapon, the battle quickly turned to Yugito's favour where, Sai was force of the defensive, where all he could do was block or avoid Yugito's hits. But after a while even that became difficult, as Yugito proved to be much faster and more agile than the ROOT-nin.

After deflected another of Yugito's double strikes, the blonde girl's saw and opening, where she performed and prefect round house kick that sent Sai flying back. But before Yugito could take full advantage of this, Sai quickly recovered and preformed a backwards flip, allowing him to block another of Yugito's strike.

"_It seems that our Intel of the Nibi ____Jinchūriki was correct she has been very well trained. Even with my advance training from Danzo-sama, she is still forcing me back and she is not giving me any opportunity to use my __**Chōjū Giga**__ (_Super Beast Imitating Drawing_)" _Sai thought as he continued to block Yugito's relentless assaults.

As the fight continued Sai thought back to the meeting he had with his master the day before the finals.

-Flashback Yesterday-

"You asked for me Danzo-sama?" Sai said as he knelt before he master, after he arrived in the ROOT training room.

"Yes I did, it is in regards to your participation into the finals. I do not wish you to lose your match against the Kumo Kunoichi you are facing against. In fact I want you to defeat her" Danzo said.

"May I ask why Danzo-sama? As believe you said it would be best that I lose the match. Since my participation was not important and by losing my fight against the Kumo Kunoichi I would draw less attention to myself" Sai replied.

"Yes I know, but I have changed my mind, I want you to win, since in the second Round of the finals you will most likely face off against Nii Yugito. Who as you know is the Jinchūriki for the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat)."

"Do you wish me to kill her?" Sai asked, since it would make sense, since by killing her, they would weaken Kumo's military strength and they could do little about it. Since killing was not illegal in the Chunin exam.

"No, I want you to fight her, since I wish to see the extent of her capabilities and skills, especially before her fight with Senju Naruto. The more your push her, the more she shows her abilities, which will give Senju Naruto an extra edge over her when they fight, for if he defeats her, it will be a humiliating blow to Kumo."

"So I am helping Senju?" Sai asked.

"In a way yes, but you are also helping Konoha, which is your sworn duty" Danzo replied.

"If that is the case, then should I wound her since, if I injure her enough she will be weakened, allow Senju to defeat her more easily."

"That won't be necessary, as I want her to be at her best, as I believe she will be the perfect opponent for young Naruto-kun to face again, where I can see his full capability" Danzo replied, where Sai just nodded and said he understood.

-End Flashback-

After avoiding yet another strike from Yugito, he took out and dropped several smoke bombs, causing a large flash and a cloud of smoke, which allowed him to gain some distance from the blonde Kumo Kunoichi.

Once he gained some distance from Yugito he quickly took out his scrolls and brush and starting drawing several Ink lions and small Hawks and had them attack Yugito when she emerged from the smoke.

Seeing the ink animals heading straight for her, Yugito quickly sheathed her Katana and did some hand seals before thinking "_**Nezumi Kedama**_ (Mouse Hairball)!" After thinking this she continuingly spat out and large number of flaming hairballs that assumed the shape of mice.

Within seconds the two attacks hit, where the flaming mice shape hairballs exploded and destroyed Sai's Ink animals. But just when the smoke settled, several Ink snakes appeared out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the blonde girl and bit her in the neck.

But just when it looked like the match was over, "Yugito" reverted into Lightning, destroying the snakes, revealing that she was a Lightning Clone.

Seeing this, Sai quickly figured that she had replaced herself with a clone after he created the smoke screen to allow him to put some distance between them. But before he could start looking for her, the real Yugito appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back.

"Too bad…you lose" the blonde Kunoichi said before a look of surprise appeared on her face when she saw Sai revert into Ink, revealing that he had used the **Sumi Bunshin no Jutsu** (Ink Clone Technique).

After realizing this, Yugito senses warned her of danger and she immediately jumped forward, narrowly avoiding several Shuriken that appeared out of nowhere.

Once she had avoided the projectiles, Yugito, barely avoided at stabbed through the head from Sai who suddenly appeared in front of her, after using the **Sumigasumi no Jutsu **(Ink Mist Technique) to hide.

"You're not the only one who can use clones" Sai said with his usual annoying fake smile before kneeing the older girl in the stomach, where he then attempted to finish her off with a stab in the back, as she bended over.

But before he could finish the job, the female Genin rolled to the side to avoid the stabbed, after which she had her nails turn into claws again and attacked Sai with savage-like fury.

Forced on the defensive again, Sai did his best to fend the girl off, but before long he was being overwhelmed again by her superior speed and agility.

After avoiding another of the female Jinchūriki's slashes, Sai took out some Kunai, and threw them at her, forcing her to jump back. Although when she did this, she had her nails return to normal after which she started to perform some hand seals and then thought "_**Katon:**__**Haineko**_ (Fire Style: Ash Cat)!" (C) After which the female blonde spewed out a large stream of ash from her mouth, which took the shape of a large cat before flying towards Sai with impressive speed.

"_Not good_" thought the young Shinobi artist before he took out his scroll and brush again and began to draw. But just when the attacked enveloped him, a dark object flew out of the cloud, where Yugito looked up she saw Sai riding on his large ink eagle.

"Shit!" cursed Yugito, before Sai dropped several Kunai with exploding notes tied to them.

Wasting no time Yugito moved out of the Kunai path and tried to get out of the blast radius of the notes.

After the notes exploded, the arena became filled with dust and smoke, blocking both Sai's and the audience view of Yugito. But before the smoke clouds could settle a large wave of flaming mice shape hairballs erupted from the smoked fill arena, and spilt into two groups and flew towards Sai at startling speed from different directions.

"_Shit!_" Sai thought before he had his ink bird do a power dive to avoid the flaming hairballs and causing them to collide with one another and explode. Although some were able to escape and pursued after him, forcing him to jump off his bird, before they could hit the Ink eagle and destroy them both.

Luckily for the young Shinobi, he was not very high off the ground thanks to the power-dive he did earlier. But he was sent stumbling across the ground by the blast, caused by the explosion when Yugito's mice hairballs hit his Ink eagle.

But just as Sai regained his bearings, he was forced to move away and avoid a deadly slash from Yugito's claws when she reappeared next to him.

Unfortunately he was not quite quick enough, where he received a slash to his left side from Yugito's claws. But before she could take advantage of the situation, Sai was able redraw his tanto sword and block her next attack with it. After which he then pushed the young girl back.

After Sai pushed her back, Yugito leapt back a few feet so to plan her next move.

"You're pretty good, I can see why you were able to defeat Karui" Yugito said with a touch of respect for the younger boy.

"You not so bad yourself…for a Cat girl freak"

"What did you just say?" Yugito asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"I said you were a Cat girl freak isn't that what you are?" Sai asked with a smile as if it was nothing. "I've have even read about girls like you in a strange book I found recently, where you have some kind of strange fetish for cats. It even showed pictures where girls like you wearing scantily clad suits with fake cat-ears and tails and say meow for some odd reason"

Naturally when she heard this, the blonde girl blushed with embarrassment and rage. Her rage and embarrassment only grew when the Nibi suggested that she wear something like that, saying that Naruto might like those types of things.

-In the Finalist Box-

When Karui heard this, an evil looking smirk appeared on face, knowing what was going to happen next, "_Oh that bastard has done it now, Yugito is going to kill him_"

At the same time a large blush appeared on Naruto's face, where an image of Yugito with a long fluffy tail and cat ears crying Nya-Nya in the same manner he heard her say before, appeared in his head. (4)

"_Damnit, I really, really have to stop hanging around Ero-sennin so much, I'm seriously starting to think like him_" Naruto thought as he shook his head. Before he started focusing his attention on Sai and Yugito's match, since he knew how much trouble the ROOT agent was in now

-In the Arena-

After a minute or so Yugito calmed herself down, remembering how Sai enraged Karui in their match and made her become reckless and figured he was trying the same tactic.

Once she calmed herself down, she glared at the still smiling Konoha-nin.

"You're going to regret those words" Yugito said coldly, where she prepared to tear Sai apart with her claws.

"I think not" Sai said, before turning to Genma, who was standing now far from them and said "Protector-san I give up."

"What!" cried Yugito is surprise, where she wasn't alone as nearly everyone who was watching the match was surprised by the sudden forfeiture of Sai.

"Are your sure of this?" Genma asked.

"I am, I have a rather nasty wound her and I do not think I can continue" Sai replied, although at the same time thought. "_My orders were simply to test her capability and to have her show as many of her abilities as I could get her to. If the match continued something unexpected may happen and Danzo-sama clearly stated that he wanted her at her best when fighting Senju._"

"Very well then, Sai of Konohagakure has forfeited the match…Nii Yugito of Kumogakure is the winner."

"See you later cat freak" Sai said with a wave before he used a **Shunshin** to leave the arena, leaving an annoyed and slight angry Yugito behind.

Naturally the crowd was not very pleased with the sudden forfeiture of Sai, especially since many were enjoying the match, many even booed over what happened.

"_Damn that bastard, I beginning to understand why Karui hates him so much_" the fuming Kunoichi thought, as she left the arena, since she didn't like winning like this.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Damn that cowardly son of a bitch, he just ran off right when Yugito was going to cream him" Karui said angrily as she was infuriated that Sai had just forfeited the match.

"_Maybe I'm not the only one who finds this who tournament troublesome…_" Shikamaru thought, "_Although I doubt it._"

"_What's he up to?_" both Sasuke and Naruto thought together who were suspicious by Sai sudden forfeiture.

-In the Kage Box-

Like many others, the four Kages were slightly surprised by what happened.

"Well I must admit, I'm a bit surprised and in some ways disappointed as the match was very interesting" the Mizukage said.

"Indeed, although I suppose Sai-san believed it was best for him to forfeit the match given his wound" the Sandaime said. Although didn't believe it for a second, since he suspect his former friend Danzo had some hand in Sai's decision.

"Perhaps" muttered the Raikage, although he remained suspicious of the dark haired boy.

After the match had ended the four Kages spent the next few minutes discussing whether or not to recommend Sai to be a Chunin.

During the discussion both the Kazekage and Mizukage brought up the fact that Sai had not only shown impressive fighting ability and skill in his matches. But had also shown he could use his Ink techniques in very unique ways, allowing him to adapt to various situations and had shown excellent tactical skills where he played on Karui's emotions and lured her into a trap at the very end. He even showed good judgment by forfeiting the match when wounded, since trying to accomplish a mission when seriously wounded, would often result in the failure of a mission or leading team-mates to be endangered.

Eventually after much discussion, the Kages were divided where both the Mizukage and the Kazekage recommended Sai to be a Chunin, while the Sandaime Hokage and the Raikage stated that they could not.

The reason was because the Hokage knew who Sai answered to and was weary of what Sai would do if he was a Chunin and led a team. The Raikage did not recommend Sai because he sensed that there was something off about the boy and did not like it.

The two Kages were of course not the only ones who were suspicious of Sai's sudden forfeiture since both Tsunade and Jiraiya were equally suspicious and wondered what Danzo and Sai planning.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Hey Yugito-chan you ok?" Naruto asked when he saw his female friend entered the finalist box.

"I'm fine" grumbled Yugito, who was still annoyed by Sai's sudden forfeiture and because he called her cat freak.

"Cowardly Bastard just ran off right when you would have kicked his butt" Karui remarked angrily.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Karui" Naruto answered, "Sai is a lot of things but he is no coward."

"Agreed" added Sasuke as he joined the conversation.

"Then why the hell did he suddenly forfeit?" the dark skinned girl asked.

"Who's knows, Sai isn't exactly an easy guy to figure out" Naruto replied, "As he keeps everything to himself and most of the time he talks he pisses people off."

Sasuke of course nodded in agreement with Naruto, since he was Sai's team-mate and yet he knew hardly anything about him.

Before Karui could comment on this, the Genin suddenly heard Genma speak.

"Will Gaara of Sunagakure and Aburame Shino of Konohagakure, please come down to begin the next match."

Upon hearing his name being called out, Shino went over to the railing and said "Proctor-san, I wish for forfeit my match."

This sudden forfeiture of course didn't surprise many people, as most could not blame Shino, given Gaara's ability and what he was like.

The only person that seemed to be annoyed by Shino's forfeiture was Gaara, who was eager to fight but had yet to do so.

"_Can't say I blame him_" Naruto thought, "_Shino's bugs would stand no chance against Gaara's sand, not to mention Gaara would most likely kill him._"

Upon hearing this, Genma just nodded and announced that Shino had forfeited and that Gaara was the winner by default.

Naturally most of the people in the stands did not take this very well and began to yell and boo over it, since many were annoyed by the number of forfeitures in the tournament.

-In the Arena-

Once Genma declared Gaara the winner, the Tokubetsu Jōnin continued to speak, "With Gaara of Sunagakure the winner of the third match of Round two. We will move on to Round three, due to Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure automatically winning the fourth match, given how he has no opponent to fight against."

When this was announced many were of course not pleased with not seeing Sasuke fight again. But none commented, since Genma had explained earlier why Sasuke would automatically move to the third Round.

"Now then, the first match of Round three will be Senju Naruto of Konohagakure versus Nii Yugito of Kumogakure and the second match will be Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure versus Gaara of Sunagakure. The winners of these two matches will decide who will face off in the final match of the fourth and final Round. So will Senju Naruto and Nii Yugito please come down to begin the next match."

-In the Finalist Box-

When Genma called Yugito and Naruto's down, the crowd erupted into loud cheers, mainly because many were eager to see the Senju heir fight again.

But as excited as the audience was for the upcoming match, none were more excited than the two participants, who turned and smirked at one another when they heard their names being called.

"Looks like we're up Yugito-chan" Naruto said who pleased that he was now facing Yugito.

"So it seems" an equally pleased Yugito, since this was the match she had been waiting for this match ever since the preliminaries ended.

"You ready?"

"Tsk, do you even have to ask" Yugito replied, where he fellow blonde just smile and the two then walked to the stairway and made their way down to the Arena to begin their rematch.

N/A.

Well that's it for another instalment of Hope of the Senju Clan, I hope you all enjoyed it, sorry about the update being a day late, but I was held up with some stuff and it took me a little longer to write up this Chapter than I thought.

Now as you can all guess the next Chapter will have the match many of you have been waiting for. Yugito vs Naruto and let me tell you, this match will be the biggest and longest battle I have made since I first created this story. So expect a lot to happen, now before you all ask things like, will Naruto finally reveal his Mokuton Bloodline, well I'm sorry to say I can't tell you. So don't bother asking, as that would be spoiling and nobody likes spoilers, especially if they ruin any surprises in a story.

Also given what I have planned to happen in the next Chapter, I will only be doing the Yugito vs Naruto fight, so please don't expect the Gaara vs Sasuke fight.

Again hoped you all enjoyed the Chapter and I will try to update another of my stories as soon as I can. Since I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish writing up the Chapter to my next story.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as before please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons.

**Author's Notes:**

(1). Itai means Ow in Japanese

(2). Go to my profile for the address to the image of Kensai

(3). For more info on this technique go to the bottom of Chapter 19 of this story and to the Custom Jutsu section, it will be Jutsu C.

(4) Go to my profile for the address of the image of Yugito like this

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Raigeki no Yari** (Lightning Attack Spear): A powerful C-rank technique which allows the user to emanate lightning in the shape of a spear from their hands which then pierces the enemy. Its destructive power is great enough to even damage a small boulder, meaning it has a high killing potential or can at the very least severely wound an enemy. If the user is skilled enough they can increase the number of spears to attack multiple enemies. This, coupled with the sheer speed of the Lightning, makes it a difficult technique to evade.

(B). **Doton: Dojinheki** (Earth Style: Earth Encampment Wall): An Earth technique that involves the user creating four walls in a square formation around either an opponent or the user. The technique is very useful as a defensive technique, where it can defend the user from attacks from multiple different directions. It can also be used as a way to trap or contain an opponent once fully formed.

(C). **Katon:** **Haineko** (Fire Style: Ash Cat): A Fire Technique that Yugito created where she blows out a large cloud of ash from her mouth, which takes the shape of a large cat's head. When the attack hits the target, the person will be at first be cut by the high speed of the ash blowing past them. But after the ash is settled around them, the hot ash will burn their bodies up.


	30. Chapter 30

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty: Hellcat**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju talk/Thinking Jutsu**_"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

* * *

_When Genma called Yugito and Naruto's down, the crowd erupted into loud cheers, mainly because many were eager to see the Senju heir fight again._

_But as excited as the audience were for the upcoming match, none were more excited than the two participants, who turned and smirked at one another when they heard their names being called._

"_Looks like we're up Yugito-chan" Naruto said who pleased that he was now facing Yugito._

"_So it seems" an equally pleased Yugito, since this was the match she had been waiting for this match ever since the preliminaries ended._

"_You ready?" _

"_Tsk, do you even have to ask?" Yugito replied, where she and her fellow blonde just smile, and walked to the stairway and made their way down to the Arena to begin their rematch._

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.**

* * *

-In the Audience-

"Well this certainly will be an entertaining fight wouldn't you agree Enrai-sama" the Fire Daimyo said where he turned back to his counterpart from Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country), who was sitting behind him and his family.

"That it should Kasai-sama" the Lightning Daimyo replied with a nod.

The Lightning Daimyo was a dark-skinned man with a beard and silver framed glasses. He wore a loose fitting kimono and dark coloured cloak over it, along with the customary head-gear of the Daimyo of the five great nations.

"Perhaps we could make things a little more interesting?" the Fire Daimyo suggested with an amused smile.

"Oh and how exactly would we do that?" the dark skinned Daimyo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"By adding a small wager to the outcome of the match" that elderly Daimyo answered with the same amused smirk.

"Oh and how much are you willing to wager on the boy?"

"How about eighty million ryo?"

Upon hearing the amount, the guards of the two Daimyo's turned to gap at elderly man, at how he was willing to bet a large fortune on Naruto winning.

Naturally even the Lightning Daimyo was surprised by the about his counterpart from Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) was willing to risk on Naruto."

"I must say Enrai-sama I'm rather surprised by this, it is not like you to be so sure of someone, you must have a great deal of fate in the boy" commented the Lightning Daimyo.

"I owe young Naruto-kun the life of my Granddaughter here and I have fate in his skill, he was trained by both his mother and Jiriayia-kun. Who as you know are two of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninjas)."

"Hmmm, Yes I see your point; very well I accept your bet, I too have a great deal of fate in the girl Yugito. The Yondaime Raikage himself, praises the girl as one of the most promising Genin that Kumo has ever produce. She has gone through many years of specialize training and has been trained by Bee-san who is the strongest Shinobi in Kumo."

"I see, well it should be a very exciting battle between two such skilled and young Shinobi" the Fire Daimyo said.

"It doesn't matter how strong she is, Naruto-kun will still win" Rurichiyo declared as she joined the conversation.

"My, my, your Granddaughter seems rather sure of the boy" the Dark skinned Daimyo remarked.

"Yes she is, as Rurichiyo-chan is rather _fond_ of young Naruto-kun" the Elderly Daimyo replied as he smiled down at his Granddaughter who turned away to hide her blush.

"Well this should be an interesting fight" Kakashi commented. Who had finally been allowed to get up from the floor by Kushina, but had to stand since the red-head stated he still did not deserve to have a seat.

"Indeed" Yamato remarked.

"If Naruto is right about this girl, he won't have it easy" Asuma stated.

"Maybe, but he should be able to handle himself pretty well" Kushina replied, since they had trained Naruto for the sole purpose of standing up to Yugito and Gaara should they use their Biju's Chakra.

"Looks like we've just made it in time Samui" an injured Omoi said. Who had just arrived thanks to his female teammate helping him to the stands, where they were now seated next to their sensei.

"Yes, we have, this battle should be very cool" the busty blonde teen replied.

"Looks like Senju is up again, maybe he will show a bit more of his abilities this time against that Kumo girl?" Akatsuchi said.

"We'll see soon enough" Kurotsuchi replied, as they waited for Naruto and Yugito arrive in the arena.

"_Let's see if all the rumors about you are true Hell Cat_" Mai thought with a serious look as she waited for the match to start.

"_It seems the match Orochimaru-sama has been waiting for is finally about to appear, now we will see how much Naruto-kun has improved this past month_" a disguised Kabuto thought in the stands.

"_Now let's see how well you fair against her Senju_" a recovering Sai thought, who had just come from the medic's after they treated his wound.

Not far from where Sai was standing the Kiri Genin Saito sat alone waiting for his sensei to return who had left to check on his team-mates. But when the Kiri swordsman returned, the young Genin was surprised to see he was not alone.

"Haku, Chojuro, what are you two doing here?" Saito asked when he saw his team-mates

"We came to watch the match" Haku replied, as Zabuza helped her to her seat, while Chojuro sat next to her.

"But shouldn't you both be resting?"

"We're fine Saito-kun, I can assure you" the female ice user answered, while Chojuro nodded.

Naturally Saito was not convinced where he then looked to his sensei who said "Don't look at me, I tried but convince them, but the two of them wouldn't let me leave until I agreed to take them with me."

At this Saito could only sigh, since if Zabuza couldn't convince Haku to stay in the medical ward then no-one could.

Not far from the Kiri team, Team nine (aka team Gai) also received an unexpected arrival, in the form of a still badly injured Hyuga Neji, who slowly limped to where they were sitting.

"Would it be alright for me to take this seat?" Neji asked.

"Neji?" said Gai in surprise.

"Neji?!" repeated both Lee and Tenten together in surprise, when they saw their team-mate.

"Neji, what are you doing here? You should be in the medical ward recovering" Tenten said.

"I am fine, the medics treated most of my injuries, they said I mainly have to take it easy and rest" the male Hyuga replied. After which Tenten and Gai quickly got out of their seat and helped him to an empty set behind Lee.

"Neji, I think you should return to the medical ward, you need rest" Gai said after he and Tenten helped the Hyuga Prodigy to his seat.

"I will be fine Gai-sensei, besides this is a match I wish to see, as the medics have been keeping me updated with the rest of the matches while I was in the ward."

"So you know who left then?" Tenten asked, as she and Gai too their seats again.

"Yes, and I believe this match will not be one to miss and that this Nii Yugito will prove to be a difficult opponent for Naruto-san to fight" Neji said.

Naturally when Gai and the others heard Neji call Naruto by his name, instead of his surname, they were surprised and wondered what could have cause such a sudden change in him.

"What do you mean by that Neji-kun?" Lee asked. "What would you make think that this Nii Yugito would prove to be such a challenge to Naruto-kun."

"On my way here I overheard two Kumo Shinobi talking, who were discussing the upcoming match. From what I heard Ni Yugito is regarded as one of the strongest Shinobi Kumo has produced in years, and is stronger than the female Ranton (Storm Release) user."

"Wait! She's stronger than that Samui girl" Tenten said is surprise as she, Gai and Lee had seen her battle with Haku and both of them were not only very skilled but powerful as well.

"Yes, and from what I've heard, she is already among their most powerful Shinobi; they even refer to her as Kumo Jigoku no Neko (Kumo's Hell Cat)."

"Clearly the girl has been hiding her true strength, just like that Ranton user girl did" commented Gai.

"They haven't been the only ones, near the end of my battle with Naruto-san I sensed that he was holding something back" Neji said.

This of course did not surprise the others, since during both Temari's and Neji's battle, Naruto mainly used a hand full of techniques and defeated them by tricking them or figuring out their weaknesses.

"Well this looks like it will be an interesting match" the Daimyo of Taki no Kuni (Waterfall Country) said as he looked at the pamphlet with the stats of Naruto, Yugito and the other finalist.

"Hmph yes, although I still think you are fool for betting on that girl, when the obvious choice would be the Senji heir" the Grass Daimyo said.

"Although he is obvious choice, you can't say for certain that he will win. I'm expecting something from this Kumo girl, I know I'm right about this" the Waterfall Daimyo said.

At this the Grass Daimyo laughed, "No, in the world of fighting…Something always happens…It is unpredictable."

After saying this, the Grass Daimyo glanced to his bodyguards who just nodded and quickly left.

-In the Kage Box-

"I do hope your son is ready to fight Tsunade-sama, because I can assure you Yugito will not hold back when the battle starts and she has yet to show her true abilities" the Raikage said.

At this the Slug princess just smirked, "I would be more worried about your Kunoichi than my son Raikage-sama. He is more than capable of handling your Kunoichi and anything else she can throw at him, because like her, he has yet to show his true abilities."

"You got that right!" Jiraiya said with a grin, "If your girl isn't careful the brat will wipe the floor with her."

"Hmph, you seem quite certain of that" the Raikage commented, who despite being certain that Yugito would win, felt a slight twig of concern.

"I am" said Tsunade with a confident smirk. "In fact I'm so certain of it that I have bet all my winnings on Naru-chan winning not only this fight but the one after it as well."

When the others heard this, the Raikage smirked, since this almost assured Yugito's victory over Naruto. As Tsunade reputation for gambling was legendary, where she had the worst luck in the world and would nearly always lose, which was why they called her the Densetsu no Kamo (The Legendary Sucker).

At the same time a look of concern appeared on both Jiraiya and the Sandaime's faces.

"Eh hime, don't you think you should take a break from gambling? Since you've already won quite a bit from betting on the kid" Jiraiya said.

"What are you talking about Jiraiya? I'm on a streak right now, I haven't lost yet!"

"Yea and that's my point, remember what happens when you win at gambling" the Toad Sage reminded. Since given the amount Tsunade had won already, Jiraiya half expected the sky to fall on their heads, as Tsunade's luck never failed when she was winning.

"Hmph, this is completely different, I told you when I bet on Naru-chan I never lose, his good luck is stronger than my bad luck" Tsunade replied with scoff. Since she was already counting the money she would win in her head.

"Yea, well let's not tempt fate okay" Jiraiya pleaded.

"Tsk, It's too late, I've already placed the beat" Tsunade replied as she showed the ticket to the Toad Sage. Who just sighed and silently prayed to the Heavens that something bad wouldn't happen.

"Well regardless, I am personally looking forward to this match, as I'm certain it will prove even more entertaining than their other matches" the Mizukage said with a smile. "Don't you agree Kazekage-sama, Hokage-sama?"

"I do indeed Mizukage-sama" the old Hokage said with a smile.

"As do I" the Kazekage said, "In fact I expect great things from young Senju Naruto."

When the Suna Kage said this, both the Sandaime Hokage and the two Sannin frowned, since now the Kazekage was showing a keen interest in Naruto and it worried them.

* * *

-With Naruto and Yugito-

As the two Genin walked down the hall to the stairs that would lead them to the arena floor, they were suddenly confronted by two Kusa Chunin, who were blocking their path.

The two Shinobi each wore the symbol of their village around the heads and wore matching yellow shirts and strip grey scarfs.

"Hey girl, we want a word with you?" said one of the Kusa-nins, who wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

Narrowing her eyes, the blonde girl just scoffed and said "Sorry but I don't have time to talk, as I have a match to get to." After which she tried to move around the two Shinobi, but was stopped by the other Kusa Shinobi, who stepped in front of her and blocked her path.

"Despite what you Genin think, low level tournaments like this Chunin exam are only really good for betting" the Kusa Shinobi said. "And many of the Feudal Lords and Daimyo's have come here just for that reason."

"So what, it's none of our concern?" Yugito replied with a frown, as she had already guessed what the two Shinobi were trying to do.

"Actually it does…" the Kusa-nin replied, "Since we want you to do something for us."

"And what's that?"

"It's simple…" the Kusa-nin with the sunglasses said, with an arrogant smirk "We want you to lose the match."

"Yea our Daimyo has bet quite a sum of money on your opponent here winning the match" the other Kusa-nin said.

When the two blondes heard this they glared angrily at the two foreign Shinobi.

"Screw you" Yugito said angrily.

"Yea, tell your boss to go fuck himself, we aren't going to let you, him or anyone else dictate out match" Naruto replied.

"I suggest that you stay out of this punk, in fact you should be thanking us" the Kusa-nin wearing sunglasses snapped, "Since we're making sure that you win."

"I don't want your help, this is "_our_" match and we will fight it fairly" Naruto replied, as he began to channel his Chakra to his fists.

"Agreed." Yugito narrowed her eyes.

"Heh, these kids just don't get it Shiba" the sun-glass wearing Shinobi said.

"Maybe we should teach them a lesson in manners Midori and show them how they should treat their superiors" the Shinobi named Shiba said as he took out a Kunai from underneath his vest.

"Yea, I think your right" Midori replied with a cocky grin. But before he or his partner could do anything, Naruto slammed the back of his left fist into the side of the wall, creating a massive five foot hole in the wall.

When Naruto did this, Midori fell to the ground in shock, where his sunglasses fell forward, allowing Naruto to see the shock and scared look in his eyes.

At the same time, his partner Shiba found himself unable to do anything, where within the blink of an eye, Yugito disappeared and reappeared behind him, with her now claw-like hand wrapped itself around his neck.

"Now then who exactly are our superiors?" Yugito asked, with a toothy grin, which showed her fang-like teeth.

This of course freaked the two Shinobi out, since it made her appearance that more demonic looking, especially with her now bright yellow slitted eyes.

"I suggest that the two of you push off, before Yugito-chan and I decided to paint the hall with your hides" Naruto said with a dangerous look in his eyes. After which he then began to crack his knuckles in a similar manner that his mother would do.

"_Shit, these brats are monsters!_" Midori thought with fear, before he took off running, with his partner, (who Yugito let go off), following quickly behind him.

Once the two Kusa Shinobi left, the two blondes smirked at one another.

"Not bad Yugito-chan, you really scared the crap out of that guy, when you appear behind him looking like that" said a smirking Naruto, before the female blonde returned to her normal state.

"You're not so bad yourself Naruto" Yugito replied with a smirk of her own, "I think that sun-glass wearing guy wet himself when he saw you punch through the wall like that."

"You think?"

"Yea, I can practically smell the urine, in fact I think he shit himself at the same time" Yugito said as she scrunched up her nose at the stench.

"Heh, well let's get going, everyone must be getting impatient" Naruto said with a smile, where Yugito just nodded and the two of them made their way down to the arena, laughing and joking over what happened with the two Kusa-nins.

After waiting a few minutes the two Genin walked out into the open arena, where they were greeted with a thunderous cheer from the audience.

Slowly the two Genin walked towards Genma, who simply nodded to them, after which they walked a few meters away from one another, leaving a large space between them.

When they walked far enough away from one another, they turned around to face each other.

Once they had stopped and were opposite each other, Genma then spoke "If both of you are now ready, we will begin the first match of Round three."

When the two Genin nodded, Genma just nodded back and raised his arm up and simply said "Go!" as he swung his arm down.

Despite Genma yelling "Go!" neither Genin moved forward or attempted to draw their Katana. Instead they kept their distance and stared at one another few minutes.

As the Genin continued to stare at one another the tension in the air became apparent to everyone, especially to the audience who were waiting to see who would make the first move.

-Enter Ben-To OST 14-I Gotta Turn It On-

After another few minutes of staring at each other, Naruto suddenly spoke, "So Yugito-chan, shall we get started?"

"I thought you'd never ask" the blonde girl replied with smirk after which both she and Naruto drew their Katana and fell into their individual Sword stances.

Within moments of doing this, the two Genin raced forward at top speed until their Katana's clashed with one another.

After his Katana made contact with Yugito's, Naruto brought his Katana back and then spun around to Yugito's unguarded left side. Naruto then attempted and horizontal slash, which Yugito narrowly avoided by spinning around to Naruto's left and made the same attempt on his unguarded side.

Catching a glimpse of what Yugito was doing from the corner of his eye Naruto quickly jumped to his right side. Narrowly escaping the slash and putting some distance between the two, although received a slight cut of his new coat.

After evading Yugito's slash, Naruto immediately spun around to face the Blonde girl, where he then moved forward to reengage her.

For the next two few minutes the two blonde Shinobi fought in a fierce battle of steel, with each moving with impressive speed.

To the non-Shinobi members of the audience, the two blondes were blurs, moving from one end of the field to the next, appearing only for a second to clash swords before disappearing in a blur again. The Shinobi members of the audience on the other hand were able to keep up and follow with their movements, where many of them were impressed with the two Genin speed and movements.

As the fight progressed, Naruto jumped back to avoid another one of Yugito's downward sword slashes. After which he then moved forward and tried to use the **Mizu no Atsuen** (Rolling Water) technique to catch the Kumo Kunoichi off-guard (1). But Yugito was prepared for this, as she had watched Naruto's fights in the preliminaries closely and saw him switch his sword from his right hand to his left in mid-swing.

Ignoring Naruto's faint swing, Yugito jumped back at the last possible second to avoid the real swing by jumping backwards.

After avoiding Naruto's attack, Yugito then moved forward to take advantage of an opening that now appeared after Naruto missed her. But just as she swung her Katana down on Naruto, the blonde Senju jumped backwards to avoid the slash and keep some distance between them. He then used the **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water) technique to pass his Katana from his left hand to his right behind his back in an attempt to surprise the girl.

But just as he swung his sword, Yugito brought her Katana up to block his slash, where she then pushed Naruto back. Who then disappeared in a blur, preventing Yugito from striking back at him.

Naruto then reappeared behind the female jinchūriki and tried to slash her from behind, only for him to cut through air when Yugito disappeared in the same manner he did.

This continued for several where the two blondes would move around the arena at high speed trying to avoid the others attack, while trying to slash at the other at the same time.

As the fight progressed some of the audience began to see sparks erupting from the two Katana when they clashed with each other.

After dodging another one of Naruto's slashes Yugito picked up several shuriken from the ground that were left there from a previous battle and threw them at Naruto. Who was then force to deflect them with his Katana, allowing Yugito to race up to him and use the **Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri**(Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading) technique.

Seeing what Yugito was doing, Naruto was narrowly able to avoid the deadly slash by jumping into the air. But what Naruto didn't know was that this was what Yugito wanted, as he was now opened to attack while in mid-air. She then used the **Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri **(Cloud-Style Front Beheading) technique to slash at him.

But just as she cut the blonde boy, "Naruto" reverted into a large wooden log, revealing he had replaced himself using **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (Body Replacement Technique).

Realizing that Naruto had tricked her, she then quickly began to scan the arena for any sign of the Senju heir.

She course did not have to wait long as she caught a glimpse of reflective light from the blade of a Katana out of the corner of her left eye, where she immediately spun around and narrowly blocked a deadly sword strike from Naruto. Who then forced Yugito on the defensive with a series of rapid attacks, forcing her back.

Seeing that she was at a disadvantage Yugito decided to turn the tables on her opponent, where she channelled Chakra into her nails on her right hand, turning them into long claws. After which she then went of the offensive and began to force Naruto back, where she blocked one of his strikes with her Katana and attempted to slash at his left side with her claws.

When Naruto saw this, he acted fast and jumped away barely avoiding the slash, although received another large slash on the edge of his coat.

Knowing he would be at a disadvantage fighting like this, given how Yugito claws were just as strong and as sharp as any Kunai. Naruto quickly took out a Kunai from his utility belt to help him even up the odds between him and Yugito.

For the next ten minutes the two Genin moved around the arena as they fought, each trying to gain some advantage over the other. As the fight continued Naruto was able to hold his own for a while with his Katana and Kunai. He had seen how Yugito fought using both her clawed hand and her Katana when she fought Sai and knew how she fought.

After deflecting one of Yugito's sword stabs with his Katana, Naruto threw his Kunai at the blonde girl's head, distracting her momentarily as she evaded the Kunai. This then allowed Naruto to gain the advantage and start going on the offensive.

Not wanting this to happen, Yugito tried to force Naruto on the defensive by swinging her clawed at hand his head.

Seeing this Naruto ducked under the swipe and attempted to cut Yugito legs from under her with his sword. But before he could finish his swing Yugito preformed a backwards flip to avoid the sword swipe and at the same time kick Naruto underneath his chin, causing the blonde boy to fall backwards.

Recovering quickly both blondes raced towards one another at top speed and engaged each other in a fierce fury of steel. As they fought, Yugito was able to knock Naruto's Katana out of his hand. But for her trouble she left an opening that Naruto exploited, allowing him to hit her with a strong punch in the stomach, causing her to skid several feet back across the ground and double over slightly in pain from the punch.

Wasting no time, Naruto then charged up his right fist with Chakra and moved in to deliver the final blow. But just as Naruto was about to hit the blonde Kunoichi, Yugito jumped into the air and performed a perfect mid-air flip over Naruto, avoiding the punch and at the same time kicking the Senju heir in the back of the head, causing him to fall forward.

But as he fell forward, Naruto brought his hands up, allowing him to flip back onto his feet. After which he then spun around and threw several Shuriken he took out from his utility belt and threw them at Yugito, who had just turned around after landing back on the ground, forcing her move away.

Once he had driven Yugito back, Naruto immediately raced over to his Katana and picked it up, where he then reengaged Yugito with his Katana.

For several more minutes the two blonde sword users fought intensely with one another as they clashed sword, each one given little ground to the other. But after one final clash of swords, the two blondes broke apart and jump back from one another to assess the damage done and what to do next.

-End Ben-To OST 14-I Gotta Turn It On-

-In the Audience-

"So strong" Hinata muttered when she saw how fiercely Naruto and Yugito were fighting.

"Agreed" commented Yamato.

"Man, neither of them is playing around" said Kiba.

"Trust me you haven't seen anything yet" Kushina said with a knowing smile.

"Wait! Are you saying that aren't being serious?" Ino asked.

"Oh they are being serious; they're just not giving it their all. Right now they're just feeling each other out, testing their speed and reaction time. But the real fight will begin soon."

Not far from where Kushina and the others were sitting, Killer Bee and his students were also discussing the match.

"Naruto sure has come a long way when his comes to using a sword. There was a time when he couldn't even last thirty seconds against Yugito. But look at him now?" Omoi said as he, Killer Bee and Samui watch the fight.

"Yes." said Samui as she looked down at Naruto and Yugito.

"Jegga-jack this ain't no joke, this battle will kick and haaaailll ass… oh yeah!" commented Killer Bee.

"Hey Samui, is it just me or is Yugito smiling?" Omoi asked as he stared at his female team-mate.

"She is" Samui replied as looked at her fellow blonde. "Although I can't say I'm surprised, you know how much Yugito has wanted a rematch with Naruto. This is the battle she has been waiting and training for ever since Naruto first fought her."

"Your right." Omoi said as he nodded, since Yugito had been training hard for the past two years, all so that she could become stronger and defeat Naruto should they ever fight again.

-In the Arena-

Down in the arena the two blonde Genin continued to stare at one another, waiting to see who would make the next move.

After a few minutes Naruto suddenly spoke, "Hey Yugito-chan how about we take things up a notch?"

"Fine by me, just don't blame me when things get too hot for you to handle" the blonde female replied with a confident smirk, which Naruto returned before taking out another Kunai.

-Enter Naruto Shippuuden OST 2 Sunspot-

After a few moments the two Genin once again raced towards one another at top speed. After clashing blades for a brief moment, the two Genin reappeared at opposite ends of the arena.

After reappearing the two Genin quickly spun around to face one another where Naruto threw his Kunai at Yugito. Who took a Kunai out from her pouch and threw it, hitting Naruto's projectile dead on and deflecting it. But as soon as this happened Naruto appeared above the Kumo Kunoichi and attempted a downward slash, which she barely blocked.

For the next few minutes the audience watched as the two young Shinobi raced around the arena with tremendous speed, fighting furiously in the hope of gaining the upper hand.

Eventually though Naruto gained the advantage by blocking one of Yugito's sword strikes and pushing her away to the other end of the arena, causing her to drop her Katana. But before he could pursue his advantage, Yugito performed several high speed hand-seals and yelled "**Katon: Okibi** (Fire Style: Blazing Fire)!"(A) and spat out a large stream of red hot Flames.

"Crap!" Naruto thought when he saw the large Fire Stream flying towards him. Wasting no time Naruto quickly turned his sword sideways and started spinning around and gathering the water left over from Samui's and Haku's battle. (1)

Within seconds a large spinning waterspout erupted around Naruto, shielding him from Yugito's Fire attack and creating a large cloud of steam around Naruto as the hot flames hit the cold water.

After losing sight of Naruto in the steam cloud, Yugito halted her attack and waited for the steam to disperse. But just as the steam began to fade, a large crescent shape blade of Wind erupted from the steam and flew towards her.

Acting quickly Yugito jumped to her right side avoiding the deadly Wind attack which hit the arena wall behind her and left a large slash mark. But as soon as she evaded the attack, she was forced to move again as several Kunai flew towards her.

With no time to waste Yugito jumped back to avoid them, but when they hit the ground she notice that they had exploding notes tied to them, which exploded soon after.

After barely avoiding the explosion and being left slightly singed, Yugito began to search the arena for Naruto, where half of it was still covered in steam.

She of course did not have to wait very long as the steam began to dissipate further and Naruto soon appeared out of the cloud with his Katana in hand and attempted to stab her with it.

Seeing this, Yugito skilfully sidestepped the blonde boy's attack and then hit him in the back of the head with a reverse heel kick, in the hope of knocking him out. But as soon as Naruto hit the ground "he" exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing him to be a **Kage Bunshin** (Shadow Clone).

When the blonde girl saw this, she quickly turned back to the steam cloud, which had fully dissipated, and saw the real Naruto. Who was busy preforming a long series of hand-seals and gather all the remaining Water in the arena.

Realizing that Naruto was preparing a large scale Water technique, given the long series of hand seals he was doing and the amount of Water he was gathering. Yugito began to preform her own series on hand-seals to counter Naruto's technique.

At roughly the same time both Genin finished their set of hand seals and performed their individual attacks.

"**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" Naruto yelled as large Dragon made out of the Water from around the arena formed over him and flew towards Yugito.

At the same time Yugito finished her hand-seals and thought "_**Katon: Hitora**_ (Fire Style: Fire Tiger)!"(B) And spat out another long stream of Fire, which took the shape of a Tiger's head.

Within seconds the two powerful attacks collided with one another and caused a massive explosion, where both attacks were negated.

-End Naruto Shippuuden OST 2 Sunspot-

After the explosion, the entire arena quickly became filled with steam, blocking the audience view of the battle. The heat of the flames had been so intense that it and converted Naruto's Water Dragon into steam.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Man this is such a drag…those two blondes really are troublesome" muttered Shikamaru, as he moved back from the railings as he could feel the intense heat of super-heated steam from his position.

Like Shikamaru, many of the other occupants in the finalist box did the same, as like him they could feel heat intense heat of the steam as it rose up.

Others however like Gaara and Sasuke ignored the discomfort of the heat and continued stare into the massive steam cloud, hoping to see any sign of the two blondes.

"_Where are they?_" Sasuke thought where he activated his Sharingan to try and find Yugito and Naruto, but for some strange reason could see no sign of them.

-In the Audience-

"Unreal, are these two really just Genin?" Izumo asked in shock at seeing two Genin each preforming high level B-rank Jutsu.

"At the very least, in terms of fighting ability they're Chunin level" Kotetsu commented given what they had seen. At the same time, he began to wonder how Naruto and Yugito have the reserves to use Jutsu of those levels.

"Shit not again, first mist, then dust, now steam, how many times do they have to cover the field…we're missing all the action" Kiba complained. Who was really getting into this battle and wanted to see Naruto kick Yugito butt, given how Yugito was the one who defeated him.

"Neji can you see them? What's happening?" Tenten asked when she turned to her teammate, who now had is Byakugan activated in an attempt to see what was happen in the massive steam cloud.

"Unfortunately I cannot see them" the Hyuga boy replied.

"They could not have simply disappeared" said Lee, "Are you sure is the steam is not preventing you from seeing them?"

"No" answered Neji, "I can see through the steam perfectly, I simply cannot see them."

"Does that mean that they are…" said Tenten but before she could finish she suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing. After hearing this, her sensei Gai suddenly said, "Look over there!" while pointing straight ahead.

When Tenten and the rest of the others looked in the direction that Gai was pointing, they saw both Naruto and Yugito, swords in hand, battling with one another on top of the arena wall directly opposite the stands, above the arena the steam cloud.

"Where did they come from?" Choji asked in surprise after his sensei Asuma pointed them to him and the others.

"They must have moved out of the arena just before their attacks hit, knowing what would happen" commented Anko.

"But what are they doing up there?" Ino asked.

"Probably because it was the safest place to be until the steam cooled down" Kushina replied, while watching Naruto fight with Yugito on the arena wall.

"Agreed, if they hadn't, more than likely they would've been killed if not badly burned by the super-heated steam" Kurenai added as she and everyone watch the two blondes fight.

-In the Arena-

After appearing on top of the arena wall Yugito and Naruto continued their sword battle. For the first few minutes the two Genin fought furiously trying to push the other back. But neither one gave much ground, proving that they were evenly matched with one another.

As the fight dragged on, Naruto ducked under one of Yugito's slashes and made a swipe at her legs with his Katana in an attempt to cut one of her legs. But missed when she jumped backwards, forcing Naruto to pursue after her where he made another slash at her.

Seeing the slash Yugito quickly brought her Katana up and blocked Naruto's attack and pushed the young Senju back. Thus allowing her to go on the offensive, where she made a stabbing motion at Naruto with her blade. Only to have it be deflected by the blonde boy, who then made another slash at the female jinchūriki forcing her move back and allowing Naruto to go on the offensive again.

This went on for several minutes going back and forth between the two, where each time one would have the advantage. The other would do something that would put the fight back in their favour.

Eventually the fight turned in Naruto's favour again where he saw an opening and delivered s sharp knee kick to her side. Catching the blonde girl off guard and damaging one of her ribs, forcing her to move back.

Not wanting to let the initiative go, Naruto tried to stab Yugto in the arm with a one handed sword thrust, but missed as the female blonde side-stepped the stab. He then tried a side slash, but Yugtio evaded that as well by jumping to the left side near the edge of the wall.

Seeing that Yugito had run out space to move, Naruto turned and attempted a downward slash on Yugito's head. But before his attack could hit, Yugito brought her Katana up and blocked his slash, where she then took a step forward and pushed him back, breaking his stance, leaving him open to attack.

But just as Yugito moved in to deliver the final blow, Naruto used the **Nagareru Mizu** technique to switch his sword from his right hand to his left, at high speed behind his back. Catching the blonde girl off-guard where she tried to move out of the way of the blade but was slashed on her right arm and forced to move away from Naruto.

"_Shit! That was too close…_" Yugito thought as she held her bleeding arm, "_…if I had been any slower, I might have lost my arm._"

Before Yugito could ponder any longer on her injury Naruto moved forward hoping to end the match while Yugito was injured and distracted. But before he could reach the blonde Kunoichi, she jumped up into the air and down into the arena, disappearing into the steam that covered the arena.

Wasting no time, Naruto quickly followed after Yugito into the steam cloud, which had cooled down enough so that it was tolerable.

After landing back on the ground, Naruto immediately began to gather his Chakra and then touch the ground with his two front fingers before using his **Chakura no Parusu** (Chakra Pulse) technique to find Yugito. (2)

Once he located the Blonde Kumo-nin's position, he began to plan his next move..

After Yugito had bandaged up her wound with some cloth that she tore from her sleeve, she immediately began to assess her situation.

"_This is just like when I fought that Kiri Genin Chojuro earlier, when he used __**Kirigakure no Jutsu**_ (Hidden Mist technique)" Yugito thought as she looked around her surroundings. Before a small smirk appeared on her face as she realised that she could use the same trick she used to defeat Chojuro.

After creating the Lightning clone Yugito had the clone search for Naruto while she hid in the steam and waited for him to attack.

She did not have to wait for very long as Naruto soon appeared from the steam, racing towards the Lightning clone with impressive speed, where he then used the **Tachioyogi** (Treading Water) technique to impale the Lightning clone with his sword.

After Naruto stabbed the Lightning clone, the clone quickly reverted into Lightning, which travelled down Naruto's sword and into Naruto, electrocuting him.

Taking advantage of the situation, Yugito immediately appeared out from her hiding spot in the steam and slashed at Naruto in the back.

But as soon as she lashed the Senju heir with here Katana, he exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing he had been a shadow clone.

"_Fuck!_" Yugito thought after realizing that she had been tricked by Naruto again, where before she could even start looking for him, he bust out of the ground underneath her.

"_Shit_…!" Yugito thought when she saw Naruto burst out of the ground swung his Katana at her.

Thanks to her quick cat-like reactions, Yugito was able to jump back and evade a lethal slash from the sword. Although fell to the ground after tripping over a piece of overturn earth and landed on her rear and dropped her Katana.

After landing on the ground, the blonde Kunoichi immediately tried to pick herself up. But before she could get back onto her feet, she found the tip of a blade pointed at her face and a smirking Naruto looking down at her. Although this smirk quickly faded and turned to a look of dumb confusion and surprise, followed by Naruto's face turning bright red.

Confused by the way Naruto was acting and why he wasn't finishing her off, Yugito lowered her eyes to see what Naruto was looking at. When she looked down at herself, she saw that Naruto sword had cut her, and although she received no injury, there was a large diagonal slash on her blouse exposing her right breast slightly.

When Yugito saw this, like Naruto she turned as bright red and quickly covered her chest with her arms and cried "Kyaaaaaa!" from embarrassment and shame.

Both Genin were of course grateful that the steam blocked the audience view of the battle.

Naruto because he knew his mother would go berserk if she saw what just happen, while his godfather would never let him live it down, and Yugito because she would probably die from the humiliation.

"I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry…" an embarrassed Naruto said quickly as he lowered his Katana from Yugito and started waving his arms in denial. "I didn't mean to stare I swear…it was just that eh…I was caught off guard and eehh… don't worry I am a medic so it not like I don't know all about them…. Oh no not like _that,_ I mean…eh…it's just that I've studied them… _not yours_…I mean, I've studied from books…and eh…not that there is anything wrong with _yours_...but eeehhh"

Naruto of course would have continued and tried to explain himself, but he knew from all the times watching his mother beat the crap out of Jiraiya for his perverted behaviour, that he was just digging his own grave further. Given how he was too embarrassed to think straight and to form coherent sentences.

Once Naruto stop talking, he soon saw a dark red murderous aura form around her, one that strangely reminded him of the time when he first met and fought Yugito back when she used her Biju's power.

Slowly the blonde Kunoichi got back onto her feet, where she kept her head down, preventing Naruto from seeing her face and lowered her right arm, while keeping her torn top covered with her left arm.

After she was back on her feet, the girl lifted her head and glared murderously at the Senju heir. Who took a step back in concern and gulped, while silently thanking the heavens that Yugito didn't have her sword in her hand right now.

"NNNaaarrruuuutttooo…" Yugito said slowly in a cold angry voice before raising her right fist and smashing it into Naruto's face and yelling "YOU JERK!" as she hit him. But as soon as her fist hit "Naruto" he turned into a wooden log, which then shattered into a thousand piece from Yugito's punch, revealing that Naruto had replaced himself at the last possible second.

When Yugito saw that Naruto had replaced himself, she quickly started to look around for any sign of him. But could find none, after which she then yelled "NARUTO! YOU BASTARD! COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME! TAKE YOUR BEATING LIKE A MAN!"

"_**Hehehe, oh come on Kitten don't be like that, it's not like he meant to do that, although if you ask me you should happy**_" said the Nibi.

"_HAPPY!_" Yugito roared inside her mind, "_Why the hell should I be happy?! If this steam hadn't been covering the arena, the entire audience would have seen what happen and I would be the laughing stock of both Konoha and Kumo._"

"_**You should be happy because of the reaction you got out of him**_" the Nibi replied. "_**Given how he froze and got all embarrassed like that, it's obvious that he find you attractive, which increases your chances. Not to mention it puts you ahead of all those other girls who are after him, since I don't think he has seen any of their assets.**_"

After the Nibi said this, the cat Biju spent the next ten minutes listening to the angry yells of her host denying that she thought of Naruto that way, and stating how he would be lucky to still be alive once she was done with him. She also started to wish that she had been sealed with the Hachibi instead of Nibi, given how her sensei and Nibi were more alike with their perverted behaviours.

At the same time hiding behind a large tree in the steam a worried Naruto let out a tired sigh. "_Ah man, I think it might be best if I left her alone, at least until the steam fades away. Maybe by then she might of cooled off…but then again knowing my luck, she might get even more pissed at me._"

After finishing arguing with her Biju, Yugito started to take deep breaths since she would have to calm down.

Once she had calm down, she took out some Ninja wire and used it to stitch her blouse up.

By the time she was finished and had picked her Katana up from the ground, the steam had finally dissipated, revealing the arena to both her and the audience above.

At the same time Naruto slowly walked out from behind the tree he had been hiding behind and readied himself for any attack the blonde girl would make.

-In the Audience/Finalist Box-

"About time" said Kiba after the steam faded away and Naruto and Yugito became visible.

"Hey is it just me or does that blonde girl seem angry at Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, since after all the times he had seen his mother yell at him or his father. He had gained a sort of instinct for angry women.

"Your right, heh, looks like Senju said or did something to piss Yugito off" Karui said. Who was standing near Shikamaru when he asked this, and could not help but smirk in amusement, knowing Naruto was in trouble know.

-In the Arena-

After waiting for several minutes for Yugito to attack Naruto decided to make the first move, and conjured ten shadow clones and had them surround Yugito and attack her from all directions.

As the clones surrounded her Yugito readied her sword, and channelled her Chakra along with her fire affinity into it, igniting the Katana and turning it into a flaming blade. She then used her flaming sword to dispatch two of the clones that came at her. After which she then swung her Katana in a large wide arc and yelled "**Kumo-Ryū Kaengiri **(Cloud-Style Flame Beheading)", creating a large flaming circle of fire around her, destroying the remaining clones in one go.

Once the clones were all gone, the flames on Yugito's Katana died out and she sheathed her Katana. After which she did several hand-seals thought "_**Rankedama**_ (Flaming Hairball)!" before spitting out several flaming hair balls.

Remembering how Yugito defeated Chojuro, Naruto knew that simply extinguishing the flames would not stop the hairballs and decided the best course of action would be to evade them.

After dodging the Flaming hairballs, Naruto found himself immediately under attack again, where Yugito appeared in front of him with her Katana redrawn. She then tried a horizontal slash, which would have severed Naruto's head had he not ducked under the slashed.

After evading the slash, Naruto punched the ground with his left fist while using his superhuman strength, causing the ground around Naruto to explode from the shockwave and blow Yugito back.

Once some distance had been put between the two of them Naruto quickly used **Doton: Kage Bunshin **(Earth Style: Shadow Clone) to create four Earth clones, and had them attack the female blonde, who had just recovered from being blow back.

Wasting no time, the clones quickly moved towards the Kumo Kunoichi, where the first two head straight for her, while the other two circled around her.

The first Earth Clone made the first move by throwing several Shuriken at her, which she skilfully deflected with her Katana, before having to defend herself with it from the second Earth clone. Who slashed at her with its Katana, after blocking the slash, Yugito then had her fingernails, in her left hand, take their claw form and stab the clone in the side, causing it to revert into mud. After which she then raced forward to attack the first Earth clone. But as she did, the two other Earth clones that had moved around her came up behind her and prepared to attack from behind.

Aware of the two clones Yugito pretended to not have notice them and prepared to strike the first Earth clone. But at the last possible second she used **Kumo-Ryū Uragiri **(Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading) technique to severe the heads of the two clones, catching them off guard and causing them to turn mud.

After dealing the two clones, Yugito quickly jumped back to avoid a deadly Kunai stab from the last remaining Earth clone, who she was standing in front of. But as soon as her feet touch the ground, a large earth spike appeared in front of her and nearly impaled her.

It was only thanks to her quick reactions, which she had developed from the special training the Raikage had put her through when she was young, that she was able to replace herself in time with Naruto's the last remaining Earth clone.

After evading the Earth spike Yugito looked over at Naruto, who had both his hands on his ground. It of course did not take a genius to figure that Naruto had used the Earth clones as a distraction and waited until she was vulnerable to use **Doton: Doryūsō **(Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears).

"_Heh, alright then Naruto, if that's how you want to play it. Let's see how you handle __**this**_…" the blonde girl thought before she stabbed her Katana into the ground. After which she performed four quick hand-seals and thought "_**Katon: Okibi!**_" and spat out a large stream of red hot fire from her mouth.

"_Fuck!_" Naruto thought when he saw the large stream of flames flying toward him. Knowing that he couldn't avoid the fire attack in time, and that he would have to block it, and there was only one technique he knew that he could use to block Yugito's attack in time.

-Enter Naruto Shippuden OST 2 - Rising Dragon-

Acting fast, Naruto quickly created a shadow clone and had it start doing hand-seals, while he flipped his Katana backwards and started to spin around, drawing the Water from the air and the surrounding plants. Given to how all the Water from Haku and Samui's battle had evaporated when Naruto's Water Dragon and Yugito Fire Tiger clashed.

As soon as Naruto began to spin, a large amount of Water started to appear around him and the clone.

-In the Kage Box-

"Impossible!" said the Raikage as he stood up from his seat in shock after seeing Water appear out nowhere and form into a massive spinning waterspout around Naruto and his clone, protecting them from Yugito's Fire attack. "Don't tell me he's drawing all that from the air?!"

"It's not just from the air, he's also drawing it from the nearby trees and plants" the Kazekage said. Who then pointed to the grass and the nearby trees which were drying up as Naruto drew Water from them.

"Incredible!" muttered the Mizukage in disbelief at Naruto being able to do something like this, especially at his age. "_Has he somehow inherited the high Water affinity of his ancestor the Nidaime Hokage?_"

The Mizukage of course knew a great deal about the fame Hokage whose skill in Water manipulation was second to none, even to this very day.

This was of course an embarrassing subject for Kirigakure (Hidden Mist), given how her village specialized in Suiton Ninjutsu. The closest anyone in her village ever came to the Nidaime Hokage skill level in Suiton Ninjutsu was the famed swordsman Hoshigaki Kisame, who later became Kiri's most infamous and feared nuke-nin.

"_This kid_…" thought a surprised Darui, who had a serious look on his face, which was highly unusual for him.

"_Da a boy kid, show them just what you're made out of_" Jiraiya thought with a smile and was joined by both Tsunade and Sandaime who were also smiling.

-In the Audience-

"But How?" muttered a shocked Zabuza, who like most Shinobi couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"_His Water skill is even greater than mine, maybe even Haku's_" Saito thought as he turned to look his team-mate who had stunned looks on their faces.

At the same time the members of the rookie nine who were sitting in the front seats of the stands looked on at Naruto with surprised looks. Not believing what they were seeing Naruto doing.

Their attention although was soon diverted when they suddenly her a nearby voice yell out.

"That's the way Naruto, that's my student!"

"Kushina-senpai please calm down" Yamato pleaded as he tried to calm the red head down.

"And what's wrong with me cheering for my student. You should be cheering with me, since he's your student as well" retorted the former ANBU captain with some annoyance, when she turned to look at her former subordinate.

"There's nothing wrong with cheering for him Kushina-senpai, it's just that you don't need to make a spectacle of yourself, that all" the man answered quickly, knowing Kushina temperament. While at the same time glancing around him where he could see several people starting to stare at them.

Huffing at the stares, Kushina just turned back around to watch Naruto's battle and once again started to cheer for her blonde haired student.

-In the Arena-

When Yugito saw Naruto create the large spinning waterspout out of nowhere, the blonde Kunoichi was caught completely off guard and soon cancelled her attack, realizing that her attack was worthless.

"_It's not possible!_" Yugito yelled inside her head when she saw the massive watersprout surround the boy and his clone. "_Naruto is able to conjure that much Water from just the air and the surrounding plants!_"

After Yugito ended her attack, Naruto stopped spinning causing the waterspout to fall. But before the Water could hit the ground, Naruto's clone finished its hand-seals and yelled out "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**!" causing the Water to form into a massive Water Dragon which then charged straight at her.

With no time to spare, Yugito quickly tried to avoid the powerful Water attack. She ever tried running up the arena wall by channelling her Chakra to her feet to keep from falling. But no matter where she ran to the Dragon continued to follow after her, thanks to Naruto's clone control it.

Realizing that she would never lose the Water Dragon, Yugito quickly took out three Kunai with exploding notes tied to them and threw them at the creature, destroying it once the notes exploded.

"_Damn, these two are something else…_" the match referee Genma thought. Who had just reappeared in the arena, after being force to move out when Naruto created the Water Dragon.

Looking around Genma saw that the entire arena was filled with inch of Water after Yugito destroyed Naruto's Water Dragon. "_…they've completely change the state of the arena._"

After the Water Dragon was destroyed, Naruto clone immediately spat out several balls of Water and fired them at Yugito, who was still on the wall.

Seeing the blobs of Water flying towards her, Yugito went through several quick hand-seals and spat out several flaming hairballs, which hit the Water balls dead on, cancelling each other out. But like in her battle with Chojuro the extinguish hairballs continue to fly towards the Naruto's clone and hit it dead on, causing the clone to disappear.

Once the clone had been dealt with Yugito was force to jump away from her position as Naruto used his **Surasshu-fū **(Wind Slash) technique to fire a crescent blade of Wind at her.

After dodging Naruto's Wind attack, Yugito wasted no time in going back on the offensive and unleashed a volley of shuriken. At the same time, she spewed out a stream of fire, covering the spinning projectiles in flames, increasing their destructive power.

When Naruto saw the flaming projectiles he quickly used the **Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water) technique to create several waves of Water in front of him, which extinguished the fire that covered the shuriken. The Water also slowed the shuriken down enough so he could deflect them away without any harm.

But as soon as Naruto had deflected the flaming shuriken he was forced to jump back to avoid a powerful downward slash from Yugito, who appeared above him.

Not wanting to give Naruto any chance to fight back, the blonde girl chased after the Senju heir with the intent on ending their battle.

Acting fast, Naruto dipped the tip of his Katana into the Water and created another large wave of Water in front of him and yelled "**Mizu no Kagayaku **(Glittering Water)!"

Undeterred by the wall of Water, Yugito moved forward and stabbed her Katana through it and into Naruto's left shoulder.

But as soon as she did this the wall of Water fell and "Naruto" faded away, revealing that he was a reflective image created by the Water.

Realizing she had been tricked, the blonde Kunoichi quickly turned to her right and caught a glimpse of Naruto speeding towards him at high speed.

Within moments Naruto was right in front of his female opponent and used the **Mizu no Atsuen **to switch his Katana from his right hand to his left in mid-swing, catching Yugito unaware. Who had brought her sword up to defend herself against the fake slash.

It was only thanks to the fact that she had used her claw creation technique to increase the durability and length of her nails, that she was able to block Naruto's real sword slash with her long nails. But before she could make any move against the blonde boy. Naruto pulled his sword back and used **Nagareru Mizu** to pass his sword from his left hand to his right hand behind his back, catching Yugito off-guard again and sending her skidding back several feet.

Luckily for the blonde Kumo Kunoichi, Naruto had turned his Katana around at the last second, so that the back of his blade hit Yugito left side, saving her from receiving a possible mortal injury. But even though the blow wasn't fatal, it had still been serious, as the hit had cracked one of her ribs right side.

Seeing that he had the advantage in the fight Naruto decided to try to finish the fight once and for all by using one of the new techniques Kushina taught him the previous month.

Dipping the tip of his sword into the inch of Water and gathering it around the blade. Naruto swung his sword at Yugito and yelled"**Bunkatsu Mizu** (Splitting Water)!" creating a large crescent shape blade of Water that moved with incredible speed. (3)

"Fuck!" cried Yugito when she saw the deadly blade of Water flying towards her and narrowly avoided the attack by jumping sideways. Although received a large cut on her left arm which was bleeding badly.

With little time to contemplate her injury, Yugito was forced on the move again as Naruto used the **Mizurappa** (Wild Water Wave) technique, spit out a large wave of Water from his mouth, forcing her to jump onto the side of the arena wall.

Seeing that Yugito avoided his attack, Naruto preformed several more hand-seal and used the **Teppōdama **(Gunshot) technique to fire an unrelenting barrage of Water blasts from his mouth, forcing Yugito to race around the arena wall to keep from being hit.

This of course did not last very long, as Yugito soon struck back by throwing several Kunai, with the some exploding notes tied to them, at Naruto. Forcing the blonde boy to halt his attack and jump away.

After the notes exploded, a large shower of Water covered the arena, blocking Yugito and the audience view of Naruto. But once it died down, they caught sight of the spiky haired blonde again. Who was busy preforming a long series of hand-seals and gather all the surround Water around him.

Recognizing the hand set Yugito began performing her own series of hand-seals.

At the exact same time both Genin unleashed their Jutsu.

"**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**!" roared Naruto as large Dragon made out of the Water formed around him and flew towards Yugito.

"_**Katon: Hitora**_!" thought Yugito before spitting out a long stream of Fire, which took the shape of a Tiger's head and headed straight for Naruto's Water Dragon.

Within seconds the two the two massive attacks collide and like earlier on, they cancelled each other out in a large explosion. Creating another massive cloud of red hot steam that covered the entire arena.

-End Naruto Shippuden OST 2 - Rising Dragon-

-In the Audience-

"This is nuts, both these kids aren't normal" muttered Kotetsu in surprise, while his partner Izumo just nodded. Who was too shock to say anything.

"Now this is more like it!" Anko said with a grin, as she was loving every minute of this battle and was glad she got the front seats for the finals.

"Damn and I thought the preliminaries were out of hand" Asuma commented after Yugito's and Naruto's attacks collided.

"Both of them are well beyond the skill of Genin, in fact they are stronger than most Chunin" Kurenai remarked. Who was surprised that there was yet another Genin in the exam who go toe to toe with Naruto, ignoring the fact that she was also a jinchūriki, like Naruto.

-In the Arena-

After the large steam cloud began to form, Yugito quickly made her way up to the top of the arena wall, where she would be safe from the boiling steam.

Once she reached the top she looked around for any sign of Naruto but could find none.

Figuring that she was safe for the moment Yugito decided to dress her injuries, where she took out a small roll of bandages and used it to dress the wound on her arm.

Once her arm was bandaged up Yugito then patiently waited for the steam to cool down and fade away. Knowing that Naruto was down there somewhere and it would be foolish if she jumped in there without knowing his location.

After some time the steam eventually cooled down and faded, allowing Yugito and everyone else the arena.

When Yugito and the audience looked down they saw that the arena was in a sorry state filled with discarded Shuriken, Kunai as well as holes, craters, upheaved dirt from all the pervious battles. The lower part of the arena wall was in no better shape, with several large holes and dents. The only thing missing was the Water that had filled the arena not long ago, which had all dried up in Naruto and Yugito's last attack.

As Yugito scanned the arena she noticed a small dome of Earth standing in the exact position she last saw Naruto in.

"_So that's what happened to him!_" Yugito thought. "_Naruto must have created that Earth dome around him to protect himself from the steam after our attacks collided…Smart, but the problem with that plan is that he can't see when it's safe to come out and he's now vulnerable to attack, and if I do this right I can end this now._"

Taking out two Kunai and tying her last two remaining exploding notes to them, Yugito channelled her Lightning Chakra into the Kunai and threw them at the Earth dome.

Within seconds the Lightning enhance Kunai flew through the air and pierced right through the earth dome. After which the exploding notes tied to them exploded, destroying the dome and everything it.

As soon as the dome exploded, Yugito quickly made her way down the arena wall and down into the arena to see if she had really gotten Naruto.

At the same time the match referee Genma appeared after he was forced again to **Shunshin** (Body-Flicker) out of the arena when Naruto and Yugito's attacks collided.

When the smoke from the explosion cleared Yugito cautiously walked over to the destroyed dome with her Katana ready. Unsure of Naruto's current condition, since she knew how tricky Naruto could be, given the number of times the Senju heir had fooled her.

Once she reached the site she saw Naruto lying face first in the ground, motionless, his clothes torn up and dirty and his body covered in burns.

But just as the blonde Kunoichi went to check the boy's pulse, "Naruto" reverted into a mud, revealing him to be an Earth Clone.

When Yugito realized that Naruto had tricked her again, the blonde girl quickly spun around and saw the real Naruto erupt out of the ground, on the opposite end of the arena. He then swung his sword down and yelled "**Idaina Surasshu-fū** (Great Wind Slash)!" where a large crescent shape blade of Wind erupted from his Katana and flew straight for her.

When Yugito saw the deadly Wind attacked heading towards her, she immediately jumped to her right to avoid the attack. But as soon as she did, she was put on the defensive by Naruto. Who appeared in front of her and tried to slash her, forcing her to use her Katana to defend herself.

For the next minute or so a battle for dominance ensued between the two young Genin each trying to force the other back.

Eventually Naruto showed signs of winning thanks to his superior strength and the cracked rib that Yugito received earlier.

Seeing that she was being pushed back, Yugito had her left hand let go of her sword, and used her claw creation technique to turn her nails into longs claws, and attempted to scratch Naruto's face. Who quickly jumped back to avoid the razor sharp nails and went on the defensive when Yugito attacked.

For the next few minutes the two blondes fought intensely, where for the majority of the fight Naruto was on the defensive. Who struggled to hold his own thanks to Yugito claws giving her a extra weapon to use against him. It was made even more difficult since Yugito proved quite skilled in using her Katana and clawed hand in conjunction, leaving Naruto little opportunity to fight back.

"_Shit this is not good, at this rate she'll hit me_" Naruto thought as he barely deflected a sword stab from Yugito with his Katana. "_Looks like I'm going have to put what Kushina-sensei taught me to the test._"

After sidestepping another claw swipe from Yugito Naruto quickly dragged his sword onto the ground and set some dirt flying into Yugito eyes, blinding her momentarily and forcing her to halt her attacks.

With Yugito blinded Naruto then kicked the blonde girl in the stomach sending her flying back a few feet and allowing him to move back further, increasing the distance between them.

As Yugito rubbed the dirt out of her eyes, she looked back at Naruto and saw him lower his guard and taking deep calming breaths.

Unsure what Naruto was up to, Yugito decided to try finishing the match before the blonde boy could do anything.

As she moved forward Yugito made a horizontal slash at Naruto, but before the blade could cut Naruto, the blonde boy coolly sidestepped the slash.

When Yugito saw this she then tried downward slash with her claw hand, but like before Naruto evaded the slash with ease.

This continued for several minutes where Yugito continued to try and slash Naruto with a series of relentless assaults. But each and every one of her attacks was easily avoided by the Senju heir, as if he knew they were coming.

-In the Audience-

"Damn, just a few minutes ago Naruto could barely hold that Yugito chick off. But now he's dodging all her attacks like they were nothing, how the hell is he doing it?" asked Kiba. Who was amazed by how easily Naruto was dodging Yugito's slashes, especially since he could barely keep up with her movements.

"He's using a special technique from the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) sword style, am I right Kushina?" Asuma asked as he recognised the technique Naruto was using.

"Yea it's called **Namiutsu Mizu** (Rippling Water)" the red head woman replied.

"What does it do?" Ino asked who was curious like all the other members of the rookie nine.

"It's the fourth defensive technique of Arasuijin no Mai style. It involves the useravoiding an enemy's attacks by synchronizing with their breathing and following their movements, allowing the user to predict an enemy's movements before they make it. It's extremely useful when you want to wear down an enemy or to make them waste energy."

"That's all?" Kiba asked in confusion since it didn't really sound very difficult.

"Trust me it's a lot more complicated than it sounds, a person needs to be perfectly calm and focus so to keep in sync with their opponent's breathing and watch their movement's carefully. It is an extremely difficult technique to use, and even more difficult to master and if the person makes one wrong move or falls out of sync. It could be fatal," Kushina replied with a serious look on her face as she continued to watch Naruto evade Yugito's attacks.

"It incredible that he has progressed this far in using your fighting style" Kurenai commented, who was impressed with Naruto's growing skill.

"Yea, even I've got to admit that Naruto has come a long way in a short time" Kushina remarked. "…When I first started training him in the Arasuijin no Mai style, I never dreamed that he would learn to use it so well in just over six months, especially since it took me two years to create it and use it. Although he still has a way to before he has fully mastered all of them yet."

-In the Arena-

As the fight in the arena continued, Naruto preceded to evade all of Yugito's attacks, much the girl's frustration. Every time she tried to catch Naruto off guard as if he knew what was coming.

Even when she attempted a hidden knee kick to the side, Naruto somehow knew what she was going to do and took a step back to avoid it.

"_Damnit what the hell is going on? How is Naruto avoiding all my attacks? It's as if he's reading my mind and knows what I going to do right before I do it._"

"_**Calm down Kitten getting yourself worked up only makes things worse, and that's probably what he is hoping you'll do, as you're more likely to make a mistake**_" said the Nibi inside Yugito's mind. "_**Look at his eyes they're calm and focus, and his moves are mimicking your own. He must be using some kind of technique to match your movements and predict what you're going to do and dodging them at the last moment, making you waste energy and frustrating you.**_"

"_Then what do you suggest?_" the blonde girl ask, as she made another slashing motion with her Katana.

"_**Do something he won't expect, make him think he knows what you're going to do, then do something that will catch him off guard.**_"

"_How do I do that?_" the girl replied, while at the same time watching Naruto sidestep her sword slash.

It was then when Naruto moved out of the way of her sword slash that an idea suddenly popped into her head.

Wasting no time the blonde Kumo Kunoichi brought her clawed hand forward and made a slashing motion at the right side of his face.

When Naruto began to move out of the way of the slash, Yugito channelled more Chakra into her nails, causing them to grow longer.

Unaware of the claws increase length Naruto could not fully evade the claws and received a light scratch on his right cheek.

This was of course all that Yugito needed, as the scratch caught Naruto completely off guard and his breathing feel out of sync with Yugito's. Who took advantage of Naruto's distraction and delivered a sharp knee kick to Naruto left side, causing the boy to stubble slightly.

But just as the blonde Kunoichi was about to deliver the final blow with her Katana, Naruto jumped back and narrowly avoided the sword slash.

-In the Audience-

"_Naruto-kun!_" thought Hinata in concern when she saw the blonde boy struggling to hold Yugito off as she unleashed a series of relentless attacks on him.

"What happened?" Sakura asked in surprise "A moment ago she couldn't even touch Naruto, now he can barely hold her off."

"Like I said earlier, the **Namiutsu Mizu** is a difficult technique to use, and even more difficult to master. Naruto may be able to use it, but he hasn't mastered it yet and needs more training in using it, since all you have to do is wound him slightly to make his breathing fall out of sync" Kushina explained. "To use **Namiutsu Mizu** the user must synchronize his or her breathing with their opponent. When that Yugito girl scratched him, Naruto was caught by surprise, causing his breathing to fall out of sync and distracting him so that he could no longer be able to predict or keep up with her movements. Allowing her to catch him unaware, if Naruto had mastered the **Namiutsu Mizu** technique fully he would not fall out of sync so easily."

"She must have gotten a luckily hit in when the brat tried to avoid that swipe" Anko commented.

"Luck had nothing to do with it" Kakashi said suddenly as he narrowed his one visible eye slightly. "When Naruto side-stepped to avoid her claw swipe, she channelled her chakra into her nails, increasing their length at the last second. Causing Naruto to misjudge their reach and allowing her to scratch him, which resulted in Naruto's breathing to fall out of sync with hers, it's actually quite clever."

After Kakashi finished, Kushina narrowed her eyes and watched Naruto struggle to defend himself from Yugito's attacks. She of course agreed with Kakashi's assessment with what happened and as much as she hated to admit it. She had to hand it to Yugito for her quick thinking and had to admit that the Kumo Kunoichi was much craftier than she gave her credit for.

-In the Arena-

After blocking another slash from Yugito's sword with his own, Naruto saw the girl bring up her clawed hand in an attempt to slash him with her deadly nails.

Acting fast, Naruto had his right hand let go of his Katana and caught Yugito's wrist, preventing her claws from hitting him.

After Naruto caught her clawed hand Yugito then prepared to channel more Chakra into her claws and increase their length. Knowing that Naruto wouldn't be able to avoid them, given how his hands were already busy. But before she could do this, Naruto struck first by delivering a sharp knee kick into Yugito's cracked rib, which he cracker earlier in the fight and now broke.

Once Naruro hit her, the blonde Kunoichi cried out in pain and staggered back, nearly dropping her sword.

Before she could recover Naruto followed up with a powerful kick to the chest, sending the female _jinchūriki skidding back several meters away._

"Guagh! Damn you Naruto that was a cheap shot!" Yugito hissed angrily as she glared at the spikey haired boy

"Heh, sorry Yugito-chan, but like my Kaa-chan told me when she first started training, there is no such thing as a dirty fight" the smirking boy replied before he raced toward the blonde girl.

Within seconds Naruto was right on top of Yugito and preformed a powerful downward slash, forcing the young girl to bring up both her Katana and her clawed hand to block the powerful slash.

For a minute or so the two Genin once again enter a battle for dominance and despite her injury Yugito was able to hold her own by focusing on the battle instead of the pain from her broken rib. But what she didn't know was this was exactly what Naruto wanted and had his left hand once again let go of his sword, where to the surprise of nearly everyone in the audience, started preforming hand-seals with his one free hand.

"_No way Naruto can perform hand-seals with just one hand!_" Yugito thought in surprise.

Before she could do anything, Naruto finish his hand-seals and spat out several balls of Water, hitting her right in the face and sending her skidding across the ground. After which Naruto then raced towards her and delivered a powerful punch to the stomach, while using a small portion of his super human strength. This resulted in Yugiro being sent flying through the air and crashing into the arena wall behind her, making a large dent in it.

-In the Audience-

"Alright, that's the way!" Kiba cheered excitedly.

"Yeah! I knew Naruto-kun could do it, no-one can beat him!" Ino cried, as she was certain her crush had won

"Nice one" commented Asuma as he let out a puff of smoke, "But when the hell did he learn to do hand-seals with just one hand?"

"I'm not sure, it's possible he could have learned it from Haku in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country)" Kakashi replied. Who like Asuma and the others was surprised by Naruto's new skill.

"Actually I taught him it before he left for Konoha" Shizune answered, causing everyone in the group to look at her in surprise.

"You taught him it?" Anko asked in surprise.

"Of course…you didn't think Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama were the only ones that trained him" the student of Tsunade replied with a proud smile.

"I was unaware that you had that skill?" Kurenai said as turned to the dark haired woman.

"It's a skill I picked up when I was travelling with Tsunade-sama, which I later taught to Naruto-kun. I'm actually surprised none of you knew he could do it."

"Heh, looks like the brat has been keeping a few secrets from us after all" Kushina said with an amused smirk, as she glanced at Yamato who just nodded.

"Unreal, he can do hand-seals with just one hand, just like you Haku!" said Chōjūrō in surprise when he turned to his female team-mate.

"It would seem so" the female ice user replied while maintaining a blank look, so not to reveal her surprise.

"_Damn, just when I thought I had this kid figured out he does something like this. It's not enough that the he has the same kind of high Water affinity as the Nidaime Hokage and his mother's superhuman strength. He now has the ability to do hand-seal with one hand just like Haku and Hanzo's Granddaughter_" Zabuza thought with a frown.

"_You certainly know how to keep things interesting Naruto-kun_" Mei thought with an amused smile.

"Impressive" remarked Homaru after seeing Naruto use one handed hand-seals.

"Indeed clearly we have not been made aware of all of the boy's abilities" Danzo remarked.

"Agreed, although I am curious if we will see the boy's Mokuton abilities in this match, given how his opponent is the _jinchūriki for the Nibi no _Bakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat)" Koharu commented.

"We may see soon, if the boy pushes the girl far enough" Danzo replied, who like Koharu was interested to see Naruto's Mokuton powers for himself.

"Whoa, hand-seals with just one hand, I never even heard of anyone doing something like that, this guy is pretty good" Akatsuchi commented as he glance at his partner.

"I guess" Kurotsuchi replied with a small frown.

-In the Kage Box-

"Incredible, I did not think anyone other than Haku-chan could actually do hand-seals with just one hand" a surprised Mizukage said.

"Indeed, most impressive" added the Kazekage.

"Interesting, did you teach him this Tsunade, Jiraiya?" the Sandaime asked as he turned to his former students, since he had been unaware of Naruto having this skill.

"No, it was Shizune, she taught him it before Naruto came here, as she figured it would be a useful skill to have" Tsunade answered.

"I see" the old Hokage replied as he could indeed see the advantage to it.

As the three other Kages and the two Sannin continued to converse with themselves, the Raikage remained silent and gripped the stone armrest of his seat tightly in angrily, where it eventually began to crack under the strain.

The reason for this was of course obvious, as he was angered by how his top Kunoichi Yugito was losing to Naruto and his plan was backfiring on him.

Seeing this both Darui and C went over to their village leader and quietly began to talk to him, hoping to calm him down by telling him that Yugito was not done yet, and assuring him she can still win.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Man that's got to hurt!" muttered Shikamaru, after he saw Naruto send Yugito flying into the arena wall and watched the girl struggle to get back onto her feet.

"_Hmmmm_" thought Shino.

"Come on Yugito, don't let Senju beat you, show him Kumo Shinobi are the strongest!" yelled Karui.

"_Naruto…he's become even stronger than before_" Sasuke thought with a frown, as he watched Yugito slowly stand back up.

"He's even stronger than we thought; he not only has monstrous strength. But can also summon large amounts of water out of nowhere just like the Nidaime Hokage was said to be to do" muttered Temari in surprise. "He might actually be a match for Gaara."

"No way, that's impossible, no-one is stronger than Gaara" Kankuro said in a low voice before glancing at his younger brother. Who had an evil looking gleam in his eyes and a bloodthirsty smile on his face, which worried his older siblings.

-In the Arena-

After Naruto set her flying into the arena wall, the blonde haired female jinchūriki slowly got back onto her feet and spat out some blood that ended up in her mouth from when Naruto hit her.

_"Tsk, looks like you've been holding back a few tricks Naruto"_ Yugito said with a painful smirk as she looked towards her fellow blonde._ "Pretty smart of your to keep that ability of yours hidden until now. But trust me, you won't get me with that a second time."_

_"Heh, don't worry Yugito-chan, I have gotten plenty more tricks up my selves."_

Narrowing her eyes, Yugito readied herself, her body was pretty sore right now, and was fairly certain that she had another broken rib or two. But she had no intention of quieting, she had her pride and she had no intention of losing to Naruto again.

-Enter Bleach OST 4 Track 4 Power to Strive-

As the two Genin stared each other down Naruto suddenly took off his sling and sheath from around his back and threw it to the ground. After which both he and Yugito fell into their individual fighting stance and prepared to recommence their battle.

After a moment or two the two blondes raced forward with speed with impressive speed. Within seconds the two young Shinobi clashed swords with one another and began their furious battle.

Yugito struck first where she tried a diagonal slash, which Naruto blocked with his Katana and then pushed her back and tried a horizontal slash across her chest. Only to cut empty space as Yugito leaped back.

Not willing to let go of his advantage, Naruto then used the **Nagareru Mizu** technique and switch his Katana from his right hand to his left at high speed behind his back. Hoping to catch Yugito off guard again and hit her in the side again with the back of his blade. But to his surprise Yugito was able to block the move with her Katana.

"I told you, I won't fall for the same trick twice!" the girl said before pushing Naruto's sword away and kicking him in the left side, causing him to skid several feet away.

With Naruto now disorientated, Yugito moved towards the Senju heir, hoping of finish the fight with a single sword trust. But just as she was about to stab Naruto in the left shoulder, the blonde boy side stepped to the right, avoiding the sword trust and then brought his own sword down on hers, causing her to drop it.

Naruto then followed through with a sharp knee to her stomach; taking the breath right out of the female jinchūriki and sending her flying back several feet away.

Yugito recovered quickly though and flipped backwards and preformed a series of backwards summersaults, increasing the distance between the two.

Once she was back on her feet Yugito immediately spun around and preformed four quick hand-seals and thought _"__**Katon: Rensha**_ (Fire Style: Rapid Fire)!" After which she spat out a long stream of small fire balls at Naruto, forcing the blonde boy to move around arena to avoid them. (C)

Eventually after minute or so of dodging Fireballs, Naruto was backed into the arena wall, where Yugito preformed another set of hand-seals and thought. "_Time to put the previous month's training to the test; let's see if you can dodge this Naruto…__**Katon: Karyū Endan**_ (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bullet)!"

After Yugito preformed the hand-seals she spat out a massive stream of Fire which took the shape of a Dragon and then spilt into three separate waves, which converged on Naruto from both sides and the front at startling speed.

When the Shinobi members of audience saw Yugito use the **Katon: Karyū Endan**, many of them were of course shocked at seeing a young girl like her preforming such an advance and difficult technique.

"_Shit!_" thought Naruto when he saw the three separate streams of Fire closing in on him from all directions. "_Damnit there nowhere to go, and if I jump into their air Yugito-chan will take me out. I can't even block the flames with __**Senkai no Mizu**__ since there not enough plants nearby, and I can't draw enough water from just the air, which is probably what Yugito-chan planned on when she forced me here._"

"_Looks like I have no other choice, I just hope this works_" Naruto thought as turned his Katana sideways and began to spin around, just as the three streams of Fire were about to hit him.

-In the Audience/Kage Box-

"Naruto!" cried Tsunade and several other people in the audience when they saw the flames hit the blonde boy. But before they could even think of the worst, a large spinning dome formed around the spinning Senju heir, protecting him from the flames.

"That's…" a surprised Hinata said.

"…My" said shock a Neji.

"…**Hakkeshō Kaiten **(Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" finished a stunned Hyuga Hiashi, who couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Impossible!" cried Hiashi's father in disbelief, as he watched Naruto use his Clan's ultimate defensive techniques and deflect the flames around him.

-In the Arena-

As soon Yugito saw the large spinning dome form around Naruto and deflect her flames, like everyone else in the stands the blonde girl was stunned, as she recognised the same technique that Neji had used in his battle against Naruto.

Before Yugito even put anymore thought on what she was seeing, a large blade of Wind erupted from the spinning dome and expanded outward, where it flew straight towards her.

It was only thanks to her quick cat-like reactions, (which Yugito received for being the host of the Nibi), that she was able to jump into the air in time and avoid being severed from her lower half. But as she landed back on the ground, she saw that the Wind blade had created a long five inch deep slash mark on the wall, which circled around the arena wall.

-End Bleach OST 4 Track 4 Power to Strive-

Soon after, Naruto began to slow down and eventually came to a stop, although looked to be fairly dizzy.

"_Oh man…I think I'm going to hurl_" Naruto thought has he tried to steady himself and covered his mouth with his one free hand, as using that technique for so long made him fairly queasy. "_How the hell do Neji-teme and those other Hyuga's guys do it without feeling so dizzy especially when they have their Byakugan on?_ _Even using the __**Senkai no Mizu **__doesn't make me feel like this, I'm going to avoid using this for now, at least until I've fully mastered it._"

After a minute or so, the world finally stopped spinning for Naruto where he finally steadied himself.

When he looked up he saw Yugito staring at him with a confused and surprise look on her face.

"Something on your mind Yugito-chan?" asked Naruto, who was surprised that Yugito didn't take advantage of his dizziness.

"How is it that you're able to perform the **Hakkeshō Kaiten**?"

"That wasn't the **Hakkeshō Kaiten**."

"Of course it was, it was exactly like Hyuga Neji's, when he used it in his battle against you" the blonde girl replied hotly.

"The technique is similar, because I based it on the **Hakkeshō Kaiten **and my **Mizu no Jōshō** technique, I call it** Kaze no Bōseki **(Spinning Wind)." (D)

"**Kaze no Bōseki**...? Yugito repeated in confusion. "But how…? With the exception of Hyuga Neji, that technique is only known to members of the main family of the Hyuga Clan."

Yugito of course knew a great deal about the Hyuga Clan, due to her village's interest in it.

"You forget during my battle with Neji, I was able to see the technique enough times to get a basic understanding of how it works, which allowed me to figure out its weaknesses. After the battle ended, I realized how useful it was and I tried to figure out a way for me to use what I learned. Now obviously I can't use the technique itself, since I don't know the Juken fighting style and can't release Chakra from all my tenketsu. Not to mention there are other things you need to do to perform it correctly. But since I understood the basics of how the technique works and have flawless control over my Chakra. I combined what I knew with my knowledge of my **Mizu no Jōshō** technique, given how they work on similar bases, allowing me to come up with something that is fairly close to it, which you saw."

"And what makes it so different from the **Hakkeshō Kaiten**?" Yugito asked since from what she saw the technique looked exactly like the real **Hakkeshō Kaiten**.

"Unlike the **Hakkeshō Kaiten**, which involves releasing Chakra from the body and spinning around at high speed, my technique is a little more complicated. When I spin around I channel my Chakra into my Katana and slowly release it. I then convert it into Wind and use my high Chakra control to not only control the amount I release. But to have the Wind form a large sphere around me" Naruto explained and continued. "It makes for an effective defence against most techniques, especially Taijutsu, since a person would receive a lot of damage from making contact with the spinning Wind. Also as you saw moments ago I can create a large blade of Wind that expands outward in all directions from my barrier. This allows me to attack my opponents even when they keep their distance from me, making it quite effective when I am surrounded."

Once Naruto finished explaining the **Kaze no Bōseki** technique to her, Yugito was naturally left stunned as she couldn't believe what Naruto had done. But what she didn't know was that the last part was a lie, as the expanding Wind blade was a complete accident.

When Naruto was spinning around and using his Katana as a medium to control the Wind around him, (like when he does to use the **Mizu no Jōshō** technique). He momentarily lost control of it, due to be so dizzy. This then resulted in him accidentally releasing too much Chakra and creating the Wind blade that nearly cut Yugito in two. He of course knew that he would have to spend some time to perfect the technique. But despite it being an accident, he saw the benefits of the expanding blade of Wind and wanted Yugito and everyone to think he meant to do that.

"Hold on! Now let me get this straight" a stunned Yugito said, as she tried to make sense out of all this. "You're saying that from just watching Hyuga Neji in your battle with him and in just under a few hours. You came up with a completely new Futon Jutsu by yourself, that you based on one of the Hyuga's Clan most powerful techniques and that this was your first time even using it!"

"Pretty much" the spikey haired boy replied with a shrug as if it was nothing.

"Impossible!" Yugito yelled, even though she saw the proof for herself and there was no other way to explain it.

"Well, my Kaa-chan always did say I had a knack for Ninjutsu."

"_A Knack? A KNACK?!_" Yugito cried inside her head as she stared wide-eyed at Naruto in complete disbelief. "_Doesn't he realise what he's just done? This goes well beyond being simply gifted, it should takes years for someone to come up with something like that. Yet he does it in just a few hours and performs it perfectly on the first try, in the middle of battle…Just what the hell is he?_"

"_**Strong, good looking and smart, boy kitten you really do know how to pick them**_" comment the demon cat, who received no retort from Yugito. Who was still trying to make sense out of what she had been told.

-In the Audience -

The female jinchūriki was of course not the only one who was stunned by Naruto's revelation, as everyone else in the audience was staring at the blonde Senju with looks of complete astonishment.

"Naruto-kun, you're incredible!" yelled Ino as she stood up and stared to cheer loudly for her crush. She was of course not the only one as soon others started to cheer for cheer for Naruto.

"Alright!" roared Kiba as he too stood up, "Show her whose boss."

"You're the greatest Naruto-nii!" Konoahamru cheered, who was soon joined by his two team-mates and the rest of his class, while their teachers stared down at Naruto in stun silence.

"You're amazing Naruto-kun" Hinata said quietly with a large smile. After getting over the shock of Naruto finding a way to create his own unique Jutsu, based on one of her Clan greatest techniques.

"Incredible" said a stunned Kurenai as she still tried to wrap around the idea of a young twelve year old boy like Naruto doing something like this.

"No kidding" Asuma said, as he had to admit that Naruto was even more talented than him when it came to Futon Jutsu. Since he knew he could never be able to come up with something like.

"Unreal" muttered awed struck Anko, as she was beginning to believe what Orochimaru said about Naruto was true, that he really was more talented than she was.

"Man, Naruto isn't normal" Choji murmured quietly, knowing that if his blonde team-mate heard him, she would bash him on the head.

"_Naruto_" a wide eyed Yamato and Shizune thought together.

"_Naruto really is getting to be more like father_" Kushina thought to herself in shock.

Seeing Naruto create a completely new Jutsu after analysing another reminded her of the time when Minato first told her about the **Rasengan** (Spiralling Sphere), and on how he had based it on the **Bijūdama** (Tailed Beast Ball) of a Biju.

"_But still that took Minato-kun over three years to develop and master, and yet Naruto developed his __**Kaze no Bōseki**__ in just a few hours and performed it perfectly on the first try, in the heat of battle. It possible he could actually be even more gifted that Minato-kun was._"

"_Amazing, I knew Naruto was skilled, but still to accomplish something like this at his age…it unbelievable_" Kakashi thought in disbelief. He had even uncovered his Sharingan when he saw Naruto preforming his **Kaze no Bōseki** technique and it confirmed what Naruto had just said. But unlike everyone else he knew that the part about the Wind blade was a lie, as he had seen with his Sharingan that Naruto a momentarily lost control of the technique.

"_Only someone of Minato-sensei's blood could accomplish such a feat at so young an age_" thought the copycat-nin.

"Heh, you never fail to surprise me Naruto-kun" Mei remarked with a smile, as any doubt she may have had about Naruto being the perfect match for her faded. "Even Sofu, will not be able to deny that Naruto-kun is worthy of being my future husband, after I tell him of this."

"Damn, I take back what I said about this guy being good, he's spectacular" a mind-blogged Akatsuchi said

His partner Kurotsuchi on the other hand just frowned, as she remembered what he Grandfather said about Naruto before leaving for Konoha. "_Don't underestimate the boy, he is of the Senju Clan, and they have produced some of the most powerful Shinobi that have ever lived_."

"_Just what the hell is he…? I doubt even Jiji expected him to be this skilled_" the Tsuchikage Granddaughter thought, as she had never heard of anyone doing something like this in such a short time. She was also beginning to believe that the Senju Clan had some sort of Bloodline limit that allowed them to produce powerful and talented Shinobi.

"This is crazy, it took you over a month to develop and master the **Kaiten**, and yet Naruto-san figured out a way to mimic it in just a few hours" Tenten said as she turned to her Hyuga team-mate with an astonish look on her face.

"Yes I know" Neji replied while thinking "_And people say I'm gifted._"

"Naruto-kun is indeed an opponent that should never be underestimated" spoke Lee.

"Truly" said Gai with a serious look on his face, which was highly unusual for his students to see. "_The Senju Blood truly runs strongly in you, young Naruto-kun._"

"Whoahoho yoh, this battle is a whirl" rhymed Bee

"_Very cool_" Samui thought, who although was supporting her team-mate could not help but admire Naruto's skill. "To develop a technique of that level in such a short time, it's unheard of."

"Yeah" replied Omoi who was still in stunned.

"To create such a technique in such a short time is one thing, but to do it in the heat of battle without any preparation or training is nothing short of phenomenal!" said Haku in astonishment, while her team-mate just gapped and her sensei frowned.

"Hohohoho, Naruto-kun certainly knows how to keep things interesting, doesn't he?" the Fire Daimyo said with a smile, while everyone else around him look on at Naruto in stun silence.

"It's inconceivable" Koharu murmured in surprise, "And yet the boy did it."

"Indeed, the boy is quite talented in Futon Ninjutsu" Danzo commented. Who was somehow able to hide his shock and maintain a blank expression.

"Yes, but this could cause some trouble with the Hyuga Clan" Homura remarked.

"We shall see" Danzo replied as he focused his one visible eye on the blonde Senju.

"Such talent" Hiashi said in amazement, as he couldn't believe what Naruto had done, although not everyone in his Clan took what Naruto had done as well as he did.

"This is impossible" said one Hyuga Elder.

"And yet we saw it our own eyes" said another Hyuga Elder.

"This is sacrilege!" Hiashi father said as he slammed his fist down on this armrest. "It's not enough that he defeated Neji without much difficulty, and humiliated our Clan by revealing the weakness to the Byakugan and our techniques. But now he's bastardising one of our most prized technique to make it his own. Does he enjoy disgracing our Clan in front of everyone?"

"What do we do?" one of the Hyuga Elders asked.

"For now nothing, although we'll have to accelerate our plans" said the former Hyuga Clan head.

"How soon"

"Very soon"

-In the Finalist Box-

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru.

"…_?_" thought Shino.

"Just how much stronger has he become?" muttered a surprised Sasuke.

"His Futon skills surpasses mine" Temari said in disbelief after seeing Naruto create a Wind version of the Hyuga Clan's **Kaiten**.

"_Not good, Temari might actually be right about this kid, he might actually be a match for Gaara_" a worried Kankuro thought.

His concerns only grew when he looked to Gaara and saw a bloodthirsty grin appear on his younger brother's face.

"_Yes Mother I known, you will soon feast on his blood I promise you_" thought the young red head.

"_Come on Yugito you can still take him!_" Karui thought.

-In the Kage Box-

Up in the Kage Box the four Kages and their guards were just as shocked as everyone else in the stands at what Naruto had done.

"_Magnificent, simply magnificent_" a disguised Orochimaru thought with excitement where he licked his lips with anticipation at getting his hands on Naruto.

"Your son truly is amazing Tsunade-sama, to do something like this at his age" the Mizukage said as she turned to the Slug Princess.

"I too must concur, even my daughter Temari, who is a skilled and talented Futon user would not be able to do such a thing" added the Kazekage.

"Yes, he is a remarkable Shinobi" the Raikage said gruffly as he had to admire Naruto's talent. Although at the same time he thought, "_What sort of monster did she give birth to?_"

"Eh yes thank you Mizukage-sama, Kazekage-sama, Raikage-sama" replied Tsunade, who was now only getting over her surprise at what Naruto had done. "_Naru-chan always did have a talent for getting certain Ninjutsu quickly, but I never dreamed he would be able to do something like this!_"

"_Naruto-kun truly is the most surprising and unpredictable Shinobi I have ever met in my long life. To think that someone his age could do something this extraordinary and that Yugito girl is just as impressive as Hanzo's Granddaughter. In fact she may be even more talented, as to be able to use and control the__** Karyū Endan Jutsu**__ is no small feat for anyone, let alone a teenage girl. This Generation truly has so much potential in it_" the Sandaime Hokage thought, as he picked up his pipe, which he had dropped after seeing Naruto use, his** Kaze no Bōseki**.

"_That kid, he never ceases to amaze me, just like his old man_" Jiraiya thought fondly as he looked down at his godson. "_After each battle he applies what he learns from them to make him stronger._"

Looking down at Naruto, Jiraiya could not help but think back to his youth when he was travelling around the continent. During his travels he had heard stories about a rare type of fighter that appeared throughout history from time to time. Fighters who become stronger when they are fighting, where the longer the battle goes and the harder their opponent pushes them, the stronger they become.

"_Could the brat actually be one of those people?_" Jiraiya thought to himself.

"I must say Tsunade-sama, I cannot help but envy your good fortune, to be blessed with such a talented and gifted young man as your heir" the Kazekage said.

"Believe me Kazkage-sama, Naru-chan has yet to show his true potential, as he still has a few tricks up his sleeves" Tsunade replied with a knowing look, which made the other Kages curious.

-In the Arena-

After a few minutes Yugito eventually got over her shock over Naruto finding a way to mimic the Hyuga Clan's **Kaiten** and decided to focus on the match and put what happened aside for now.

Readying herself, Yugito fell into a standard Kenjutsu stance and channelled her Chakra into her Katana and used her Fire affinity to convert it into Fire, turning her Katana into a flaming sword.

Once he flames were covering the blade, Yugito raced forward and attacked Naruto, who quickly moved away to avoid it.

"_Shit! Not good if I try to block that with my Katana, I'm likely to get burned by the flames_" Naruto thought as he dodged another slashed which singed his sleeve slightly.

After dodging several more slashes from Yugito's flame sword, Naruto used his high Water affinity to gather a large amount of Water from a nearby tree, (since it takes him longer for him to draw it from the air than plants) and covered his sword with it.

Once the Water covered his Katana, Naruto then brought up his blade to block a downward slash from Yugito.

When the two swords clashed, the flames around Yugito's Katana were almost instantly extinguished by the Water covering Naruto sword.

Surprised by what happened Yugito was caught completely off guard and did not see the incoming attack from Naruto. Who took advantage of her distraction and delivered a sharp kick to her stomach, sending her skidding back across the ground a few meters.

Yugito recovered quickly though and picked up several Shuriken as she skidding on the ground and threw them at the spikey haired boy.

This distracted Naruto long enough for her to channel more Chakra into her Katana, only this time she converted her Chakra into Lightning. After which she then went back on the defensive.

When Naruto saw this he immediately went of the defensive again and started to dodge Yugito's attack. Knowing that if he tried to block Yugito's attacks, her sword would cut through his like a hot knife through butter.

As soon he had avoided another slash Naruto began to gather his Chakra and channel it into his sword. Once he was ready he brought up his Katana again to deflect an electrified sword strike that would have hit his right arm.

After deflecting the strike Naruto then swung his Katana at Yugito, who skilfully evaded the slash by jumping to the left. But as she turned to face Naruto, she felt the trickle of blood fall down her right cheek, indicating that's he had been cut slightly.

"_What the hell? But I avoided the slash, how did he…?_" Yugito thought, but before she could finish, Naruto raced towards her with his Katana.

With no time to spare, the blonde girl quickly brought her Katana up to block Naruto's slash. But when their swords made contact, Naruto's Katana cut right through Yugito's, leaving the girl holding a stump of a sword.

Once he had sliced through Yugito's Katana, Naruto quickly followed up with sharp kick to the side, luckily though it wasn't the side with the broken ribs. But it still hurt none the less and sent the girl skidding across the ground several meters away from Naruto.

As soon as she had stopped skidding, Yugito stared at Naruto and then at her sword before throwing it away.

"Wind Chakra…You coated your Katana with Wind Chakra, that's the only possible explanation for you being able to cut through my Lightning enhanced Katana so easily."

"Heh, yea you got it…" Naruto replied with a confidant smirk as he held up his Chakra covered sword. "I used the **Hien no Jutsu **(Flying Swallow Technique) and coated my Katana with Wind Chakra, since Lightning is weak against Wind."

"_**It's not as simple as he makes it out Kitten, just before he swung his blade at you; he channelled an even larger amount of Wind Chakra to his blade, where it then over powered your Lightning**_."

"_I know_" replied Yugito, "_That's the only way he could have cut through my Katana so easily, even though Lightning is weak against Wind. His blade should not have cut through mine as easily as it did. But what I don't understand is how does he have so much Chakra? Even with his high Chakra control, he should be exhausted by now. Yet he looks fine and ready to continue fighting. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that Naruto was a jinchūriki like me. It's the only way I can think of how someone like him could have so much Chakra and last so long against me._"

"_**I don't see how that's possible kitten, since if he was a jinchūriki, I would have sensed it. Not to mention the only Biju that Konoha has is the Kyuubi and there no way that Hachibi or I could have missed his power and if **__**Shukaku had sensed the Kyuubi. Then his host would have gone berserk and would have tried to kill your boyfriend on the spot, regardless of what would happen to him later.**"_

_"Why's that?" Yugito asked, while at the same time ignoring how the Nibi called Naruto her boyfriend._

"_**To put a long story short, **__**Shukaku hates the Kyuubi because he views our strength by the number of tails we have** __**and because of that he views Shukaku as the weakest of all of us**_" the Nibi answered. Who didn't have much love for the demon fox either, given how he didn't treat her that much better. "_**Besides there are a few humans who are born with immense reserves of Chakra, look at the Sandaime and the Yondaime Raikages, they weren't jinchūriki, but they had Chakra reverse that could give us Biju a run for our money**_."

"_I see, I guess your right but still, it's strange that Naruto has all that Chakra and has such high control over it at the same time._"

"_**Trust me kitten, nothing surprises me when it comes to this family of Shinobi, although I will admit that this boy's Chakra does give off an odd feeling, not unlike his ancestor the Shodai Hokage. But then again that could be just because they are related, since people who are related share similar Chakra signatures**_."

Nodding to this, Yugito slowly turned her attention back on Naruto, where she reach behind her back and then took out something from her pouch.

Unsure of what she took out Naruto decided to act first and race towards Yugito so not to give her anytime to do what she was planning. But want Naruto didn't know was that by racing towards her, he was doing exactly what the blonde girl wanted him to do.

Once he was close enough, Yugito smash the small spheres she had in her hands onto the ground, revealing them to be smoke and flash bombs.

After the bombs broke, a large flash erupted, blinding the young Senju, followed by much of the area around Naruto being covered in a thick smoke.

When Naruto emerged out of the smoke, he immediately found himself under attack by several Kunai and Shuriken, which had been infused with Lightning Chakra, increasing their sharpness and reach.

Acting quickly Naruto was able to evade them, but not completely where he received several light cuts on his arms and legs.

After avoiding the Lightning enhanced projectiles, Naruto scanned the arena for any sign of Yugito. Who he soon found when he saw a fast moving blur at the corner of his left eye and turned to block a powerful Kunai strike from the blonde female.

As Naruto struggled to hold the elder girl off, he noticed that Yugito was smirking.

Not liking the way Yugito was smirking, Naruto used the flat side of his sword like a mirror to see behind him and saw another Yugito racing towards him from behind with both her hands in claw form.

With little time to spare, Naruto waited until the last second to push the other Yugito away then jumped to the left to avoid the second Yugito's slash.

After landing back on the ground, Naruto turned to face the two Yugito's. "_Not good, Yugito-chan used the __**Raiton: Kage Bunshin**_ (Lighting Style: Shadow Clone) _technique and if I hit the clone, I get electrocuted once the clone reverts into Lightning._"

As Naruto tried to think of a way to tell Yugito and her clone apart, the two Yugito's raced forward, one with a Lightning enhanced Kunai and another with long claw-like nails.

For several minutes Naruto tried to think of a way to try and find out which Yugito was the real one, while at the same time doing his best to block and avoid the two Yugito's attacks.

After ducking under a claw swipe from the second Yugito and manoeuvring around her, Naruto notice that she flinched slightly in pain as she turned around on her right side.

Seeing this Naruto smirked, as he figured out which one was the real Yugito, since clones would not be effected by injuries that their creators had when they created them.

Now that he knew which one was the real one, Naruto waited for the two to attack.

He of course did not have to wait very long as the clone Yugito did a few quick hand-seals and spat out three flaming hairballs, which Naruto countered by using **Teppōdama** and spat three glops of Water from his mouth. When the flames were extinguished, Naruto then used his Katana to deal with the hairballs which were still flying towards him, cutting them all in two with little trouble.

But as soon as Naruto had dealt with the hairballs, the real Yugito appeared on his left hand side and tried to slash his arm. Only to miss as Naruto jump into the air, where he then tossed his Katana up into the air and then yell "**Ochiru Mizu **(Falling Water)!" as he kicked base of the hilt with his foot, sending it flying towards the Yugito clone and stabbing it right in its chest, causing it to revert into Lightning. (4)

After dealing with the Lightning clone, Naruto then did a mid-air flip and preformed his mother's classic **Tsūtenkyaku** (Heavenly Foot of Pain) down on Yugito. Who barely managed to avoid the kick, but was still blasted away to the other end of the arena by the tremendous power of Naruto's attack, which created a large crater in the arena when his heel hit the ground.

"_Damn, that kid's strength is something else_" Genma thought as he watched what happened from a safe distance.

"_Shit, that was too close, I almost forgot how strong Naruto really is, if that kick had hit me, it could've killed me_" the young girl thought as she picked herself up.

Once both Genin were back on their feet, Yugito slowly walked closer to Naruto, who also did the same.

When they stopped, they were in the centre of the arena again, with one six meters between them.

As soon as they were facing one another Yugito suddenly spoke up. "Given we're both without weapons now, how about we test our hand to hand skills against one another?"

At hearing this Naruto frown slightly, "_What's she up to? She knows that in hand to hand, I have the advantage with my immense strength. Either she has improved a lot since then or she is up to something. But I guess there is only one way to find out._"

"Sure why not, it's your funeral, since if memory serves, I usually kicked your butt."

"Heh, we'll see about that" the blonde girl retorted with a cat-like grin.

"_Looks like things are about to heat up again_" Genma thought, as he eyed the two blondes carefully.

-Enter Naruto Shippuden OST 18 – Emergence of Talents-

For several minutes Naruto and Yugito just stared at one another, as if they were having a private conversation that no-one could hear and went beyond simply words.

Eventually though Naruto made the first move where he removed his tattered coat and cast it off into the air, where it blew away to the other end of the arena by a strong Wind that suddenly erupted.

After Naruto threw away his coat, Yugito began to channel Chakra into her nails on both her hands and her feet, turning them into long claws.

At the same time Naruto began to crack his knuckles and his neck, so to loosen himself up.

Once her nails were at their full length Yugito fell into a loose fighting stance, with her left foot and hand forward and her right hand and foot back, with her claws facing outward.

Naruto in turn took a firm fighting stance with his left leg forward and his right leg back slightly and his arms close to one another, which would allow him to react to any move quickly.

For another minute or so the two just stared each other down, to see who would attack first.

From his vantage point on the other end of the arena, Genma watch the two Genin stare each other down. The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a knife.

After moment more of staring at one another, the two blonde Genin suddenly broke at almost exactly the same time and raced towards each other with phenomenal speed and within seconds restarted their battle.

Once they reach each other Naruto made the first move where he attacked with a series of Lightning fast jabs, which Yugito skilfully evaded before performing a perfect backwards summersault away from Naruto.

Seeing that Yugito was trying to move away from him, Naruto pursued his fellow blonde and tried to hit her using his **Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick) (5). But missed when Yugito jumped into the air, where she then kicked Naruto in the back of the head when she flipped over him, sending him flying forward.

Recovering quickly Naruto spun around and ran towards the blonde girl and tried to hit her with an elbow strike to the head, which she blocked with her left arm. After which Naruto used his** Kaiten Hiji** (Spinning Elbow) technique to spin around behind Yugito and elbow her in the back of head, nearly knocking her out. (6)

After Naruto elbowed her in the back of the head Yugito quickly rolled forward and spun around to face the Senju heir. Who was running towards her and tried to hit her with a super charge punch. But before his punch could make contact, Yugito ducked under it and performed a powerful upward kick to his chin, sending him up into the air.

After Yugito kicked him, Naruto immediately regained control of himself and landed back on his feet. But as soon as he did Yugito sprang forward and started attacking him with several high speed jabs to the face.

Thanks to his mother's bombardment training, Naruto was easily able to evade these jabs, but they were made difficult due to Yugito's long sharp nails. Eventually Yugito was able to scratch Naruto on his left cheek with her claws. This distracted him long enough for her to bring her left leg up and yell "**Nekokyaku** (Cat Kick)!" as she tried to kick him in the side of the head. (E)

When Naruto saw the kick, he barely managed to avoid it by ducking under it, where he then attempted to kick her legs out from under her with a leg swipe, but missed when she jumped into the air.

Once Naruto was back on his feet Yugito used her **Nekozume **(Cat Claw) technique and swiped at his head with her claws, but missed when Naruto ducked under it and tried to kick her in the stomach.

After side-stepping Naruto's kick, Yugito jumped into the air and brought her claws forward and yelled "**Nekogeki** (Cat Strike)!" as she pounced on Naruto like a real live cat. (F)

With little time to spare, Naruto quickly rolled to his right and avoided the female jinchūriki long nails, who's claws where now stuck in the ground. Allowing Naruto to strike back and kick her in left side, sending her tumbling across the ground to the other end of the arena.

-End Naruto Shippuden OST 18 - Emergence of Talents-

After being kicked by the male blonde Yugito wasted little time to recover and used her Claw creation technique to regrow the nails on her hands, which broke when Naruto kicked her away.

Once her nails reached their full length, Yugito raced towards the spikey haired blonde and swiped at his head with her long claws.

Naruto avoided the swipe by jumping into the air, where he then brought his leg up and yelled "**Retsukyaku** (Fissure Kick)!" (G)

As soon as Yugito saw Naruto lift his leg up, she immediately knew what was coming and did several back flips to move as far back as she could.

When Naruto's heel hit the ground a large explosion erupted, filling much of the arena with dust.

After the dust settled, the audience saw Naruto standing in the middle of another small crater and a small fissure in front of him that stretched to the arena wall.

"_Jeez, these kids won't be happy until they destroyed the entire arena!_" thought Genma as he observed the state of the arena.

Once the dust settled Yugito sped towards Naruto and attempted several leg swipes with her long nails but Naruto dodged each and every one of them.

Seeing this Yugito tried a simple claw swipe with her right hand, which Naruto ducked under before destroying her nails with his superhuman strength.

With her claws on her right hand gone, Yugito brought up her left hand up, forcing the blonde Senju to jump back.

Seeing that she now had the advantage Yugito jumped into the air and preformed and axe down on Naruto's head. Only to be blocked by the blonde boy, where he brought both his arms up and the grab hold of her leg and began to swing her around.

"Round and round and round she goes where she stops nobody knows!" Naruto said as he swung the blonde Kunochi around by her leg. Before letting her go and sending her flying into the arena wall.

But before she could hit it, Yugito performed a mid-air flip, so that her feet would hit the wall first, where she then braced herself against the wall and the used it to propel herself towards Naruto.

When Naruto saw this, the young Senju was of course surprised by how quickly the blonde girl recovered. But immediately got over it and channelled more of his Chakra into his right fist and brought it forward to meet Yugito's clawed hand and shattered her claws.

After Naruto destroyed her claws, Yugito was set flying back several meters, but like before landed back on her feet and was ready to continue the fight.

"_Heh, guess the old saying is true; cats do always land on the feet,_" Naruto thought with a small smirk. "_I gotta admit Yugito-chan sure has come a long way when it comes to her Taijutsu skill. I never use to have such a hard time with her when it came to hand to hand. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, like me she has probably been watching the other matches carefully. She knows the types of moves I normally make, which explains how she evaded so many of my earlier strikes so easily._"

"_Damnit, I nearly had him there, not only has Naruto swordsmanship improved but his Taijutsu has as well. I thought for sure that my high speed and agility would give me the edge I needed to beat him in Taijutsu_" Yugito thought with a frown. "_But he is able to react too quickly; even my claws are useless thanks to that damnable strength of his…guess I have to change tactics_."

-With the Audience-

"Looks like a pretty even match" Asuma commented.

"It would seem so" replied Kurenai, "But it won't last long, sooner or later one of them will make a mistake and give the other the advantage."

"Why didn't Naruto-kun use his strength earlier?" Ino asked suddenly.

"Yea, he had plenty of good chances to use that insane strength of his when he hit her earlier, why didn't he use it?" Kiba asked. "He could've won this match ages ago if he had."

"It because of Lee" Kushina answered.

"Huh, What about him?" asked the Inuzuka boy.

"As you know thanks to Naruto's training under Tsunade-sama, he has gained the same kind of immense strength she has. But because of this Naruto has to be careful with how he uses it, since you have seen first-hand how much damage he can do when using it," Kushina said and received a nod of understanding from the Genin.

"But ever since his battle with Lee, Naruto has become even more cautious using his immense strength against a person. He feels guilty for destroying Lee's chances as a Shinobi and doesn't want to do the same thing to that Yugito girl. Since he knows her and her team from before he came here and considers them friends, that's why he has been so hesitant when using his enhance strength."

"I guess that makes sense" Kiba said with a frown.

"_Naruto-kun_" Hinata thought sadly.

-In the Arena-

After staring at Naruto for about a minute or so, Yugito began to form some hand-seals.

When Naruto saw the hand-seals his eyes widen in recognition and thought "_Oh Shit!_" before jumping back as far back as he could from the blonde Kunoichi.

Once Yugito finished her hand-seals she thought "_**Nezumi Kedama**_ (Mouse Hairball)!" and spat out a large number of flaming hairballs that assumed the shape of mice.

After Yugito spat out her attack the stream of hairballs spilt into three separate streams and converged on Naruto from both sides and the front at frightening speed.

Realizing he was in trouble Naruto performed three quick hand-seals and slammed both his hands onto the ground, creating a small earth dome around him.

Within seconds the flaming mice shape hairballs converged on Naruto dome and exploded on contact, creating a large blast. But once the blasted ended and the smoke cleared Yugito saw no sign of Naruto.

"_Where is he?_" Yugito thought as she scanned the settling smoke. "_I'm not going to fall for anymore of his tricks, Naruto too good and too tricky to let something like that kill him._"

It was then as Yugito scanned the blast that she saw a small hole in the ground.

Upon seeing the hole the blonde girl realized instantly where Naruto went and jumped into the air, just into time to avoid Naruto, who exploded out of the ground underneath her.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Yugito took out the last of her remaining shuriken and threw them at Naruto. Who in turn took out his last Kunai from his utility belt and used it to deflect the Shuriken, before throwing it at Yugito, where it cut several strands of her hair when she moved her head to avoid the Kunai.

As soon as Naruto's feet touch ground, he formed five quick hand-seals and thought "_**Magen: Jubaku Satsu**_ (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)!"

After Naruto finished his hand-seals he disappeared right before Yugito's eyes in a mist-like fashion.

"_What the…?_" thought Yugito before a large tree sprung out from behind and wrapped itself around her, preventing her from moving. After which Naruto spurge out of the tree from behind her, with his hands glowing indicating that he was using **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpel).

"_Fuck Genjutsu_" the Kumo Kunouchi thought before calling out to the Nibi for help. Who immediately sent a small amount of her Chakra to her host and freed her from the illusion.

"_Huh…?_" thought Naruto after Yugito broke free of his Genjutsu, where he was then forced to jump back to avoid a spinning back kicking from the blonde girl.

"Your Genjutsu is worthless against someone like me Naruto" said Yugito as she spun around to face the spikey blonde boy.

"_Someone like her?_" thought Naruto before realizing what she meant. "_Baka, I should've realized this sooner, because she is a jinchūriki, she can have her Biju send her Chakra to break free from Genjutsu._"

After realizing that his Genjutsu was now worthless, Naruto did a single hand-seal and cried "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique)!" and created two shadow clones of himself.

Unsure of what Naruto was up, Yugito jumped back from the Senju heir and his clones, so that there would be more distance between her and them.

When Yugito jumped away Naruto had his two clones spilt apart and flank Yugito on both sides.

Seeing this, Yugiro decided to go on the offensive and attacked the clone coming in on her left, hoping to destroy it before the other clone attacked.

But when threw her fist at the Naruto clone, it blocked her punch with his right arm and then pushed her away, where the second clone appeared and kicked her in the face sending her flying back a few feet.

Recovering quickly Yugito attacked again with a forward kick. But before her kick could connect, the first clone threw a flash bomb at her, creating a blinding flash and forcing her to halt her attack and jump away.

After the flash bomb Yugito struggled to regain her bearings, as the flash bomb left her temporarily blind.

Taking advantage of her blindness the first Naruto clone came up from Yugito's left and delivered a strong left hook to her face.

Stumbling slightly from the hit, Yugito attempted a blind right cross, but missed as the clone jump back. After which the second clone appeared behind her and delivered a powerful spinning kick to the side of her head, which sent her tumbling across the ground, several meters away.

But before she could stop tumbling, the first clone appeared behind her and kicked her forward. This continued for several minutes where the two clones would attack her from different directions each time, leaving her little chance to defend herself.

Even when she tried to go on the offense, one clone would block her attack and keep her one place and allow the other to attack her when she was exposed.

After being kicked in the stomach again, Yugito struggled to stand up; she already had several bruises and a bleeding lip. But she refused give up and as the fight continued, the blonde girl started to hold her own again, where she began to defend herself and block the two clone's attacks, but just barely.

Seeing that Yugito was blocking all their attacks, the two clones decided to attack her from both sides at the exact same time. But before their punches could hit, the blonde girl fell to the ground and brought both her legs up into their air and performed an upside down split kick. Hitting both clones at the bottom of their chins at the same time and causing them to burst into smoke.

After his clones were destroyed Naruto took out several Senbon needles from his utility belt and threw them at female jinchūriki.

Knowing that Naruto often coated his needles with poison Yugito did her best to make sure that none of the needles hit her.

But after she evaded the Senbon needles, Yugito quickly realized that they were just a distraction, where she saw Naruto create another shadow clone and then started to form hand-seals.

With little time to spare Yugito immediately started to form her own set of hand-seals.

When Naruto finished he thought "**Suiton: Mizurappa** (Water Style: Wild Water Wave)!" and spat out a large stream of water from his mouth.

As soon as Naruto spat out the stream of Water, his clone channelled some of its Chakra into its hand and converted it into Lightning and sent it into the stream of Water, creating an electrified wave of Water.

At the same Yugito finished her own hand-seals and thought "_**Katon: Okibi!**_" and spewed out a long stream of Fire from her mouth. After which she then performed five more hand-seals and thought "_**Raiton: Kangekiha**_ (Lightning Style: Wave of Inspiration)!" and channelled the Lightning that formed in her hand into the Fire creating a stream of Fire and Lightning.

When the two attacks collided, a massive explosion of Fire, Water and Lightning erupted, where much of the centre part of the arena was covered in an electrified mist.

Before the two attacks hit, Genma had wisely jumped up to the wall and channelled his Chakra to his feet, allowing him to stick to the wall and watch the match from a safe and high vantage point.

"_I think I will stay here for now, because if I don't I'm liable to get caught in the crossfire between these two crazy blondes._"

Yugito and Naruto on the other hand were not as fortunate as they were both sent crashing into opposite ends of the arena wall by the force of the blast of the explosion.

After been blown back by the blast, Yugito slowly got back onto her feet, she was already in rough shape, with a few broken and crack ribs, several bruises, cuts and a splinted lip.

Seeing that the electrified mist now covered much of the centre part of the arena, Yugito decided to lean against the arena wall and use the time before the mist dissipated to catch her breath. She was already nearing her limit especially with that last Jutsu she used and needed some time to rest.

But after only a few minutes, her instincts screamed to her to move, listening to them Yugito quickly jumped to her right.

As soon as she had jumped away, Naruto (using **Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu** (Earth Style: Hiding like a Mole Technique)) burst out of the ground underneath her with a Kunai in hand.

After avoiding Naruto's sneak attack, Yugito quickly picked up a discarded Kunai from the ground and unwound the pray beads around her left arm, and cut the line that held the beads together. She then threw the beads into the air causing them to scatter and fall to the ground all around Naruto.

"_This can't be good_" Naruto thought before he saw Yugito form a single hand seal and yelled "Kai!" where they exploded and creating a bright flash and a lot of smoke. Blinding and confusing Naruto, making him an easy target for Yugito. Who delivered a sharp punch to the face and strong kick to the stomach, which sent his skidding across the ground.

After being kicked away by the blonde Kunoichi, Naruto tried to get back onto his feet, but found he could not and saw that he was wrapped with Ninja wire, preventing him from moving.

Seeing that he was wrapped in Ninja wire, Naruto quickly realized that it was the same wire that Yugito had used to hold her beads together, and that she had somehow wrapped him in it when she hit him.

At the same time Yugito wrapped the ends of the wire around her hands and used the **Kangekiha** technique to channel Lightning from her hand through her steel line and into Naruto.

When the Lightning entered Naruto's body, the spikey blonde began to convulse and scream in pain.

-In the Kage Box-

From their position the four Kages and the two Sannin watched as the battle unfold and turn in Yugito's favour.

As Naruto screams echoed from the arena, the Yondaime Raikage A smirked in triumphant.

"_Well done Yugito_" A thought with a small sigh of relief, as for a while he was starting to believe that the female jinchūriki might actually lose.

When Tsunade saw her son convulsing and screaming in pain, the Senju mother had to be held back from going down to the arena and stopping the match.

"If you know what's good for you Jiraiya you will let me go now!" Tsunade rounded as she tried to get her former team-mate to let go of her left arm.

"No hime I can't, this is his fight, I won't let you interfere!" retorted the Toad Sage.

After Jiraiya said this, the female Senju turned around and glared angrily at the white haired man. But to his credit Jiraiya showed no sign of fear and stared back defiantly at the blonde woman.

Before Tsunade could even begin to yell at the man, Jiraiya suddenly spoke.

"Listen to me hime I know you want to help, but you can't this is his fight, win or lose."

"I don't care!" cried Tsunade, "I am not going to sit ideally by and watch my son be killed."

"It's not going come to that hime."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have seen that girl go for wounding blows when it would have been easier to go for killing blows. You would've seen them too, but you've been so focused on the brat, that you've missed them."

"That doesn't mean that she won't kill him by accident, especially if she continues like this" retorted a concern Tsunade. Who was on the verge jumping down to the arena and helping her son.

"Look Tsunade I know this is hard for you, but please just wait little longer. The whole point of us training him is so that he can stand up to strong opponents on his own two feet. If we go down there now, then all the training we've put him through will be for nothing. He can't always be depending on us to come save him when he is in trouble; he has to win his own battles."

When Jiraiya finished, the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage just gritted her teeth in anger, she knew that there was truth in what Jiraiya said. But the mother in her refused to listen, as she wanted nothing more than to stop Naruto's suffering and protect her son from all the horrors in the world, even if she knew that it was impossible.

"I promise Tsunade if things keep going like this, I will be the first to go down there and end the match. All I'm asking is that you have faith in him, you know better than anyone how tough he is. He has his father's head and your stubbornness in him, so he's not done just yet" Jiraiya said with a small encouraging smirk as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

At this remark, the female Senju smiled at little, but that quickly faded when she heard Naruto screams again, where she had to retrain herself from going down to him. As she watched her son, Tsunade bit her bottom lip in frustration and silently prayed that her son could get out of this.

-In the Arena-

As Naruto continued to convulse and scream in pain, Yugito spoke.

"Give up Naruto, you've lost."

"N-N-No!" yelled Naruto as he gritted his teeth from the pain.

"Don't be stupid Naruto, you can't break free and if you don't give up you'll die!"

"_Damnit, I need to break free but how?_" Naruto thought, as the pain was becoming unbearable.

As he tried to figure a way out, a moment of inspiration hit him when he suddenly realized that he was still holding his Kunai.

"_That's it! Now if I can just turn over?_" Naruto thought, as he turned himself over onto his stomach and stabbed his Kunai in the ground.

Soon after Naruto turned himself onto his stomach he stopped screaming and convulsing, causing Yugito to stop channelling her Lightning through the Ninja wire.

Slowly the blonde girl walked over to the motionless Naruto, but just as she touched him to see if he was still alive. A now freed Naruto suddenly turned around threw the Kunai at her, narrowly avoiding her face, but leaving a slight cut of her right cheek.

Still surprised by what happened Yugito was left complete opened to a sharp punch to the stomach that sent her skidding across the ground several meters before hunching over in pain.

Before Yugito could even recover and strike back, Naruto took out the last of his smoke bombs and smashed them onto the ground, causing a small cloud of smoke to appear around him.

When the smoke dissipated Naruto was gone without a trace.

After Naruto disappeared, Yugito quickly began to look around for any sign of him, but could find none. She knew it would be pointless look for him as the mist caused by their last attack still covered the much of the arena, giving Naruto plenty of cover to hide in.

Knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Naruto made his appearance again, Yugito decided to use the break from the fight to rest, even for a few minutes.

-In the Audience-

"Hooooo, that was far too close" Shizune said as she let out a sigh of relief after Naruto escaped.

"Tell me about it" Kushina muttered, who also looked relieved.

"But how did he do it" Kiba asked, who had been certain that Naruto was finished a moment ago.

"I believe I can answer that" said Kakashi, gaining Kiba the others attention.

"Judging by how things were going, Naruto probably used the Kunai that he was holding as a makeshift ground rod, and channelled the electricity from his body into the ground, which was why he rolled himself onto his stomach. Once Yugito stopped channelling her Lightning through the wire, he used his Kunai to cut the wire to escape." explained Kakashi, who was rather impressed with how resourceful Naruto was.

"So where is Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"He's hiding behind one of the trees next to the wall" answered Hinata who used her Byakugan to find the Senju heir.

"He's probably using the time to recover and heal his injuries, as the Lightning probably did a lot of damage" Shizune added, who hoped that her Godson/surrogate little brother was ok.

-In the Arena-

After a few minutes the mist finally cleared and Naruto made his move and threw several Senbon needles at Yugito, forcing her to avoid them.

But what she didn't know was that the Senbon needles were just a distraction, where as soon as avoided all the needles. Naruto appeared right in front of her and used **Chakura no Mesu** to sever the tendons on right arm and left leg and followed up with a sharp kick to the stomach that sent her flying several meters back.

After Yugito stopped skidding she struggled to keep standing due to the tendons in her left leg being severed.

"I believe you're the one who should give up this time Yugito-chan" Naruto said. "I've just severed the tendons in you right arm and left leg, meaning you can no longer form hand-seals or move around. This fight is now over."

"_Damnit_" Yugito cursed inside her mind before she heard the Nibi's voice insider her mind.

"_**Looks like you'll need my help to beat you boyfriend Kitten**_"

"_So it seems_" replied the blonde Kunoichi, as she had hoped to defeat Naruto without having to resort to her Biju's power and overpower him with it. "_And STOP calling him that, he's not my boyfriend. I told you a hundred times already I don't think of him that way!_"

"_**Yea, Yea, keep telling yourself that, but sooner or later you're going to have to stop lying to yourself Kitten.**_"

"_Just give me your Chakra already!_" rounded the angry teen.

"_**Fine, Fine**_" replied the Cat demon, before sending a sizable about of her Chakra to Yugito. Who was starting to regain movement in her right and left leg, thanks to the Nibi's Chakra repairing the damage.

"_Crap, this is not good_" Naruto thought when he saw the red Chakra form around the blonde Kumo Kunoichi and started having flashbacks from the last time he saw Yugito use this Chakra and nearly killed him. But unlike the last time, the Chakra seemed less wild and Yugito seemed to be in more control, which meant more trouble for him.

-In the Audience-

"_So it begins_" thought Danzo as he and the other Shinobi elders watched Yugito summon the Nibi's power, where it shrouded her entire body.

"_That Chakra could she be…?_" Mai thought with a frown.

"_That Girl…_" Baki thought with a frown.

"That Chakra…" Kurenai said in recognition, when she saw the red Chakra form around Yugito.

"Looks like the kid was right on the money about her" said Asuma.

"So she really is the Nibi no Bakeneko jinchūriki…oops" said Kushina and quickly covered her mouth when she realized that she said that out loud

"Nibi what?" asked Kiba

"Asuma-sensei what's a jinchūriki?" Ino asked her sensei, since she had never heard of a jinchūriki.

Seeing that all the Genin were now curious, the elder Shinobi turned and glared slightly at the former red headed ANBU captain. Who had the decency to look embarrassed, as Kushina the blabber-mouth had done it again.

Once they were finish glaring a Kushina, Kakashi decided to answer the Genin question, as the knowledge of jinchūriki wasn't exactly classified. It was just rarely mentioned for Naruto's sake, so to lessen the chance that anyone would figure out that Naruto was a jinchūriki.

"A jinchūriki is a unique person who has a Biju sealed into them."

"Biju, you mean like the Kyuubi?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, the Kyuubi is one of only nine Biju that exist in this world, each with immense reserves of Chakra that far exceeds any Shinobi. In fact one Biju alone could easily level Konoha with little trouble, which is why Shinobi villages seal them into certain Shinobi, in hope of harnessing their immense power."

"You mean that all that Chakra she covered in right now is from a demon?" Choji asked.

"Yes, but that is only a small fraction of its power, for if she were to use all her Biju's power, this entire stadium along with everyone here would be destroyed" finished Yamato.

"No way?" said Kiba in awe, who knew that what Kakashi and Yamato said was true, given how scared Akamaru was right now. Who was hiding in his jacket again and was on the verge of wetting himself.

"_Naruto-kun, please be alright_" Hinata thought, who was fearful as to what would happen to the blonde boy.

Seeing the worried look at the Genin faces, Kushina suddenly spoke again.

"Don't worry kids, Naruto isn't done yet he still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"But if this jinchūriki girl is as powerful as you say, how can Naruto-kun possibly beat her?" Ino asked.

"You'll see soon enough" Kushina replied with a knowing look, while at the same time thinking. "_I just hope that Naruto has enough strength to use __**it**__, as judging by the amount of Chakra that girl is releasing, her control over her Biju's power is pretty high._"

"I spy with my little eye, things are heating up" said Killer Bee.

"It seems the battle will soon be drawing to a close." Samui remarked

"Yea, looks like Yugito is finally going all out if she is using the Nibi's Chakra" commented Omoi.

"That Chakra…Kurotsuchi, could she be…?" Akatsuchi asked.

"She is," Kurotsuchi replied, "Looks like the rumours were true after all. Kumo is really going all out if they had the Nibi no Bakeneko jinchūriki enter the Chunin exam."

"Shit, that girl is a jinchūriki, what the hell is Kumo thinking, sending someone like her into the Chunin exam?" said Zabuza in surprise.

"A jinchūriki!" said Chojuro in surprise, "You mean like the Yondaime Mizukage?

"Yea, like him" answered the Demon of the Mist, who silently cursed himself for not seeing it sooner as it now made sense to him why Killer Bee was her sensei and why the Yondaime Raikage allowed him to leave Kumo. Since whom better to teach her to control her Biju's power than the man who was renowned all over the Shinobi world as the perfect jinchūriki.

"If she can control her Biju's power even half as well as the Yondaime Mizukage, Senju doesn't stand a chance" Saito said where he received a nod from his sensei. Who had to agree that Naruto's chance were pretty bleak.

As Zabuza and the two boys conversed, Haku reminded surprisingly silent and just kept her eyes on the arena. Although Zabuza did notice that she was gripping her hands tightly, showing that she was concerned for Naruto.

"_That power, what is it?_" Neji thought when he saw the Nibi's power rising from Yugito. When he activated his Byakugan he could see the red Chakra flooding her entire body and for a moment he saw the Chakra take the shape of a large cat.

"What is she?" Neji said out loud in surprise.

"What's wrong Neji did you see something?" Tenten asked.

"When I used my Byakugan to see where this red energy was coming from, for a moment the Chakra inside her took on the shape of a cat-like creature. I've never seen anything like this before, it's almost like its alive."

"Neji are you sure that what you saw was a cat?" Gai asked with a serious look on his face, which was highly unusual for him.

"Yes I am fairly certain it was" Neji answered, where he then saw his sensei frown at the news.

"Gai-sensei do you know what it is?" asked Tenten who couldn't understand what she was seeing. To her knowledge Chakra is normally invisible to the naked eye and could only be seen in situations where a person releases as much of their Chakra as possible and judging by the amount they were seeing it was a lot. But at the same time this Chakra seemed different from regular Chakra.

"Yes I believe I do, and if this girl is what I think she is, I fear Naruto-san's chances of winning this battle have all but faded."

"What do you mean Gai-sensei?" asked Lee who was just as confused as his team-mates

"Unfortunately I cannot say right now, as it would take too long to explain. But to put it simply, in the Shinobi world there are a select group of Shinobi. Who possess a unique and extremely powerful type of Chakra that goes beyond most Shinobi and I believe Yugito-san is one of these individuals."

When Gai finished, none of his students knew what to say and decided to just watch the battle unfold.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_That power…what is it?_" Sasuke thought in surprise, where he activated the Sharingan to try and understand it further. "_It's almost like the Curse seal power…no it's stronger._"

"Just what the hell kind of battle is this?" muttered Shikamaru while thinking "_Both these blondes are so damn troublesome._"

"_Strange, my kikaichū seem to be rather anxious regarding the unusual Chakra that girl is emanating_" thought Shino

"_Heh, this battle is ours_" Karui thought with a smirk. "_Unlike the last time Yugito has control over the Nibi's Chakra, now she's unbeatable._"

"This feeling and that Chakra, Sis could she also be…?" Kankuro asked while glancing at his younger brother.

"She has to be, there's no other explanation" replied Temari, who was now becoming even more concern that there was another jinchūriki in the finals.

When the two elder siblings turned to their younger brother, they saw that he had a stun expression on his face, which was highly unusual for him.

-In the Kage Box-

When the members of the Kage box saw Yugito summoning the Nibi, many of the Kages frowned.

Like the Kages both Jiraiya and Tsunade's faces became very sombre, although they were relieved that Naruto escaped Yugito's Ninja wire. They knew that the real battle between Naruto and Yugito had just begun.

"_So, Naruto-kun was correct, Yugito really is the jinchūriki for the Nibi no Bakeneko_" thought Sarutobi with a small frown.

"I must say Raikage-sama I find it rather extreme that you would allow one of your jinchūriki into the exam" spoke the Mizukage.

"There is no rule against it Mizukage-sama" replied the Raikage, who was now certain Yugito would win, now that she was using the Nibi's power. "Besides as I said she is one of my village's most promising Kunoichi and it is no different than what the Kazekage has done. Since if the rumours are true, his son Gaara is also a jinchūriki."

At this revelation the Kazekage simply nodded, although frowned slightly at the Raikage, as if he was displeased that the bulky Kage revealed that Gaara was a jinchūriki.

When Gaara's status as a jinchūriki was revealed, the female Kage frowned even more, as she was unaware of this information until now. She of course knew what could happen should two jinchūriki face off against one another. This was one of the reasons why jinchūriki generally stayed out of the Chunin exams or at the very least the village of the jinchūriki would make sure that no other jinchūriki were competing in the exam.

Knowing there was nothing she could say or do now, the Mizukage remained silent and could only hope that neither Yugito nor Gaara would face each other in the final round. For if both Genin unleashed their Biju's power and lost control of them, it could be disastrous for everyone.

-In the Arena-

Once her body was completely covered by the Nibi's red Chakra, Yugito used her claw creation technique again, turning her fingernails and toenails into long claws.

As soon as her nails were at the maximum length Yugito disappeared in a blur and attacked Naruto using **Nekozume**.

Thanks to his training with his mother Naruto was able to move in time to avoid a severe wound by jumping to his left, although still received a light scratch on his right arm.

But as soon as he evaded Yugito's attacked, the blonde Kunoichi reappeared behind and delivered a powerful kick in the back, sending him flying forward.

"_Shit! Not only has she gotten faster, but stronger as well_" thought Naruto as he flew through the air, before being sent crashing into the ground by a strong axe kick from Yugito. Who had suddenly appeared above him and then moved in to finish him off with a stabbing strike with her claws.

But before he could deliver the final blow, Naruto rolled to his left, causing Yugito to stab the ground instead. Naruto then grabbed hold of her other arm and swung her around once and used his enhance strength to throw her to the other end of the arena.

Before she could hit the wall Yugito performed a mid-air flip and landed on the ground. But what she didn't know was that Naruto had thrown her to a specific place and had predicted that she would recover before she hit the wall.

After the incident where he accidently cut Yugito's top and hid in the mist, Naruto used the time before the mist faded, to cover the spot where Yugito was standing in now with all his remaining exploding notes, and covered them over with dirt so they would be hidden. He did this in the event that the battle turned against him and needed a trap to defeat Yugito.

As soon as Yugito's feet touched the ground Naruto formed a Ram seal and yelled "Kai" which activated the notes and caused a large explosion. That sent Yugito crashing through the wall behind her and causing pieces of the wall to fall on top of her.

But just when everyone thought the battle was finally over, Yugito burst out of the pile of rubble with little injury, thanks to her Chakra cloak protecting her from the majority of the explosion.

After bursting out of the rubble, Yugito raced towards Naruto with astounding speed where all Naruto could do was think "_Crap!_" before being sent flying back into the wall behind him.

But before he hit the wall, Yugito reappeared behind him and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into the air.

The next thing Naruto knew, Yugito appeared right in front him, when he tried to defend himself and strike at the girl. But she disappeared and reappeared to Naruto's right and delivered a powerful punch to the side of Naruto's face sending him flying.

Before Naruto could even realize what had just happened, Yugito appeared again in mid-air and gave him a brutal heel kick to the left side of his face, sending him flying in the opposite direction.

After the kick, Naruto tried to recover by getting his feet back on the ground, but as soon as he did the blonde girl appeared again and punched him in the stomach. The punch was so strong, that Naruto felt like he had been kicked by a donkey and nearly fell to his knees.

This continued for the next few minutes, as Yugito flew around Naruto, making the young Senju feel like a beach ball, as Yugito sent him flying from one end of the arena to the next. He couldn't even defend himself as every time he tried, Yugito would hit him before he could fully bring up his guard up and every time he tried to hit her. The blonde Kunoichi would disappear, and reappear somewhere else.

Eventually Naruto crashed into the arena wall facing directly in front of the stands and trapped in the wall, where his arms were pinned to his sides, unable to move.

Seeing Yugito heading for him, Naruto knew he didn't have much time and began to gather his Chakra.

"I won't lose, I REFUSE TO LOSE!" yelled Naruto as he used his Chakra to enhance his strength.

To the shock and amazement of nearly everyone in the stands, cracks started to appear on the wall around Naruto and continued to spread, until suddenly Naruto broke free and massive explosion erupted, where a five meter long section of the arena wall came tumbling down.

-In the Kage Box-

"Such strength!" gasped the Mizukage in shock.

"Indeed" remarked the Kazekage with a hint of surprise.

-In the Arena-

As the wall came tumbling down, Yugito halted her advance and jumped back, away from the rubble and the large cloud of dust that appeared after the section wall collapsed.

"_Geeze, how much more damage do these kids intent to do?_" thought a wide-eyed Genma after seeing Naruto bring down an entire section of the arena wall down.

Soon after as the dust began to dissipate a panting Naruto emerged, covered in dirt and looking fairly worn, but relatively fine otherwise.

"_I underestimated his strength, where is he getting his power?_" thought Yugito with a large frown.

"Heh, heh, heh…don't think you've won this just yet Yugito-chan…heh, heh, heh… and don't ever underestimate my power" said a sweating and panting Naruto. Who then channelled most of his remaining Chakra to his fist and yelled "**Chikakuhendō** (Earthshaker Impact)!" and slammed his fist into the ground, where the entire stadium started to shake from the foundations up.

"Unbelievable!" said Yugito, before she was forced to jump into the air as the entire arena floor was pulverized into minute pieces by the excess shock of Naruto's punch.

-In the Audience-

"What's going on? It feels like an Earthquake!" said a worried Undo as he felt the stadium shaking a little.

"No, it's Naruto-nii!" yelled Konohamaru as he pointed to Naruto bellow and to the destroyed arena floor.

"Incredible!" said Iruka.

"This is nuts!" cried Choji, as he tried to keep his chips from spilling all over the floor from the shaking.

"You think?!" replied Kiba, who was holding the edge of his seat tightly.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Is Senju fucking crazy?!" yelled Karui as she held onto the railing, where she then saw more cracks appear on the arena wall and were spreading all around. "Does he want to bring down the entire stadium?!"

"Damn that Naruto, he's just destroyed the arena…again!" muttered an annoyed Shikamaru as he look down at the now demolished arena.

"_This battle is on a completely different level from when Naruto fought Lee_" Sasuke thought in disbelief.

"_Fuck me, I'm staying as far away as possible from that brat when the invasion starts…he's worse than Gaara!_" thought a worried Kankuro.

-In the Arena-

After Yugito was forced to jump up into the air, after the arena floor was destroyed. Naruto preformed three quick hand-seals and slammed both his hands into the ground before yelling "**Doton: Michū Shibari **(Earth Style: Three Pillar Bind)!" (H)

When Naruto did this, three large pillars sprung out of the ground and converged on Yugito. Who could do nothing to avoid them and was pinned in mid-air by them.

Yugito of course tried to free herself using the Chakra the Nibi gave her. But found she could not move thanks to the seal tags Naruto latched onto the earth pillar when he summoned them, preventing her from moving any part of her body.

"Gotcha…heh, heh" said a panting Naruto with a smile.

"Grrr…I can't" growled Yugito as she struggled to move, but couldn't.

-In the Audience -

"Crap, Yugito's is in trouble" said Omoi in concern.

"_To use the Earth, the very foundation of the stadium itself as a weapon, even Yugito will have trouble escaping from this_" Samui thought with a large frown.

-In the Arena-

"_This is where it ends Yugito-chan_" Naruto thought, where he jumped into the air and charged his fist with Chakra, intending to finish Yugito off with one last blow

"_I can't…I won't lose!_" thought Yugito as she continued to try and break free.

-In the Audience/Kage Box/Finalist Box-

"_Come on Yugito!_" thought the Raikage watch the battle turn once again in Naruto's favour.

"Go Yugito!" yelled Omoi as he cheered for his team-mate.

"Come on Yugito, take command, you can take him!" shouted Karui.

"Go Yugito, we know you can do it" cheered Killer Bee.

"_Come on Yugito, show him what you are capable of_" thought Samui.

-In the Arena-

As Naruto flew towards her with his fist raised, Yugito could hear the cheers of her team-mates from the stands and knew she had to win.

Gripping her hands into a fist Yugito suddenly shouted "NNIIBBIII!"

"_**Right kitten**_" replied the Monster Cat, where she sent a immense amount of her Chakra into Yugito. Who then released it all in one large burst, just and Naruto swung his supercharged fist at her, causing a massive explosion when they connected, destroying the rock pillars and sending debris flying everywhere, including stands and forcing people to cover their faces with their arms.

After the explosion ended the entire arena was covered in one massive cloud of dust.

Soon after though, the dust cloud began to setting where two figures could be seen standing on opposite ends of the now destroyed arena floor, staring one another.

Once the dust fully settled, the crowed could see the two Genin, with Naruto standing at the left end of the arena and Yugito. Who was still covered in thin layer of the Nibi's Chakra, and facing him from the right end of the arena.

Both looked exhausted and were panting heavily, their clothes in tatters, their faces covered in dirt, sweat and dried blood, yet neither one look ready to quit.

"Damn, those two are something else, most Shinobi their age would be down on out a long time ago" commented Genma to himself. "_Regardless of which one of them wins, both of them are top-notch Shinobi in my book._"

-In the Finalist Box-

"Yes! Alright Yugito, Senju got nothing on you, now finish him off!" cried Karui as she cheered her team-mate on.

"Jeeze, this battle is such a pain; they've completely ruined the arena," muttered Shikamaru. "Maybe if we're luckily they chancel this whole troublesome exam, once this battle is done."

"Damnit" Sasuke silently cursed as he slammed his fist on the railing and glared down at the two blondes.

"_What the hell am I doing wrong, why am I so pathetic!_" the Uchiha heir thought angrily. Who becoming more and more frustrated at how much stronger Yugito and Naruto were than him. The more he watched the battle, the more obvious the difference in power between him and them was. Even after improving his skill with the Sharingan and learning Kakashi's technique, the gap between him and Naruto had barely changed at all.

"_At the rate I'm going, I'll never defeat __**him**__, I need to do something to get stronger_" Sasuke thought angrily.

"Those two are insane, they could cause some serious trouble when the operation begins" Kankuro said quietly as he looked down at the ruined arena.

"Let's hope for our sake that they take each other out" Temari replied, who like her brother was worried want would happen should Gaara fight either of them. Who currently was watching the battle between Naruto and Yugito with excitement in his eyes and was barely containing his bloodlust.

-In the Audience-

"Man this is intense" mutter Kiba, who was exhausted from just watching the two blondes fight.

"Yea, both of them are unbelievable" replied Choji, who was on the same bag of chips that he was eating when the match first started and was only half way through, which showed how much he was into the match.

"Damn and I thought the fight between Naruto and that Lee kid was intense" muttered Anko, as like in that match, Yugito and Naruto had complete destroyed the arena.

"Let's just hope that this battle ends soon or else we may have to end it without a winner, as the arena doesn't look like it can take much more" Asuma remarked.

"This battle won't last much longer" Kushina replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"Naruto and Yugito are finally reaching their limits" spoke Kakashi. "Both of them are panting heavily and given the length of the battle, the injuries they've taken and the amount of Chakra they've used, they won't last too much longer."

"Do you think Naruto can win, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

At first Kakashi didn't answer and just stared at the two tired blondes, but after a moment or two he spoke. "Too close to tell, both of them seem pretty even, but if I were to guess I would put odds on Naruto, although that mainly because I know what he can do."

"It's Naruto, you can beat on it" said Shizune, with a knowing smile, as she knew what her godson/surrogate little brother could do.

"You got that right, as the brat still has one last card to play and it's his best one" Kushina replied.

"W-Wh-What is it? Hinata asked nervously.

In response the red headed Jonin just smile and said "Something tell me you're about to see."

"My, My, I must say, Naruto-kun certainly knows how to put on a show" commented the Fire Daimyo.

"I must concur Kasai-sama, this is probably the most exciting battle I have ever seen" the Lightning Daimyo remarked. "And it seems that you granddaughter is just as enthralled with it as we are."

"It would seem so" the Fire Daimyo replied as he glanced at his granddaughter, who was cheering loudly for Naruto.

"Such passion and fighting spirit, truly they are in the springtime of their youth" said Gai, who received no reply from his students, who were gapping at the state of the arena and how fiercely Naruto and Yugito were fighting.

"Both of them are something else, how much longer do you think they can keep this up?" Akatsuchi asked as he turned to his female partner.

"Not much longer, it's only a matter of time, they both look like they're running on empty" the Tsuchikage's granddaughter replied.

"Damn, are these two really just kids? I've seen Jonin fight less fiercely than them" said Kotetsu.

"No kidding, they like miniature monsters, they've demolished the entire arena" Izumo replied.

-In the Kage Box-

"Damn, it must be nice to be young" Jiraiya commented, "Those two have being fighting for over two hours straight, and they still want to keep going."

"Indeed their stamina and resolve is most impressive" the Mizukage remarked.

"Yes, but it seems that they are finally nearing an end" the Sandaime Hokage said, while at the same time mourning over how the repairs from this battle would triple his workload, even with the **Kage Bunshin** helping him.

It was at this point that the four Kages and the two Sannin suddenly saw Naruto fall to his knees and hold his right side in pain.

"Naru-chan!" cried Tsunade as she went to the railing and learned over it, when she saw her son fall to his knees.

"Looks like the girl got him during the last attack" Jiraiya said with a frown.

"_Good girl, Yugito_" thought the Raikage with a small smirk.

-In the Arena-

After Naruto fell to his knees in pain, he cover his right side, which bleeding pretty badly from a large claw slash from Yugito, when she attacked him after using the Nibi's Chakra to break free from his rocker pillars.

"I told you before Naruto, I had no intention of giving up or holding back" said Yugito as she fell into a standard fighting stance. "So I suggest that you give up now, as you won't last much longer."

"_**The same can be said about you kitten, you won't be able to last much longer. Since releasing that much of my Chakra at once has taken a toll on your body and what you have left is all I can afford to let you have. That is unless you want to destroy your body or go berserk again.**_"

"_Don't worry Nibi I won't need any more, this battle is just about over_" replied the blonde girl.

At the same time as Yugito was speaking to her Biju, Naruto was contemplating his situation. "_Damnit not good, I underestimated how strong she was when using her Biju's Chakra. Looks like I have no other choice, I was hoping not to use it unless I was facing Gaara, but I guess I should have known better. I'll have to get this right on the first try as I don't have enough Chakra for a second chance._"

Slowly Naruto got back onto his feet and removed his hand from his right side where he created two shadow Clones of himself and then looked over at Yugito. Who frowned slightly when she saw Naruto smirk, despite the fact that he was wounded.

"I have to admit Yugito-chan you've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we fought."

"Thanks, you've gotten a lot stronger as well, not many people have been able to push me as far as you have."

"But before we continue, can you tell me what you know of my Clan?"

"What?" the girl asked in surprise.

"What do you know of my Clan?" repeated the blonde boy.

"Why?"

"Just humour me."

"_What's he up to now?_" the female jinchūriki thought with a frown, before deciding to accommodate Naruto.

"Fine, the Senju Clan was considered to be one of, if not the strongest Clan in the Shinobi world during the great Shinobi Clan Wars. The reason why they became so feared and well known was because unlike other Clans, who focused on mastering one particular skill. The Senju Clan were masters in all skills, from Ninjutsu, to Taijutsu, to Genjutsu. This was how they earned their moniker as the Sen no te o motsu ichizoku (The Clan with a thousand skills) and how they were able to match other powerful Shinobi Clans with Bloodline limits, like the Uchiha Clan."

"Pretty Good Yugito, I give you an A-, as you got almost everything right."

"Oh and what did I get wrong?" the teen girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it not what you got wrong, it's what you missed, since there was actually one other name that my Clan went by. A name they earned thanks to my Great Grandfather the Shodai Hokage."

"And what's that?" Yugito asked who was starting to have a bad feeling about this.

"They were also known as the Mori no Senju Ichizoku (The Senju Clan of the Forest)…and this was how they earned that name!" Naruto said before preforming three quick hand-seals and yelling "**Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)!" as he slammed both his hands onto the ground.

-Enter Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST 3 - The Intrepid-

After Naruto slammed both his hands onto the ground, several dozen wooden tentacles erupted from the ground and made their way straight for Yugito.

"He can use Mokuton?!" Genma said in shock when he saw the wooden tentacles spring out of the ground.

"Impossible…!" Yugito yelled before she heard the Nibi's voice scream in her head.

"_**Yugito run now! If he catches you, you're finished!**_"

Acting quickly, Yugito immediately used her enhance speed to move to her right to avoid the wooden tentacles, but as soon she did, Naruto had them turned follow after her.

"_How the hell is this possible?! I thought Mokuton was a mutation, not an actually Bloodline limit and that only the Shodai Hokage could use it!_" Yugito thought; as she raced around the arena, doing her best evade all of Naruto's wooden tentacles.

"_**I don't know, but the fact is Mokuton is now officially a Bloodline limit and your boyfriend has it. Just like his ancestor which explains why his Chakra is so much like the Shodai Hokage's and why I found it so familiar.**_"

"_Thanks for stating the fucking obvious, I could have used that information ten minutes ago, where I actually could have done something about it where we wouldn't be in this situation!_" Yugito rounded angrily.

"_**It's not my fault!**_" the Nibi yelled back "_**Relatives naturally have similar Chakra to one another. How the hell was I suppose to know that he would have Mokuton? No-one else in his Clan has ever had it before!**_"

-In the Kage Box-

"It can't be!" cried the Raikage as she stood up from his seat and leaned over the railing and looked on in shock as Naruto preformed an ability that should no longer exist.

"Impossible" said a stunned C

"Unbelievable!" thought a wide-eyed Darui.

The Raikage and his guards were of course not the only ones to be shocked by this new revelation, as both the other visiting Kages and their guards stared on in disbelief.

"It is…" said the Kazekage.

"…Mokuton!" said the Mizukage who couldn't believe her eyes.

"But how?" said an astonished Ao.

As the other Kages and their guards gapped at how Naruto was performing the same ability as the legendary Shodai Hokage. The Sandaime Hokage and his two former students just grinned at each other, enjoying the stunned looks on their guest's faces.

Seeing the grins on the old Hokage and the two Sannins faces, the Raikage quickly turned to glared at the three.

"You knew he could do this didn't you?!" the Raikage said as he pointed accusingly at the three.

"Of course, I'm his mother after all and I did tell you earlier, that Naru-chan had yet to show his true abilities" Tsunade replied with a shit eating grin. "And this is it; he is the first natural born Mokuton user ever to be born since my Grandfather and is his true successor in every way."

When the Raikage heard this, he just stared at the blonde woman with a mixture of confusion and anger before turning back to the arena.

As he watched Yugito who was busy trying to avoid the multiple wooden tentacles, his belief in Yugito winning the match were sinking faster than a rock in the ocean.

-In the Finalist Box-

"No way, Naruto can use Mokuton!" Shikamaru said in surprise, while Shino, who was standing next to him just stared in amazment.

"How?!" yelled Karui, who was now starting to worry.

"This is bad Temari" Kankuro said, as knew what this meant for their plan.

"I know!" the blonde girl retorted angrily, who like her brother had heard the stories of the Legendary founder of Konoha and the unique ability of his Mokuton power, which allowed him to supress the powers of Biju and control them.

When the two siblings looked at their younger brother, they were surprised to see a look of astonishment on his face, which was highly unusual for him.

-In the Audience-

"Mokuton!" cried one of the Hyuga elders in surprise.

"But how?" said another elder, in shock.

"_This changes everything_" thought Hiashi's father in disbelief.

"Mokuton…! Your gramps is going to want to know about this Kurotsuchi" said Akatsuchi.

"You think?!" rounded the dark haired girl, who had a serious look on her face at this new development. Since Naruto had gone from an impressive Shinobi to a major threat.

"_This can't be happening; this has to be some kind of nightmare. Why now of all times?!_" thought Baki furiously, who knew how big a threat Naruto had now become to their invasion.

"That's it, that is fucking it, I give up!" said Zabuza in annoyance. "Every time I think I have this kid figured out, he does something else, just what the hell can't he do?!"

"_You too Naruto-kun_" thought a wide eye Haku. (7)

"Unbelievable" muttered Saito, who his team-mate Chōjūrō stared down in awe.

"_So it begins_" thought Danzo, who was rather interested to see how well Naruto could use his Bloodline limit.

"Amazing, truly Naruto-kun is the Shodai Hokage's heir" muttered a stunned Gai, who now fully understood what Kushina was trying to tell him at the beginning of the preliminaries.

"No way!" said Tenten, while her team-mate Lee just stared slacked-jawed.

"_So this is your true power Naruto-san_" thought a stunned Neji. "_It seems you were right about me all along, I was blind fool._"

"He was holding back this much in our fight!" said a stunned Mai with a mixture a amazement and anger. Since she was a proud Kunoichi and did not like the fact that Naruto held this much back in their battle.

"I do see, but do not believe" rhymed a wide Killer Bee.

"_**No wonder the boy's Chakra was so much like the Shodai Hokage's, he can perform Mokuton as well**_" Hachibi said in surprise. "_**If he can use his Mokuton even half as well as his ancestor, Yugito and the Nibi won't stand a chance.**_"

"Unreal!" muttered an awestruck Omoi.

"Not cool" said Samui with a worried look, as she knew what this meant for Yugito.

"Holy cow, Naruto can use Mokuton!" said Choji in surprise.

"Naruto-kun is incredible" said Hinata.

"Just how strong is Naruto-kun?" Ino asked before turning to Sakura.

"Did you know about this?" the blonde girl asked, remembering how Sakura said she knew how strong Naruto was, but wouldn't tell what he could do.

"Yea I did, but I was forbidden to tell" replied the Pink hair girl.

"But why?" the young girl asked.

"Because the Hokage ordered me to tell both Sakura and Sasuke that they were forbidden to tell anyone" spoke Kakashi suddenly.

"Why that's?" Kiba asked he of course knew that Mokuton was a powerful Bloodline limit, but he still couldn't understand why it was so important to keep it hidden until now.

"Because the Mokuton Bloodline limit is one of the most revered Bloodlines limits in the Shinobi World. And now that Naruto has revealed he has the Bloodline limit and can use it, many Shinobi villagse and other organisations will come after him" explained Kushina.

"I still don't get how it's so valuable?" said Kiba.

"You forget one of the reasons why the Shodai Hokage was so powerful, was because of his Mokuton power. With it he became one of the Strongest Shinobi who has ever lived, if not the strongest. Many Shinobi villages would fear that with Mokuton, Naruto could become just as powerful as his ancestor. Even if he doesn't, the fact he has Mokuton ability makes him a threat to them, thanks to its other ability."

"What other ability? Sakura asked.

"Mokuton has the unique ability to supress the power of Biju, like the one that resides in Yugito-san, and control them" answered Yamato.

"Seriously?" asked Kiba in surprise.

"Yes"

"So does that mean that Naruto-kun can win?" Hinata asked.

"Perhaps, but it would depend if he has the strength to use the technique I thought him and suppress the girl's Biju."

-In the Arena-

As Yugito continued dodging the multiple wood tentacles, she soon found herself surrounded by the by them, where they then converged on her from all sides.

With no time to spare and nowhere else to run, Yugito quickly jumped into the air and onto the arena wall, channelling some of the Nibi's Chakra to her feet, allowing her to stick to the wall and avoid the wooden tentacles.

After Yugito jumped onto the wall, Naruto had his wooden tentacles follow after her, forcing the blonde girl to run and resulting in a chase along the arena wall, which forced Genma to move again.

"Is anywhere safe from these two?" Genma asked himself and he jumped back into the arena, which was now covered mostly in Naruto's long wooden tentacles.

As Yugito ran around the arena wall doing her best to keep ahead of Naruto's tentacles, the blonde girl preformed several quick hand-seals and thought "_**Nezumi Kedama!**_" and spat out a dozen flaming mice-shape hairballs. Hoping to hit Naruto, while he was busy trying to capture her with his wooden tentacles.

But as flaming hairballs closed in on him, one of Naruto's clones that he created earlier intervened by stepping forward and creating a large wooden dome around them, protecting them from the flaming mice hairballs when they hit and exploded.

When the explosion ended, the clone lowered the wooden dome where the second Naruto clone then did some hand-seals and brought hit's hand forward and yelled "**Mokuton: Hiki no Toga **(Wood Release: Flying Wood Spikes)!"

As soon as the Clone yelled this, several small wooden spikes shot out from the palm of his hand in rapid succession and flew towards Yugito at high speed. Who was still running around the arena wall trying to keep ahead of the wooden tentacles, which was made harder to avoid thanks to the wooden spikes which she also now had to dodge.

Realizing that it was only a matter of time before she was hit or captured, Yugito decided to go on the offensive again.

In an impressive feat of skill, Yugito caught one of the wooden spikes that the Naruto clone fired at her and threw it right back at the clone, hitting it right between the eyes and causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke.

She then used the Nibi's Chakra to help propel her forward into the arena, just as the wooden tentacles were about to capture her and fall straight for Naruto.

But before she could reach him, Naruto's last remaining clone step between them and held up his arm and yelled "**Banmuchi **(Vine Whip)!" After which several vines sprung out from his arm and wrapped themselves around the blonde teen girl.

"What the hell!" Yugito cried before the clone use the vines to slam her down onto the ground.

"_Nibi what the hell is going on, how the hell can Naruto create vines from his body?!_"

"_**I don't know, this is new one to me as well, not even the boy's ancestor could do this, it's possible that his ability is more advance than the Shodai Hokage's. Then again the Bloodline limit may have just mutated with him**_" answered the Cat Biju. "_**But right now it doesn't matter, as you need to free yourself before you're captured!**_"

But before Yugito could even try and break free from the clone's vines, several wooden binds erupted from the ground underneath her and wrapped themselves tightly around her.

Once Yugito was secured, Naruto cancelled his shadow clone and started forming seven high speed hand-seals and gather most of his remaining Chakra to preform one last technique.

When he finished, Naruto held out his hand and said "**Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu** (Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands)!" After which a symbol for "Sit" appeared on the right palm of his hand, where he then raced over and touched the centre of Yugito's chest with it and jumped back.

As he jumped away, Naruto drew out a long line of blue chakra from the female jinchūriki, connecting the two together.

After jumping back Naruto then hand his left hand touch the ground, where ten large wooden pillars with spikes facing inward emerged around Yugito, surrounding her on all sides.

"_**YUGITO GET OUT OF THERE NOW!**_" roared the panicking Cat Demon. "_**I know this technique; it's the same one that the Shodai Hokage used to capture the other Biju and me!**_"

"I'm trying!" yelled Yugito, as she struggled to break free of the wooden binds, which were extremely strong.

"I'm, finishing this!" Naruto shouted as he readied the technique, while also think "_This has to work!_"

-In the Kage Box-

"That Jutsu…it can't be…he couldn't have!" said the Raikage who recognised the technique Naruto was using from all the stories her had heard about the Shodai Hokage from his father, the Sandaime Raikage.

"It is!" said the Mizukage in equal awe, even though this was the first time she had ever seen it with her own eyes. Like the Kumo Kage she had heard the stories of the famed founder of Konoha and the technique he used to tame and control the Biju.

-In the Arena-

Once the wooden pillars surrounded Yugito, Naruto started channelling his Chakra through the Chakra link and into Yugito's body, where he started pushing the Nibi's Chakra back into its seal.

"RRRAWWRRRR!" cried Yugito in agony as Naruto began to suppress her Biju's Chakra from her body.

The process was of course very painful for Yugito where she and the Nibi resisted it with everything they had, making it as difficult as possible for Naruto to suppress the Nibi's Chakra. Who was already struggling to suppress the Biju's Chakra.

As the battle for dominance continued, Naruto felt Yugito and the Nibi's resistance, where it was taking nearly everything he had to suppress just a third of the Monster Cat's power.

"_There's no way in hell I'm going to lose this fight, I am going to win…no matter WHAT!_" Naruto said inside his head, before shouting "I WILL NOT LOOSSSEEE!" and sending every ounce of Chakra he could spare into Yugito.

But what Naruto didn't notice was that at the same time as he said this, the Shodai Hokage's necklace that around his neck began to glow bright green, where it reacted with his Chakra, making it stronger.

With the Shodai Hokage's necklace help, Naruto began to push the Nibi's Chakra back further and further into its seal. At the same time the wooden pillars around Yugito began to close in on her.

Watching from the stands, the entire audience watch in silent awe as they watched Naruto use one of the legendary techniques of his forefather to suppress the Nibi no Bakeneko Chakra.

"_AAAGGAAA...! Nibi you need to help me!_" Yugito yelled inside her head as she tried to resist Naruto's Chakra. "_I can't do this without you!_"

"_**I'm trying… his Chakra…it's… just too strong!**_" said the Nibi, who starting to lose consciousness and was growing weaker and weaker by the second.

"_NO…! We can still win…we can beat him!_" said Yugito as she tried to rally her partner, but was getting weaker herself.

"_**Yugito…I'm…I'm sorry**_" said the Cat Demon before finally losing conscious.

After which Yugito let out one final cry of pain, as the last of the Nibi's Chakra finally faded back into its seal and the wooden pillars around her closed in right on top of her.

-End Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST 3 - The Intrepid-

Once the all of the Nibi's Chakra had been suppressed Naruto fell to his knees panting and sweating heavily.

"Man…pant, pant…th-that was a lot harder than training…pant, pant" said Naruto, as he tried to catch his breath.

After a minute or so Naruto formed a single hand-seal and used what little strength he had left and had the wooden pillars around Yugito pull back.

When the pillars moved away, Yugito became visible and was lying on her back, barely conscious and unable to move.

At the same time Genma made his way over to the two Genin, leaping over the large wooden tentacles that were covering most of the destroyed arena. When he saw the kneeling and panting Naruto and the restrained Yugito, he knew that the battle was finally over.

"Nii Yugito of Kumo is unable to continue battling; this battle is over…!" Genma declared as he shouted to the audience. "….The winner is Senju Naruto of Konoha!"

* * *

N/A.

Well that's it for another Chapter of Hope of the Senju Clan; I hope you all enjoyed it and the long battle and that it was everything you expected. Not to mention Naruto finally revealing his Bloodline limit to the world and using it to defeat Yugito.

Sorry about the long wait, but as all of you have seen, given the length of the battle it takes time to write up such a detail chapter, especially when you have to balance you time with other things.

Now as many of you can guess the next Chapter will deal with the fallout of the battle, like people's reaction to Naruto's victory and other things. It will also deal with Sasuke's battle with Gaara and the invasion, which is something I know many of you have eagerly been looking forward to.

Also if you are interested, please scroll down to the bottom for the two Omakes I have created for this Chapter and I hope you enjoy them.

Again I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter and I will try to update another of my stories as soon as I can. Since I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish writing up the Chapter to my next story.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as I mentioned before, please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons, especially now, since the poll will close next week.

**Author's Note:**

(1). This technique is **Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water) from the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) Sword Style. Scroll down further in this page to have a more detail explanation for this technique and all the others techniques for this Sword Style. **Senkai no Mizu** will be number three in the defensive techniques.

(2). For more information of this technique go to Chapter 11 called Team-work.

(3). For more information on the **Bunkatsu Mizu** (Splitting Water) technique scroll down to Arasuijin no Mai technique list, it number 5 on the offensive techniques.

(4). For more information on the **Ochiru Mizu **(Falling Water) technique scroll down to Arasuijin no Mai technique list, it number 4 on the offensive techniques.

(5). For more information on the **Uzuhandō** (Whirling kick) technique go to the bottom of Chapter 16.

(6). For more information on the **Kaiten Hiji** (Spinning Elbow) technique go to the bottom of Chapter 24.

(7). Haku is referring to how Naruto has a Bloodline limit like her.

(8). For more information on this technique go to the bottom of Chapter 19.

(9). For an image of Naruto's Cat form in Omake 1, please go to my profile the link for the picture will be in the Hope of the Senju Clan section and be number 14.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Katon: Okibi** (Fire Style: Blazing Fire): A C-rank technique where chakra kneaded inside the body of the user and is converted into Fire, and then expelled from the mouth in a massive stream of intense flames that quickly engulfs the target, leaving little behind.

(B). **Katon: Hitora** (Fire Style: Fire Tiger): A powerful B-rank technique where the user compresses a large amount of chakra built up inside their body, and changes it into Fire before spitting it out in a large stream of flame which takes the shape of a Tiger's head. Even outside of the attack range, its power and reliability are stressed. The flames have a high temperature where normal level Water Jutsu would be unable to extinguish it.

(C). **Katon: Rensha** (Fire Style: Rapid Fire): This is a C-rank technique that can creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying in a long stream. The Fireballs can fly through the air at high speed and the user can control the direction the they go by using chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult.

(D). **Futon:** **Kaze no Bōseki **(Wind Style: Spinning Wind): A Ninkenjutsu (Ninja Sword Technique) that Naruto developed from his understanding of the **Hakkeshō Kaiten **(Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven) and the **Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water) technique. It involves Naruto channelling Chakra through his Katana and spinning around at high speed while using his high Chakra control to slowly release and convert his Chakra into Wind. This creates a rotating shield of Wind around himself. Naruto can actively control the size and power of the sphere to suit the situation. It can toss away any nearby attackers and deflect many powerful attacks, if enough Chakra has been used to create it. The technique is extremely effective against physical attacks; causing severe damage to a person's body, should they come into direct contact with the barrier. Also by releasing a large burst of Chakra through his Katana, Naruto is able to create and release a large circular blade of Wind that expands outwards from the Wind barrier, making it extremely useful when surrounded by multiple enemies. Like the **Kaiten **and the**Mizu no Jōshō **techniques, this technique is only effective when rotating, since the Wind itself is not enough to stop a physical attack, thus if he cannot spin, Naruto becomes vulnerable. Also given how the technique is basically a Wind technique, it is strong against Raiton Jutsu and can be highly resistant to Katon Jutsu. But only if Naruto spins in a counter clockwise direction and releases enough Chakra, otherwise the flames could feed on the Wind and grow, where he would be enveloped by the flames.

(E). **Nekokyaku** (Cat Kick): A very powerful side kick aimed at the opponent's head. The attack is made more dangerous when used in conjunction with Yugito's Claw Creation technique.

(F).** Nekogeki **(Cat Strike): A technique where Yugito jumps into the air and pounces down on her enemies like a Cat and pins them to the ground.

(G). **Retsukyaku** (Fissure Kick): This technique is based on Tsunade's **Tsūtenkyaku** (Heavenly Foot of Pain) technique. Like Tsunade's **Tsūtenkyaku** it is a simple a falling axe kick. Naruto concentrates his inhuman strength into his heel and strikes the enemy. The difference in the attack is that not only does it cause immense damage to the surrounding arena. But it can also cause a small fissure and upturn the earth slightly, giving rise to its name. Also like the **Tsūtenkyaku **it can easily kill and crush anyone who is hit directly by it.

(H). **Doton: Michū Shibari **(Earth Style: Three Pillar Bind): This is a C-rank offensive technique; it summons three large rock pillars around the enemy and pins the person in between them high up in the air, preventing them from moving. It is a very useful technique when you wish to capture an enemy target.

**Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) Sword Style:**

Arasuijin no Maiis a Sword Style that was invented by Uzumaki Kushina. It is a deadly Sword Style which can be difficult enough to master, since to perform the necessary techniques, the user must have good reactions, excellent hand eye coordination have high speed and have an affinity for Water Ninjutsu. The Sword Style is particularly famous for being able to use the surrounding Water as a weapon and has twelve different techniques; six defensive, six offensive.

**Offensive Techniques:**

(1). **Mizu no Atsuen** (Rolling Water): This is the first offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. The technique involves the user attempting to slash using one hand. But this would simply be revealed as a feint attack, whilst the Katana is switched to the user's other hand to create a genuine slash after the intended target is caught off guard attempting to dodge or block the first feint attack.

(2). **Tachioyogi** (Treading Water): This is the second offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. It is an offensive move where the user charges forward and thrusts their Katana into the target and impales them with the sword. This technique is classified as an assassination technique because of the speed at which it is performed. The user can also enhance their blades' density and length by coating it with Water, as well as increase the blades sharpness. The technique although has a major drawback. The speed at which the attack must be done, combined with the fact that the user must run in a straight line, causes a tunnel vision-like effect for the user. This allows the enemy to easily counter the attack, making it a potentially lethal move for the user.

(3). **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water): This is the third offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. The technique involves the user passing their sword from one hand to another at high speed behind his or her back. This allows the user to switch their attack and catch their opponent off-guard and confuse them, which sometimes determines the outcome of a fight.

(4). **Ochiru Mizu **(Falling Water): This is the fourth offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. This technique involves the user tossing their Katana into the air and kicking the base of the hilt with his or her foot to send it propelling towards the intended target. It is an extremely difficult technique to use and master given the precision, speed and coordination needed to perform the technique correctly. It also should only be used when facing a single enemy or when finishing an opponent off, given how it leaves the user without their weapon and vulnerable to attack.

(5). **Bunkatsu Mizu** (Splitting Water): This is the fifth offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. The technique involves the user gathering a concentrated amount of Water around their sword and swinging it, unleashing a high speed blast of Water in the shape of a crescent wave. It is a typical long-distance attack and travels at an immense speed, making it difficult to evade. The attack does not require much Water but does require a great deal of Chakra to help create the high pressure in the attack. Once fully mastered, the attack can cut through solid stone, thanks to the high speed it travels in and the enormous pressure in it.

(6). **Jinsoku Mizu **(Swift Water): This is the sixth offensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. It is an extremely powerful offensive technique, where it can be used in two different forms, one for close range and one for long range. The first form is where the user can slash at the opponent, whilst at the same time draw the moisture from the air and form hundreds of tiny high speed Water blades around the blade. This makes it virtually impossible for an opponent to fully avoid the attack, due to the number of tiny Water blades around the blade when it slashes. The Water blades themselves are sharp enough to cut an opponent to pieces or at the very least disable him or her. The second form is where the user can created an invisible Wind like vortex made out of thousands of tiny Water blades as the user swings his or her Katana down, the vortex is strong enough that it can blast a single opponent or a large body of enemies away and shred them to pieces at the same time.

**Defensive Techniques:**

(1). **Mizu no Jōshō** (Rising Water): This is the first defensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. It involves the user creating multiple waves of Water, creating a wall of Water around the user. This technique is highly effective defence move, where the user can block many different attacks including Ninjutsu. The technique is also effective in reducing the effects of most attacks and gives the user a chance to take a defensive stance if an attack breaks through the wall of Water.

(2). **Mizu no Kagayaku **(Glittering Water): This is the second defensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. The technique involves the user creating a wave of Water in front of him or her. The wave then acts as a mirror, where the opponent will see an image of the user and will attack it, allowing the user to attack the opponent from a different direction when they are distracted.

(3). **Senkai no Mizu** (Swirling Water): This is the third defensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. To perform the technique the user holds their blade backwards and channels the Water around him/her as he/she spins around to create a Water spout around them and any person standing next to them. It is a highly effective defensive technique used when facing against multiple attacks or opponents from multiple directions. The technique has an added effect of blasting an opponent back, if they are near the user.

(4). **Namiutsu Mizu** (Rippling Water): This is the fourth defensive move of the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style. This is a highly advance technique that involves a user avoiding an enemy's attacks by synchronizes with their breathing and following their movements. It is a difficult technique to use, and even more difficult to master. If a user has not completely mastered the technique, it is easy for the user to fall out of sync with their foe, especially in battle conditions.

(5). Unknown

(6). Unknown

**Omake 1**:

As Yugito and Naruto stood opposite one another, the two blonde Genin stared intensely at each other, waiting to see who would make the first move.

After a minute or so Naruto finally spoke "I suggest that you give you Yugito-chan, you can't beat me, as I have come up with the perfect strategy to defeat you."

"Oh and what's that?" replied Yugito with confident smirk, as she was not afraid of Naruto and what he had planned.

"This!" yelled Naruto as he exploded and exploded into a puff of smoke.

When the smoke faded, a small brown striped yellow kitten appeared in his place, revealing that Naruto had transformed into it. (9)

"_**Neko Henge no Jutsu**_ (Cat Transformation Technique)!" kitten Naruto said in a small squeaky voice.

When Yugito saw the kitten Naruto, her eyes widen in shock and froze.

At, the same time kitten Naruto just smirked, since he knew how much Yugito loved cats, therefore she could never hurt a _helpless_ little kitten.

But just as he thought he had this match in the bag, Yugito suddenly let out a high pitch squeal "KYAAAAA!"

Within the blink of an eye Yugito was right in front of him, where she snatched him up and began to squeeze the life out of him. (Not unlike a certain Daimyo's wife in terms of her own pet cat).

"Kyaaaa! Kitty, just what I always wanted, my own little kitty witty" said the female jinchūriki. Who was now in full girly mode where she began to smother kitten Naruto in her still developing bosom and rock him around in her arms like some-kind of baby. "I will hug him and squeeze him and pet him and pat him and rub him and caress him and love him for ever and ever and ever and ever."

"_**Help me!**_" squeaked kitten Naruto who knew that if he transformed back to normal, Yugito would skin him alive, especially since he was now face deep in her chest.

Taking pity on the poor boy, Genma decided to end the match and declared Yugito the winner, this resulted in everyone in the entire audience to fall off their seats in disbelief.

-In the Kage Box-

"Well so much for that match" muttered Jiraiya as he slowly picked himself up from the floor.

"Yes but that leaves the problem as to who is going to save the boy?" spoke the Raikage as he pointed down to Yugito. Who was now walking away with the young Senju heir, holding him tightly to her chest and telling him about all the different kitten size dresses she had back in her apartment and how she would have him try them all.

As Yugito walked out the arena, the audience could once again hear a squeaky little voice cry "_**HHeellppp mmmeee!**_"

**Omake 2:**

As Yugito and Naruto faced one another, the two blonde Genin stared intensely at each other, waiting to see who would make the first move.

-In the Kage Box-

"This should be an interesting match, wouldn't you agree Hokage-sama?" spoke the Mizukage.

"That it should Mizukage" replied the old Hokage, "I expect great things from both these two."

"Hmph, it doesn't matter how strong the boy is, the result will remain the same…Yugito will win no matter what" said the Raikage.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Raikage-sama" said a smirking Tsunade.

"Oh, you sound confident Tsunade-sama, care to make a wager on it?"

"What sort of wager?"

"If I win you have to go out on a date with my brother Killer Bee" said the bulky Kage, as his brother had been pestering to help him get a date with the female Sannin.

"Fine, but if I win your village has to cover all by debts."

"Done!" replied the dark skinned Kage, while at the same time thinking. "_Easiest bet I've ever made, this will get Bee off my back, and if I'm lucky maybe he can get her to produce another powerful heir and have it join us._"

-In the Arena-

After a minute or so Naruto finally spoke "You know Yugito-chan, I really don't want to fight you after all. How about you give up and save us both a lot of time and energy?"

"Hah, you got to be dreaming if you think I will do that" replied the blonde girl.

"Well how about if I make you an offer, one that you can't refuse."

"What sort of offer?" Yugito asked who was curious at what Naruto was up to.

"Well if you agree to give up, I will give you this!" said Naruto as he reached inside his coat and pulled out an adorable black kitten with bright green eyes, which meowed when it saw Yugito.

"Kyaaaa!" cried Yugito when she saw the cute little kitten and had stars in her eyes, at how adorable the kitten was.

"Gimme, Gimme Gimme" cried Yugito as she tried to take the little kitten from Naruto, but the young Senju kept the kitten out of reach from her.

"I will once you agree to forfeit...So how about it Yugito-chan? Do you give up or not?"

"Sure, fine, whatever, I quit, NOW GIVE ME THE KITTY!" yelled the cat loving girl.

Once Genma accepted Yugito's forfeiture, Naruto handed the black kitten to his fellow blonde. Who then proceeded to hug the life out of the little cat and rubbing her face against its fur.

"SSoooo ccuuutteee" squealed Yugito as she continued to hug the kitten and wiggle happily on the ground, as if she was a two year old.

Naruto on the other hand just smirked and look up to the audience, (who all had large sweat drops at the back of their heads from watching Yugito and the kitten), and held up his hand as he performed the V for Victory sign.

When Naruto did this a loud cry of despair was heard from the Kage Box, along with some manic laughter.

-In the Kage Box-

"Agaaa! All that time and training, ruined...! All because of a stinking cat!" yelled the Raikage who was both furious and humiliated at how Naruto defeated his top Genin.

"Looks like I win Raikage-sama" said Tsunade with a shit eating grin.

"Fine whatever, how much do I have to pay?" asked the angry Kage, who's mood had quickly soured and just wanted to get it over with.

"Here's the amount" Tsunade answered where she handed the Raikage a small slip of paper.

As soon as the Raikage had looked at the amount written on the slip of paper, his eyes widened to the size of saucers and immediately collapsed dead on the ground.

During the autopsy, the medic's quickly certified that the Raikage died from four simultaneous heart attacks.

A month later, Kumo collapsed due to massive bankruptcy.


	31. Chapter 31

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty-one: Invasion!**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju/Animal talk/Thinking Jutsu**_"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_When the pillars moved away, Yugito became visible and was lying on her back, barely conscious and unable to move._

_At the same time Genma made his way over to the two Genin, jumping over the large wooden tentacles that were covering most of the destroyed arena. When he saw the kneeling and panting Naruto and the restrained Yugito, he knew that the battle was finally over._

"_Nii Yugito of Kumo is unable to continue battling; this battle is over…!" Genma declared as he shouted to the audience. "….The winner is Senju Naruto of Konoha!"_

**Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.**

-In the Arena-

When Genma declared Naruto the winner there was silence, as many couldn't believe that the battle between the two blondes was finally over.

Others on the other hand were still in shock at how they had actually witnessed, with their own eyes, the re-emerges of the legendary Bloodline limit of the Shodai Hokage, Mokuton (Wood Release). Not to mention, seeing Naruto use **Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu** (Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands) one of the Shodai's most famous techniques.

Eventually after a few moments, the audience finally got over their shock, and the stadium exploded into a thunderous applause and cheers, the cheers were so loud that they could be heard all over the village.

-In the Audience-

"He did it!" Ino yelled excitedly as she raised her arms into the air and cheered loudly.

"Yes!" cried Kiba as he pumped his fist into their air.

"_Well done Naruto_" Yamato thought with a smile, as he was quite proud of his student.

"_Nice!_" thought Kushina with a large smile.

"Naruto has certainly come a long way in a short time" Kurenai remarked.

"Yeah… I have to admit, there were moments where I thought he might actually lose" commented Asuma. Who was impressed with how Naruto was able to use **Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu** and suppress the Nibi.

"Unreal, Naruto did it, he defeated Yugito…again" said a wide-eyed Omoi, while his blonde team-mate Samui just stared down at the arena with a large frown.

"_That was whack Yo_" said Killer Bee inside his mind, while still reeling over the shock that Naruto could use Mokuton.

"_**Things are going to be a lot harder for that boy Bee, now that he has revealed he can use Mokuton. Your brother and the other villages will most likely target him now, since he poses too much of a threat to them to be left alone**_" said Hachibi.

"_You think?_" replied Killer Bee sarcastically; since he knew his brother better than anyone and knew what he was probably thinking now.

"_That boy, he needs to be dealt with…now!_" thought the Suna team sensei, who had a large angry frown on his face.

"Hohoho…it seems that I have won our bet Enrai-sama" said the Fire Daimyo with an amused smile when he saw the surprised look on his fellow Daimyo's face.

"So it would seem" replied the Lightning Daimyo after getting over his surprise and now had an amused smile. "You were indeed correct Kasai-sama, that boy he is quite special, to think that he would have the same ability as the Shodai Hokage?"

"Naruto is incredible!" said Rurichiyo with an excited look, since she couldn't believe how strong Naruto was.

"That he is…he's quite a remarkable young man" added Madame Shijimi with a large smile as she continued to clap for Naruto.

"Unbelievable," said Iruka, who like his fellow teachers, was shocked with what they had seen. "I never dreamed that Naruto could be so strong, let alone he could use Mokuton like the Shodai Hokage."

"YEAH!" yelled Konohamaru, who was jumping up and down on his seat and cheering loudly. "Nii-san did it…he won!"

"Did you see him use Mokuton, and how he used it to beat that girl?" asked Udon amazement.

"Yeah, he was awesome!" said one young boy.

"That Yugito girl was incredible too …did you see how she used that strange Chakra and nearly defeated him?"

"Both of them are spectacular" said one young girl in awe.

"I told you, I told all of you that Naruto-nii was awesome!" shouted Konohamaru, who was ecstatic over Naruto's win and couldn't believe how strong his elder brother figure was.

-In the Finalist Box-

"I don't believe it…Senju beat Yugito" said a shocked Karui.

"Geez, what a troublesome fight" muttered Shikamaru as he looked over the destroyed arena and the two exhausted blondes and was once again glad he forfeited his match.

"Shit, what do we do now?" asked a worried Kankuro in a low voice. "If he gets near Gaara when the invasion starts he could…"

"I know!" interrupted Temari who was also worried. "But the plan can still work; look at how exhausted he is. All we have to do is keep him away from Gaara until he fully transforms. Once his transformation is complete, not even Senju will be able to stop him."

"Yea alright" replied Kankuro, who did not look entirely convinced and could tell that his sister doubted her own words as well.

At the same time, while everyone else was talking, Sasuke, Gaara and Shino just stared down the arena, with their eyes trained on the panting Senju Heir.

-In the Kage Box-

"_That boy…he's even more dangerous than we had imagined_" thought the Raikage, who had a large frown on his face.

"_Excellent_" thought a disguised Orochimaru with evil smirk, who was quite pleased with how far Naruto had progressed since the Forest of Death.

"_Well done my boy_" thought a smiling Sarutobi, who was very proud of his surrogate Grandson and slowly clapped for him along with the rest of the cheering crowd.

"_I only wish you were here to see this Minato…you would be damn proud of your son_" thought a smiling Jiraiya.

"_Well done Naru-chan, I'm very proud of you_" thought a beaming Tsunade.

"_Zabuza and Haku, were right about him…he is quite an interesting boy_" the Mizukage thought with a intrigued look on her face as she joined in the Sandaime in slowly clapping for Naruto.

-In the Arena-

Down in the arena Naruto could hear the audience chanting not only his name, but Yugito's as well, for a well fought match.

Among the chanting, Naruto could hear people yelling about how incredible their battle was and how amazing both he and Yugito were. He could even hear people calling their battle the greatest fight in the history of the Chunin exam.

As the audience continued to applaud the two Genin, Genma turned to Naruto, who was slowly getting back onto his feet.

"Hey kid, if it's possible do you think could do something about these things?" the Tokubetsu Jōnin asked as he pointed to the large wooden tentacles that covered most of the arena, and the wooden pillars around Yugito. "Since we can't really finish the exam with the arena covered in trees."

"Eh yea, I think so" Naruto replied, where he formed a single ram seal and then placed his right hand on the ground and closed his eyes and began to concentrate, calling back the wooden tentacles and pillars and reabsorbed the Chakra that he used to create them.

After a few minutes the wooden tentacles and pillars had sunk back into the ground and Naruto slowly stood back up. He had regained a small portion of his Chakra, but was still very weak and tired.

"Sorry, but that's all I can do" a tried Naruto said as he looked at Genma.

"That's ok, we can handle the rest" the Tokubetsu Jōnin replied with a small smirk. After which he watched Naruto walk over to Yugito, who was still lying on the ground but was now unbound. "_That kid sure has amazing stamina, after a battle like that, I'm amazed he can even stand let alone walk._"

"Looks like I win again Yugito-chan" Naruto said with a tired smile as he looked down at the blonde Kumo Kunoichi. Who had a slightly annoyed and angry look on her face, since she was too weak to move after the Nibi Chakra was forcibly suppressed.

"Damn you Naruto, you always seem to have a trick up your sleeve, don't you?"

"Of course" answered the smirking Senju "I wouldn't be much of a Shinobi if I didn't."

"How can you use Mokuton? I thought it was just a mutation, no-one else your Clan as ever had it before."

"To be honest I don't really know myself, Bloodline limits are funny that way, some people can have them, others can't."

"Were you able to use it when we first fought?"

"Yes"

"So even back then you were holding back!" Yugito said with a frown and some anger in her voice.

"I had no choice" Naruto replied, "Come on Yugito you know as well as I do why I had to. It's just like why I lied to you about who I really was, if I had revealed that I had Mokuton, you would have been obligated to tell your village and you know exactly what would happen then."

"I guess" Yugito said with a slightly ashamed look, since she knew Naruto was right and knew if she had been in his position she would have done the exact same thing. Since having Mokuton made Naruto a target for many groups and villages, including her own, given it powers and ability.

But still, she was bothered by the fact that Naruto held back on her, since she was a proud Kunoichi and did not like the fact that people held back on her when she fought them, since it made her feel weak.

As if reading her mind, Naruto spoke again. "Look even if I had used my Mokuton Bloodline limit when we first fought, I doubt it would have helped much, since my skill in using it was limited at time. The fact is you're a strong Kunoichi Yugito, probably the strongest one I've ever fought, and the sole reason I learned **Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu** was because I knew it was probably my best chance in defeating you."

After Naruto said this, Yugito was left feeling bit better with herself, despite the fact that she had lost, she had given it her all and had nothing to be ashamed of. It also helped to know that Naruto had gone to such lengths to defeat her, proving that Naruto had given everything he had into this fight.

"Do you want a hand getting up?" Naruto asked as he offered his hand to help the girl up.

"Fine, but I want a rematch, and this time I'll beat you" Yugito replied where she slowly lifted her hand up, so that Naruto could help her up.

"Anytime" Naruto replied with another smirk, where he then reached down to grab the blonde girl's hand. But just as he was about to take hold of her hand, the events of the pervious battle finally took their toll on him, as he suddenly felt his body go limp"

"_Crap_" Naruto thought as he started to lose consciousness and fell forward and tried to brace himself for when he hit the ground. But instead of hitting the hard ground, his head landed on something soft.

"Since when did the ground feel like pillows?" Naruto mumbled as darkness took him. But unknown to the blonde boy, his face had just landed on a now blushing Yugito's right breast and his right hand on her left.

"Nar-u-to…get off me now!" said a bright red Yugito in a slow and low voice, with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

Now normally Yugito would've pushed Naruto off her and beaten him within an inch of his life. But given how weak her body was right now, she did not have the strength to move let alone thrown Naruto off her.

"Uuummm…five more minutes Kaa-chan" mumbled Naruto, unaware of his surroundings, snuggling deeper in between Yugito's bosoms and groped her left breast slightly, which made the blonde girl turn an even brighter shade of red.

It was at this point that entire stadium burst into a loud laughter, as the audience could no longer hold it in. But none could laugh harder than a young Inuzuka boy and two senior Kunoichi, one red haired and one purple haired, who were all on the floor in tears from laughing so hard at the scene.

As she continued to laugh, Kushina openly said she wished she had brought a camera with her and memorials the scene, knowing the teasing material she would have on her student.

At that moment, a mortified Yugito wanted nothing more than to be eaten by the ground, knowing that she would never live this down for as long as she lived. The only good thing about this situation was that the Nibi was not conscious at the moment, knowing the Monster Cat; she would tease and annoy her with this scene for months to come, if not for the rest of her life.

As the crowed continued to laugh several female voice could he heard saying "Naruto-kun…you cheat!"

But as loud of the audience laughter was, it was nothing compared to the booming voice of a certain blonde haired Sannin. Who yelled "NNAARRUUTTOO!" and was heard by the entire village.

Better than any alarm clock, the angry roar of his mother woke the spikey haired boy up, where his eyes snapped open and he instinctively jumped onto his feet.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" the panicking boy said quickly as he looked around for his mother, completely ignoring a crimson faced Yugito lying bellow him.

This of course only made the audience laugh even harder.

Confused over why everyone was laughing, Naruto look down at Yugito, who he finally noticed.

"Eh is there something I'm missing?" the blonde boy asked where he then noticed that Yugito was glaring angrily at him. But wasn't very intimidating given how she was still red from embarrassment.

"Don't tell me you don't remember?" Genma asked with an amused grin.

"Remember what?" Naruto asked with a confused look.

"What's the last thing you remember when you blacked out?"

"EEhhh…my body went limp and I braced myself to hit the ground, but landed on something soft" Naruto replied before it hit him.

When he was drifting in and out of unconsciousness, he remembered how his hand gripped onto something small, firm and soft and the _pillow_ underneath his head felt the same. Given how Yugito was lying underneath him, and her face was bright red, it didn't take a genius to figure what he had landed on.

"_Oh no_" Naruto thought in horror before turning a brighter shade of red than Yugito and would've put tomato's to shame.

But just when Naruto thought things couldn't get any worse, he suddenly heard a poof. When he turned to where the sound came from, he saw his mother marching towards him with a livid look on her face.

"_Crap…I'm dead_" Naruto thought when he saw his mother make her way towards him like an angry giantess.

"Kaa-chan…! It's not what you think, it was an accident, I swear!" Naruto said quickly as he waved his hand up in denial. But his denials fell on deaf ears as Tsunade continued to match towards him, where she then grabbed his left ear and started to pull on it.

"Ack!…Kaa-chan what the hell are you doing?!" screamed Naruto as his mother pulled on his left ear and began to drag him away.

"I'm taking you to the medical ward to treat your injuries and after that you and I are going to have another talk, since clearly the last one didn't work!" rounded Tsunade as she continued to pull on her son's ear. "No son of mine is going to become a pervert."

"AAhh!…Kaa-chan stop it, I'm not a pervert, honestly!" Naruto yelled as his mother continued to drag me away by the ear. "…It was an accident I swear!"

"Argh!...Kaa-chan, you're gonna pull my ear off!"

Seeing the Senju mother dragging her son away, the audience once again erupted in laughter and continued to laugh long after the two blondes left the arena.

-Later in the Medical Ward-

Ten minutes after the spectacle in the arena, Naruto lay on one of the medical beds, with his mother standing over him on his right side, using **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystic Palm Technique) to heal his injuries.

When Tsuande first arrived with Naruto, the medics tried to take Naruto from her, saying that they could take care of him. But Tsunade would have none of it, stating that she would allow no-one expect Shizune or herself to treat Naruto's injuries.

Assisting in the healing was Shizune, who was standing over Naruto on his left side. Shizune had arrived in the medical ward shortly after the two Senju's, carrying Naruto's tattered coat, along with his Katana and sheath, which she had picked up after Tsunade dragged Naruto away.

During the healing process, Naruto was forced to listen to his mother's rants about what happened at the end of the match. She even went on to rant that she did not go through twelve hours of labour, juts to _let_ him turn into a pervert like Jiraiya.

As Tsunade continued to rant, Shizune just smirked, since she planned to tease Naruto later about what happened.

Once Tsunade and Shizune had finished treating all of Naruto's injuries, the Senju matriarch looked down at her son.

"So how do you feel Naru-chan?" Tsunade asked, ignoring the slightly annoyed look on her son's face. Who was embarrassed over how his mother still called him Naru-chan in front of people.

"Fine I guess, although I feel pretty tried."

"Well that's to be expected, given how you barely had any Chakra left in you, which is why you're going to rest for the remainder of the exam."

"But what about the final match?" asked Naruto.

"You'll have to forfeit" replied the blonde woman.

"What?!" cried Naruto as he sat up, only to be pushed down by his mother.

"You heard me, you will not be fighting in the final match, you barely have enough Chakra as it is. You need to let your body rest and recover from your battles, not to mention let the rest of your injuries heal naturally."

"Can't I just take another food pill?"

"No!" Tsunade said forcefully as she crossed her arms underneath her amble bosom, making them seem almost bigger. "Don't think I didn't see you take one before you fought that Suna Kunoichi. You know full well the effects food pills have when you take them consecutive times without giving your body time to recover."

Although food pills were highly useful tools that replenished one's chakra and nourish their body, allowing the user to keep fighting for three days and three nights without rest. Like many things it had a downside, which was that they would put extreme wear on the user's body, where they would suffer from severe exhaustion and be unable to do anything for a period of time.

The effects would be made even worse if the person took multiple pills before recovering from the effects of the original pill. In some cases Shinobi were known to die from the after-effects of taking multiple food pills, where their bodies or hearts simply gave out from the stress they were put under afterwards.

He couldn't even use his Chakra seals that Kushina had taught him since he hadn't had time to replenish the seals with Chakra, due to all the training he had been doing for the past month. The Kyuubi's Chakra was also out of the question given how if he used it, it would reveal his status as a jinchūriki for the Kyuubi. His mother had even stated clearly, that he was only to use it if he was in a life or death situation.

After being forbidden from using anymore food pills, Naruto just moaned from annoyance, even though he understood where his mother was coming from in regards to food pills. He was still a bit annoyed over how he was being forced to quit, when he was just one match away from winning the Chunin exam.

"Can I at least go watch Sasuke and Gaara's match?" Naruto asked.

At first Tsunade did not answer and thought it over for about a minute or so before answering.

"I will allow it, but only if you promise that when your next match comes, you'll forfeit and not try to fight."

"Kaa-chan…!" Naruto moaned.

"Promise me" repeated Tsunade with a serious look.

"Alright, alright, I promise."

"Good" said the blonde woman with a nod. "But if you break your promise and try to fight, not only will I stop the match. I will strap to this bed for the rest of the year."

"MMoomm" Naruto moaned from embarrassment.

"Don't mom me young man" Tsunade scolded, "Just because you're a Shinobi now doesn't mean I can't ground you."

When Tsunade said this, a snort of laughter was heard from the other end of the small room on Naruto's right.

The snort of course came from the only other patient in the room, Nii Yugito, who was being treated for her injuries by two medics.

Yugito had naturally heard everything and couldn't help but laugh at how the mighty Senju Naruto, could be brought to heel so easily by his mother.

Naruto of course could only groan from humiliation and wished that this was all some kind of cruel nightmare and that he would wake up from at any moment.

Thankfully though a distraction soon came, where the occupations of the room heard a disturbance coming from outside.

Deciding to investigate, the two medics treating Yugito went out of the room. But before long the disturbance got louder where they then heard a familiar male voice yell, "Step outta my space, before I plant my foot in your face!"

"What the hell is going on out there?" Tsuande asked angrily before she and Shizune decided to go out and see what was happening. "You two don't move we'll be back in a minute."

But just as the two female medics were leaving the room, Tsunade suddenly turned to look at Yugito, who was still lying on her bed.

"Oh and before I forget, _don't_ even _think_ of trying to take advantage of _my_ son now that he is helpless" said the Slug princess sweetly

"WHAT?! I would never do something like that!" cried Yugito who turned red again when Tsunade accused her of trying to take advantage of Naruto. "I'm not interested in him!"

"Good, see that you don't, otherwise…_I will kill you_" said the elder blonde with a sickly sweet smile that crept the female jinchūriki out.

After Tsunade and Shizune left, Yugito quickly turned to Naruto, who now had his right hand covering his eyes out of shame and embarrassment.

"She kidding…right?"

"Knowing my mother…she was dead serious" Naruto replied as he turned to his fellow blonde.

"_First Nibi, now Naruto's mother, why is it that everyone keeps thinking that I'm interested in him?_" the blonde girl thought in annoyance.

"Sorry about my Kaa-chan, she can be a _little_ overzealous at times."

"So I've noticed" Yugito replied dryly. "Is she always like that?"

"Mainly when it comes to things that involve me" answered the blonde boy.

"She obviously cares a great deal about you" Yugito remarked.

"Yeah, although there are times where she can be a bit smothering" Naruto replied.

"So you really are a momma's boy's" Yugito said and smirked when she saw the blonde boy groan again and close his eyes out of embarrassment.

"Ohhhh, don't call me that _please_, I get enough teasing from my nee-chan. Besides I like to see you do any better when you have a mother like mine" Naruto said, as he took the pillow from underneath him to cover his face from embarrassment.

"You should be grateful that you have a mother like her, who would do anything to make sure that you're safe" Yugito said.

"I guess" Naruto said, since he cared a great deal about his mother and knew she felt the same.

"So what's your mom like?" Naruto asked looking at his female friend.

At this question Yugito didn't answer right away and just stared up at the ceiling with a blank look on her face. But before long she answered, "I wouldn't really know she died when I was about two."

"Sorry" Naruto said with ashamed look over bringing up Yugito's dead mother, "_Nice going baka._"

"Its fine, you didn't know" Yugito replied without any emotions, all the while looking up at the ceiling.

"What about your dad?"

"Dead, he died when I was nine" Yugito said a little quicker, although continued to stare up at the ceiling.

"Sorry" Naruto said again, while silently cursing himself again for asking about her father. "_Damnit can I do nothing right?_"

"It's okay…but what about your dad?" Yugito said where she then turned to Naruto.

But before Naruto could respond to the question, the two blondes suddenly heard Tsunade voice from outside the room.

"I don't care if you are her sensei! She's still recovering from her injuries, so go back to your seat an…What the hell do you think you're staring at?!" shouted the female Senju before a loud bang and crash was heard and several voices were heard shouting "SENSEI!"

When the door opened again an angry looking Tsunade entered, dusting her hands off and muttering about how perverts were as bad as cockroaches, since no matter how many she smashed, there were always more of them.

Curious, Yugito and Naruto lifted their heads up to look through the open door and peered behind Tsunade to see what happened. When they looked outside, they saw Samui, Omoi, Karui and some medics trying to pull a man out of a wall by his legs. Who had somehow ended up with the upper half of his body stuck inside the hallway wall.

"Now then, where were we?" Tsunade asked, with a smile that was far too sweet, as she closed the door behind her and Shizune, resulting in both Naruto and Yugito to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads.

"_I'm starting to understand why Naruto is so scared of her_" Yugito thought, while making a note to herself to try and stay on the Slug Princess's good side.

-Twenty Minutes Later-

After finally being treated, the two blonde teens slowly made their way to the finalist box.

Both Genin looked fairly worn given the tired look on their faces and how slowly they were moving. Not to mention the state of their clothes, even the coat that Jiraiya gave Naruto before the finals, (which he was now wearing again along with his Katana), was in tatters and covered in dirt from his battle with Yugito.

Killer Bee and the others had already returned to their seats, not wanting to incur the Slug Princess wrath any further.

Tsunade and Shizune had also returned to their seats, but before they left, Tsunade made sure to remind Naruto of his promise to forfeit his match when his turn came. She even went on to say that she would not stand for any more hanky panky between the two of them.

Naturally both blondes turned bright red from embarrassment at the accusation and fervently denied that they had such a relationship. But Tsunade did not seem convinced and said she would be watching them both _closely_.

As Naruto and Yugito made their way to the finalist box, the two blondes talked about their match and complemented each other on how much they had each improved since they last fought. But as they continued to talk, they suddenly heard the screams of two men; quickly the two blondes made their way down the hall and turned to their left.

When they turned they saw the Kusa Chunin Midori, who threatened Yugito before their match, being dragged back into another hallway by a large amount of sand.

Seeing the two Genin Midori turned to them and yelled "Help…Stop, Stop!" as the sand continued to pull him into the other hallway.

Before Naruto could even try to save the man, Yugito held out her arm in front of him, stopping him from moving, and shook her head. She knew it was already too late for him and that there was nothing they could do, especially in their weaken state.

Seconds later they heard one last loud scream from Midori from the hallway before there was nothing but silence.

Shortly after they heard the sounds of footsteps echo through the hallway and before long a person emerged from it.

The person was none other than Sabaku no Gaara, who slowly walked out from the hallway.

When Gaara emerged from the dark hallway, neither Yugito or Naruto were surprised to see him, since they already knew who was behind what had happened when they saw the sand drag Midori away.

After Gaara appeared the red headed boy turned to the two blondes and stared at both of them.

Not wanting to show any fear, both teens stared back at Gaara and made sure to keep faces expressionless.

After about a minute or so of staring at the two blondes, Gaara turned away and made his way to the stairs, which were right in front of him. But before slowly moving down the stairs to the arena, he spared one last glance at Naruto.

In that moment no words were exchanged, as there was no need to, since the look Gaara gave the Senju heir said it all, "You're next."

Once Gaara was gone, Yugito let out a breath that she did not realize she was holding. "_Nibi and Hachibi were right, that guy is dangerous. I've never seen anyone kill like that without hesitation or remorse, not even Bee-sensei is like that. He really is a monster._"

"_He really has become a living weapon_" Naruto thought as he remembered what he had learned about jinchūriki and how some villages try to turn them into living weapons without any emotions.

"What do you think made him kill them?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"If I were to guess, I would say that they tried to intimate him into losing his match, like they did with us."

"Fatal mistake" Naruto muttered as he could not help but pity the poor fools. "_Guess they didn't learn their lesson when they confronted us._"

"We better get going, if that Gaara guy is heading down to the arena then his match must be about to start" Yugito said after gaining Naruto's attention

Nodding to this, Naruto then made his way up to the finalist box with Yugito.

-In the Kage-

As the events between the three jinchūriki were happening, the Yonkage (Four Shadows) were just finishing discussing Yugito and Naruto's match.

It was also at this moment that Tsunade appeared in a whirl of leaves after using a **Shunshin** (Body-flicker).

"Ah Tsunade, I'm pleased to see you, how is Naruto-kun?" the Sandaime Hokage asked as he turned to his former female student.

"He's fine, most of his wounds were just superficial, right now he's just tired from using so much Chakra."

"Yes that's perfectly understandable" answered the old Hokage with a nod.

"And what of Yugito?" asked The Raikage.

"She should be fine as well, like Naru-chan her wounds are mostly superficial and just needs to rest for a while to recover her strength."

After hearing this, the Raikage nodded, pleased that Yugito would recover without incident. But even so it did not settle his concerns about Naruto and his recently revealed Mokuton powers.

"I'm sure the brat will be fine, if not I sure they're plenty of young girls here who are willing to help take care of him" Jiraiya said with a cheesy grin.

"_Barely even in his teens and he already has dozens of girls after him…I so proud!_" Jiraiya thought with anime tears of joy. But his joy over his godson popularity with the girls quickly ended when he heard the familiar sounds of knuckles cracking.

When he turned he saw Tsunade slowly cracking her knuckles and glaring at him in a way that made the Gama Sennin feel like he should cover her privates and back away.

Eventually though Tsunade turned from Jiraiya to her former sensei, but not before giving the super pervert one final glare.

"So what were you all talking about before I arrived?" the Senju Matiarch asked.

"The other Kages and I were just discussing whether or not to recommend Naruto-kun and young Yugito to become Chunin" answered the Sandaime.

"And what did you decide."

"Well given their rather explosive battle and the ways they fought and overcame their opponents in their previous matches, we've decided to recommend both of them to be Chunin" the Mizukage replied.

"Yes" added Sarutobi, "Both Yugito and Naruto-kun showed remarkable skill and talent in their battle, far exceeding most Genin. They also showed impressive resourcefulness, adaptability and analysing skills in their earlier battles, where Yugito overcame her opponents **Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Hidden Mist technique) and Sai's Ink creatures. Naruto also came up with unique and inventive ways to use his opponents own strengths against them. Both of them have potential to make fine Chunin."

After hearing this Tsunade just smiled, even though Naruto was disappointed with her forbidding him from entering the final match. She knew that the news of him becoming a Chunin would more than make up for it.

-The Finalist Box-

As the remaining members of the finalist waited for Sasuke and Gaara's match to begin, they saw Yugito and Naruto walk up the stairs from the lower levels.

"Geez you two are back already" Shikamaru said when he saw the two blondes. "I thought the both of you would be out of action after what you did?"

"Try not to sound too disappointed Shikamaru" Naruto said with amused smile.

"Tsk, I just thought that with you out of action Sasuke and Gaara's match would be the last match and this troublesome exam would finally be over."

Upon hearing this Naruto just smiled out of amusement since that was typical Shikamaru. But before he could respond to the young Nara's comment Karui suddenly spoke up.

"Hey Yugito, you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine, just a bit weak from the battle" answered the blonde Kunoichi.

"Did he try anything on you while you were recovering?" Karui asked as she glared over at the Senju. "Bee-sensei and the rest of us tried to get in. But Senju's mother wouldn't let us by and smashed Sensei into a wall when she caught him staring at her breasts."

"_Eugh, I should've known?_" thought Yugito as she shook her head from embarrassment after hearing why Tsunade had smashed her teacher into a wall.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean Karui?" Naruto asked in annoyance when he heard Karui ask Yugito if he tried anything on her.

"You know damn well what I meant Senju, I always knew you were a pervert!" accused Karui.

"I am no pervert!" Naruto retorted angrily since he did not like being called one.

"Hah, that's funny coming from you after what you just did to Yugito, not to mention Samui before that!"

"Both those were complete accidents!" a now red face Naruto said, given how he was still quite embarrassed over those two incidents. "It's not like I meant those things to happen!"

The argument of course would have continued had Yugito not intervened, and told Karui to drop it.

Obeying her team-mate's wishes Karui dropped the subject, although did spare an annoyed glare at Naruto before turning to look down at the arena where Sasuke was standing. Who had jumped down into the arena earlier after his name was called and waited for Gaara to appear, who was slowly making his way down the stairs.

When Naruto turned to look at the arena, he saw that it had been renewed and was almost exactly the way it was before the finals started.

It was of course obvious that during the time he and Yugito were being treated, someone had used some Doton Ninjutsu to make the arena floor flat again, as well as to remove the rubble from the ruined arena wall, which still had the holes and gaps in it from the previous battles.

When Naruto finished looking over the renewed arena, Gaara finally emerged from below the stairway and into the arena.

As Gaara made is way over to Sasuke and Genma, Shikamaru suddenly turned to Naruto.

"So who do you think will win…Sasuke?"

"I can't be a hundred percent certain, but if I were to guess I would say that Sasuke will lose" Naruto answered.

"Seriously?" asked Shikamaru as he turned to Naruto is surprise, since Sasuke was one of the strongest people in their year, second only to Naruto, given what he saw the Senju heir do in his last fight. He of course knew that Gaara would have an advantage over Sasuke since he had yet to fight, given how all his opponents forfeited. But to hear Naruto say so bluntly that Sasuke would lose was still surprising.

"I agree with Senju-san" Shino said suddenly, who had been standing near the two Konoha Genin and overheard what they were talking about. "Sabaku no Gaara is more dangerous than you can imagine."

After hearing Shino agreeing with Naruto, even Shikamaru was beginning to doubt Sasuke's chances of winning, especially when he remembered how Gaara dealt with that Ame-nin in the preliminaries.

"What do you think Yugito?" Karui asked as she looked at her team-mate.

"I agree as well, Sabaku no Gaara is extremely dangerous, especially since he is like me."

"You mean…?" Karui asked in surprise and looked at her friend, who just nodded in confirmation.

After learning of what Gaara really was, Karui stared down at the redheaded boy with a concern look.

_-In the Arena-_

Once both Sasuke and Gaara were in the arena, Genma eyed both Genin careful; Sasuke looked eager to fight and was loosening himself up, while Gaara just stared at him with a bloodthirsty look.

After Genma said begin, the Tokubetsu Jōnin quickly jumped away, since he had learned first-hand from previous battles, not to underestimate the Genin from this year's exam.

Once Genma official began the match, Gaara slowly drew his sand out from his gourd, causing Sasuke to jump back a bit, knowing how dangerous Gaara was when he released his sand.

But as soon as Gaara released the sand from his gourd he suddenly felt intense pain coming from his head and held it in his right hand. After which he began to mutter to himself, asking his "mother" not to get so mad at him and to forgive him.

Hearing Gaara muttering, Sasuke could only stare in disbelief at the strange boy and wonder what he was talking about. But before he could ponder on what was happening any further, Gaara suddenly settled down and told Sasuke to come at him.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Sasuke quickly took out two Shuriken from his leg pouch and threw them at Gaara. Who caught them with his Sand shield after he had his sand turn into a clone of himself.

Seeing this, Sasuke immediately raced toward Gaara, but after only taking two steps, Gaara's clone unleashed a massive blast of sand at the Uchiha. Forcing Sasuke to jump up into the air to avoid it, but as he hung in mid-air Gaara's clone threw the two shuriken that it caught earlier back at Sasuke, forcing the raven haired boy to take out two more and use them to deflect the incoming shuriken.

After deflecting the Shuriken, Sasuke fell towards the clone and delivered a powerful spin kick to it, which the clone blocked before pushing the dark haired boy away.

Recovering quickly, Sasuke then delivered a strong back hand to the clone's jugular. But as soon as his hand connected with the clone, the sand started to wrap itself around Sasuke's arm.

Realizing what was happening Sasuke immediately hit the clone in the face with a strong punch in the face, destroying the clone and causing it to revert back into sand, leaving Gaara now open to attack.

Not wanting to waste an opportunity to gain the advantage Sasuke immediately closed in on the Suna-nin and attempted a forward punch to the face. But before his fist could even come close to connecting, Gaara's sand moved in between them and blocked Sasuke's punch.

After blocking Sasuke's punch, Gaara's sand quickly moved around the young Uchiha and attempted to envelope him from all sides. But before it could close in on raven haired boy, he disappeared in a blur.

In that instant a shocked looks appeared on everyone's faces, where many, (including a certain spikey haired blonde and bushy haired boy), were having a sudden flash of déjà vu from the preliminaries.

After Sasuke disappeared, Gaara quickly turned around to try and find him, only to be sent flying across the ground by a powerful right hook to the face from Sasuke.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Unreal, he's moving almost as fast as that Lee guy without his weights" said Shikamaru in surprise.

"It's not just that, he's also mimicking Lee movements" Naruto said who was just as surprised as Shikamaru. He even recognised some of Sasuke's moves, since he had been on the receiving end of such a punch when he fought Lee a month ago.

-In the Arena-

"_Looks like my punch wasn't as effective as I thought_" the Uchiha heir thought, when he saw cracks appear around Gaara's face as he slowly got back onto his feet. Figuring that Gaara also covered his body in sand, to act like armour and protect him from any damage.

-Enter Naruto OST-Beautiful Green Wild Beast-

Seeing that his attack did little damage, Sasuke finally activated his Sharingan and charged head on at Gaara with an impressive burst of speed.

Acting quickly, Gaara brought his sand up to capture the Uchiha, but like earlier, before the sand could reach Sasuke. The Raven haired boy disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind the Suna Genin.

Seeing that Sasuke was now behind him again, Gaara immediately had his remaining sand move towards the Uchiha. Who then maneuvered around it and inside Gaara's safe zone, where he delivered sharp kick to the red haired boy's stomach, sending him flying into the air and crashing onto the ground.

"What's wrong don't tell me that's all you got?" Sasuke asked with a confident smirk as he looked at Gaara, who was getting back onto his feet and glaring at the dark haired boy. "If I have to, I'll tear that armour of your piece by piece."

With another burst of high speed, Sasuke moved toward Gaara and began to circle around him in high speed, making it impossible for Gaara's sand to lock on him.

Realizing that his sand couldn't keep up with Sasuke's new found speed, Gaara had his sand move around him defensive position, so that he could block an attack from any direction. But before his defence could be fully formed, Sasuke once again manuvered past Gaara's sand and inside his safe zone. After which he then dealt a sharp kick to the side of the red head's face, causing him to fall back, but before he could hit the ground. Sasuke grabbed hold of his clothing and pulled him back where he delivered a strong knee to the gut, causing Gaara to fall to knees in pain.

When Gaara feel to his knees, Sasuke quickly jumped back, putting some distance between him and the Suna Genin, where he then began to pant slightly.

-End Naruto Ost-Beautiful Green Wild Beast-

-In the Finalist Box-

"_Looks likes the Uchiha is better than I originally believed_" thought an impressed Yugito. "_But it seems that moving at that speed has taken a good bit out of him._"

"_Just as I thought_" Naruto thought to himself, "_Sasuke probably used his Sharingan to mimic Bushy-brow's speed and movements when he watched him fight me. But he can only maintain that level of speed for a short period of time, and even then it takes a lot out of him, since he doesn't have the same level of stamina as Bushy-brow, who trained his body for years to reach that level._"

"Hmph, looks like you were wrong about the Uchiha Senju, he's wiping the floor with that Gaara guy" said Karui smugly.

"I'll admit, I underestimated Sasuke a good bit, but that doesn't mean that I am wrong about Gaara. Trust me, we've yet to see his real power" replied Naruto, where he then glanced over at Kankuro and Temari, who both had concern looks on their faces.

"_What are you planning to do now Gaara?_" Kankuro thought, as he stared down at his younger brother who was now on his knees. "_The __**Suna no Yoroi**_ (Armour of Sand) _uses too much Chakra, it won't last much longer._"

"_Gaara_" thought a worried Temari before glancing up at her father, wondering why he hadn't signalled the invasion to begin already.

-In the Audience-

"Not bad" remarked Kurotsuchi with a slightly impressed look.

"_I give the Uchiha this, he isn't half bad_" thought Mai, who was intrigued with how quickly Sasuke had improved his speed and Taijutsu.

"_To think he could achieve that level of speed and mimic Lee's move so well in just one month…it's incredible_" thought a surprised Gai.

"_Sasuke-san_" thought Lee who was just as surprised as his teacher.

"Sasuke-kun is incredible" Sakura yelled ecstatically after seeing the Uchiha kicking Gaara around.

"No kidding" said Choji in awe.

"Yeah, but he's still nowhere near as cool as Naruto-kun" replied Ino, which immediately started a heated argument between her and Sakura, with poor Choji stuck in the middle.

"What kind of training did you make him go through?" Kurenai asked when she turned to Kakashi.

"I wouldn't mind knowing that either, how can Sasuke move with that level of speed after training for only one month?" Asuma asked who was just as surprised as everyone else.

"Sasuke copied Lee's movements and fighting moves with his Sharingan back when he had the little scuffle with Lee before the first exam. I then later trained him in Taijutsu so that he could get use to moving at that level of speed."

"I figured as much" said Kushina suddenly, "Since it's the only possible way he could improve his speed and Taijutsu so quickly. But Taijutsu alone won't be enough to defeat that Gaara kid and his sand."

"I'm well aware of that Kushina-senpai" replied Kakashi with a knowing look.

Seeing this Kushina frowned slightly and thought "_What are you up to Kakashi, and what else did you teach Sasuke._"

-In the Finalist Box-

As the finalist watched Sasuke and Gaara, they saw Gaara slowly get back onto his feet and form a Tiger seal. After which the sand around him started to hover around him and form a large sphere of Sand.

"What's he up to?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing good" Naruto replied with a frown.

"_That's Gaara's…_"a fearful Kankuro thought as he recognised the sand sphere. "_Is he planning on using __**that**__ technique? Maybe we should get out of here?_"

"_There's no doubt, he's planning on using __**that**__ technique_" a frightened Temari thought. "_This is not good, Damnit Gaara have you completely forgotten the plan, it's too soon!_"

-In the Audience-

"_This is absurd_" Baki thought angrily, "_That little idiot Gaara…we don't know when the signal will be given!_"

-In the Arena-

When Sasuke saw the sand sphere forming around his opponent, the Uchiha quickly realized he needed to do something before the sphere was completed.

Racing at top speed, Sasuke quickly reached Gaara. But just as he was about to punch the sand sphere, he came to a dead stop, which was just in the nick of time as several sand spears appeared out of the sphere and would have impaled him had he not stopped when he did.

After jumping away from the sand sphere, the sand spears quickly retreated back into the sphere.

At the same time a small eyeball made out of sand formed above the sand sphere and stared directly a Sasuke.

For the next few minutes Sasuke attempted a series of attacks using, Shuriken, Kunai and Taijutsu from multiple different directions. But even with his enhance speed, each and every one of his attacks failed to penetrate the hardened sand sphere and he was forced to move away because of the sand spears that emerged from the sphere.

"_Looks like nothing works, none of my attacks can penetrate his defence, he's completely shut himself in_" Sasuke thought. "_But that could be a good thing for me since he can't attack and that gives me time to prepare my new move, which takes some time and is probably the only thing that can pierce his defence._"

Knowing what he needed to do; Sasuke quickly preformed a series of back flips and then made his way up along one of the undamaged sides of the arena wall.

Once he reached the highest point of the wall, he unbuckled some of the straps on his left arm and started to form twelve separate hand-seals.

After he performed the hand-seal he then held his left hand in his right and started to channel his Charka into it.

-Enter Naruto OST-Raikiri-

As the Chakra formed in his hand it turned into Lightning, covering his entire left hand and becoming visible to everyone in the audience.

As the Lightning in Sasuke's hand grew, a loud chirping noise could be heard coming from the Lightning technique.

Once the technique was ready Sasuke raced forward where the excess energy from the Lightning technique tore up the wall as he ran down it and headed straight for Gaara's sand sphere.

-In the Finalist Box-

"_What is that?_" thought Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Shino and Karui together.

"_Is that what I think it is?_" Naruto thought in recognition.

"_Could that be?_" thought Yugito, who like Naruto recognised the technique from stories she had heard from other Kumo Shinobi about the famed Copycat-nin Hatake Kakashi.

-In the Audience-

"I don't believe it!" Gai said in disbelief, "Kakashi actually taught Sasuke _that_ technique."

"Gai-sensei, do you know what that technique is?" Neji asked, as he had never seen a Jutsu like this before in his life.

"Yes I do?" replied the elder man with a large frown and a serious look on his face, which was highly unusual for his students to see. "_To think that a boy his age could use such a technique, he's just like the Senju heir; this is the power of the Uchiha Clan._"

"That technique it can't be" said a wide eyed Zabuza, who was actually sweating a little.

"It is" replied Haku, who like her sensei knew the technique Sasuke was using, since it was not a technique that either one of them could forget.

"You actually taught him _that_" technique?" a shocked Yamato asked as he turned to his former ANBU captain.

"I did"

"But why, you know how dangerous that technique is, even more for someone like you."

"I taught him the technique, because he _is_ like _me._"

"I see now, the reason why you focused so much on his Taijutsu is because you wanted to increase his speed and stamina to the point that he could handle using the technique" said Kushina after realizing what Kakashi had done.

"Correct" the copy-nin replied with an eye-smile, which quickly faded after a glare from Kushina. Who told him that was still not a good enough excuse for being so late and for holding up the exam.

This then made the silver haired Jonin sigh with weariness and thought "_I just can't win with her!_"

"Amazing…I can see the Chakra clearly with my own eyes" said a stunned Sakura.

"What is it?" Ino asked

"Better yet why is it making all that noise?" Kiba asked as he held his ears in pain, as it was hard on his sensitive hearing.

"It's simply a straight trust" answered Kushina, gaining the Genin's attention.

"It's Kakashi's only original move, a secret technique that is so powerful that it is classified as an A-rank Assassination technique. It relays on the speed and power of the user's trust, as well as the amount of Chakra that they can generate. The technique involves the user channelling a large amount of Chakra into their arm and converting it into Lightning. When you combine all these things it turns the users arm into a sword that can pierce through anything. Also because of the increase speed the user moves at, it makes a loud chirping noise that sounds like a large group of birds, which is what gives the technique its name **Chidori** (One Thousand Birds)."

After Kushina finish explaining the technique to the Genin, Sasuke final reached Gaara and used his **Chidori **to pierce through his sand sphere.

-End Naruto OST-Raikiri-

-In the finalist Box-

"N-N-No way!" said a stunned Kankuro who was starting to sweat in fear "Gaara's absolute defence has been…"

"This can be real" said a shocked Temari who still couldn't believe her eyes.

"_I can't believe Kakashi-sensei actually taught Sasuke __**Chidori**_" Naruto thought in surprise.

"_There's no doubt about it that Hatake Kakashi famed __**Chidori**_" Yugito thought in disbelief at Sasuke actually using it to pierce Gaara's defence.

"_What is that technique?_" Karui thought who had never see a Lightning technique like that before.

"Unreal" muttered Shiukamaru.

-In the Audience-

"Impossible" said Baki, who couldn't believe that a mere Konoah Genin could do what no Suna Shinobi had ever done before, pierce Gaara's impenetrable defence

-In the Kage Box-

"_That's Hatake Kakashi's technique!_" thought both the Hokage and the Raikage together.

"_Very good_" thought the disguised Orochimaru who was quite pleased with Sasuke's increased skill.

"My" commented the Mizukage in surprise as like the other Kages she recognised Kakashi famed Lightning technique,

"_Shit, Kakashi actually though the brat that move_" Jiraiya thought with a frown, although at the same time he couldn't fault the copy-nin. Since his student was going up against a psychopathic jinchūriki and he would need something powerful not only to pierce his sand defence, but to survive as well.

Tsunade on the other hand remained silent and just stared down at Gaara and the Uchiha with a large frown on her face.

-In the Audience-

"Alright!" yelled Kiba, "He cut right through that sand ball like a knife through butter!"

"Of course" said Kushina with a small smirk, "**Chidori** a serious technique and is not something you can take lightly. Kakashi even has a more advance technique called **Raikiri** (Lightning Cutter), which earned it's named after Kakashi cut through a bolt of Lightning."

"_Huh, Cut through Lightning?_" Ino thought with a disbelieving look.

"_That sounds so fake_" Sakura thought.

Choji on the other hand looked over a Kakashi in awe and thought "_T-Th-That's Incredible…_"

"_Yeah right, these old people and their stories_" Kiba thought, who like the girls didn't believe the former red headed ANBU captain. "_But still I have to admit that is one badass jutsu, Sasuke's got this match in the bag with a technique like that._"

-In the Arena-

Sitting inside his sand sphere, Gaara was trying to understand the warm sensation he was feeling from his arm.

It was then, when he suddenly felt a small drop of blood fall on his arm that he finally understood what he was feeling and let out a horrified scream that could be heard throughout the stadium."

"BLOOD! MY BLOOD!"

When the Temari and Kankuro heard their brother's screams of horror, both became fearful of what would happen next, as nothing like this had ever happened before, Gaara had been wounded.

After hearing Gaara's screams, Sasuke tried to pull his arm from the sand sphere, but found he could not. It was as if something was holding onto it.

Realizing that he needed to do something before he arm was pulled off, Sasuke channelled more Lightning Chakra from his arm into Gaara. This caused the red haired jinchūriki to scream out in pain from the Lightning as it travelled throughout his body.

Eventually Sasuke finally freed his arm, but as soon as he pulled his arm out from the sand sphere, a long yellow demonic looking arm with strange markings on it came out with Sasuke's arm.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Shit is that what I think it is!" Karui yelled in fear.

"It is!" said Yugito was already fearful of what would happen. "_If he loses himself to his Biju, he'll destroy the entire arena and kill everyone in it!_"

"_Damnit, this isn't good_" Naruto thought as he was afraid of something like this happening.

"_This is worse than I had imagined_" thought a fearful Shino, who was now pale white with fear.

"What is he?!" asked a horrified Shikamaru.

"_It_ _**his**_ _arm_" thought a frightened Kankuro after seeing the demonic arm emerge from the sand sphere. "Did he change into his complete possession form?"

"I don't know" replied a now very worried Temari. "All we know is that he has been wound…This has never happened before."

-In the Audience-

"This was not what was supposed to happen…!" said a fearful Baki, who was sweating heavily with fear.

"He really is a monster!" Kiba said fearfully after seeing the demonic arm erupt from the sand sphere.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on" asked Sakura who was worried for Sasuke's safety.

"Asuma-sensei?" asked both Ino and Choji.

Instead of answer their student's question, the Jonin Shinobi just stared down at the arena with concerned looks on their faces.

"_This is the worst possible situation_" Yamato thought.

"_Fuck, I was afraid this would happen, that Suna brat has lost it, we may have to intervene before he loses controls and destroyed the entire stadium_" a worried Kushina thought.

"_This is crazy, that brat is a jinchūriki too, what the hell are the Kages thinking letting two jinchūriki compete in the same exam, especially an insane one like him?_" Zabuza thought, who knew what this could mean.

"_This is bad yo!_" mutter Killer Bee.

"_**Yes I know, I can sense **__**Shukaku's power and bloodlust rising in the boy. If this continues I fear we may have to step in as neither Yugito nor Naruto have the strength to stop him after their battle. If Shukaku is allowed to run free, he will destroy this entire stadium along with everyone in it**_" said Hachibi.

"_Can't ye talk him down yo?_" asked Bee.

"_**I'm afraid not, **__**Shukaku will stop at nothing when he is like this, even if he was willing to talk to me I don't think he would listen to me, since he refuses to speak to any of us Biju for many years."**_

"_Feuds in the family ain't never right_" Bee replied

-In the Arena-

After Sasuke freed his arm, the demonic arm quickly retreated back into the sand sphere.

"_Shit! What the hell was that, it nearly ripped my arm off!_" Sasuke thought as he held his arm and stared into the hole that his **Chidori** made in the sand sphere.

As he stared into the hole he heard a demonic-like growl from the sphere and then saw something move inside the sphere, something that didn't look human.

When Sasuke peered deeper into the dark hole a cold sweat fell down his face and back. Before he could even comment to himself on what he had just seen. Sasuke suddenly saw a demonic looking yellow eye filled with bloodlust looking straight at him through the hole. After which a large burst of power was felt by everyone in the stadium, causing the majority of people to shiver in fear.

Shortly after, the sand sphere began to crack, before finally reverting into sand, revealing an injured Gaara panting heavily and holding his bleeding shoulder. Soon after Gaara looked up at Sasuke and glared at him with pure hatred for what he had just done.

"_What's going on, what were those eyes I just saw a moment ago, what was that power I felt?_" Sasuke thought as none of this was making any sense to him.

Before Sasuke could even try, he suddenly saw white feathers falling from the sky.

-In the Finalist Box-

Like Sasuke, Naruto and the other Chunin candidates notice the white feathers falling from the sky and were starting to make them feel drowsy.

"_Shit Genjustu_" Naruto thought realizing what was happening to him before using the Genjutsu Kai (Illusionary Technique Release) to free himself from the effects of the Genjutsu.

Yugito and the other also quickly followed his example and used the Genjutsu Kai to free themselves from the Genjutsu. After which they looked up to the audience and could see that they weren't the only ones who were being affected by the illusion.

"_The operation has begun!_" Temari and Kankuro thought together.

-In the Audience-

"Kushina-senpai this is…" said Yamato as he felt the Genjutsu beginning to affect him.

"Yeah I know someone is casting a Genjutsu."

"It's **Nehan Shōja no Jutsu **(Temple of Nirvana Technique)!" said Kurenai who recognised the powerful Genjutsu Technique.

As soon as they realized that someone was casting a powerful Genjutsu to put everyone in the stadium to sleep. The veteran Shinobi along with all the other Shinobi who realized what was happening used Genjutsu Kai to free themselves from the effects of the illusion.

Even some of the more skilled Genin like Sakura, Hinata, Mai, team nine (aka team Gai), the Kumo and Kiri Genin were able to free themselves from the Genjutsu by dispelling it in time.

"_A Genjutsu, is Kabuto finally on the move?_" Baki thought when he saw the falling white feathers and dispelled the illusion. "_The Invasion has finally begun._"

-In the Kage Box-

"Seeing the white feathers falling down on arena the Sankages (Three Kages) and the two Sannin immediately realized that something was amiss. But before any of them could even say anything, the Yondaime Kazekage suddenly spoke, "Let us begin."

As soon as he said this the Kazekage's two guards pulled the pins on two smoke grenades, causing the Kage box to erupt in smoke.

-Outsides the Village-

Currently hidden just outside Konohagakure (Hidden Leaves) a small army made up of hundreds of Suna and Oto Shinobi waited for the signal that would begin their attack.

For the past few hours the small army of Shinobi stayed hidden in the forestry that surrounded Konoha. It had of course not been easy due to the large number of ANBU patrols that nearly discovered some of the Shinobi teams.

It was made even harder due to the long wait as many Shinobi were feeling anxious for the battle to being and could barely stand waiting. Some had even begun to worry that their attack had been found out and that the Konoha Shinobi were ready for them.

But finally after several hours of waiting the signal had appeared and a large explosion erupted from the Chunin stadium.

Upon seeing the smoke from the arena, the two Shinobi forces went into action and moved towards Konoha.

At the same time in a hidden location in the forest, several Suna and Oto Shinobi surrounded several different summoning circles, (which were placed around Konoha), each with a scroll in their hand.

Once they had gathered the necessary amount of Chakra, and had each done the necessary hands-seals. They quickly slammed their hands on the ground and cried out "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Summoning Technique)!" After which an explosion erupted and a large cloud of smoke appeared.

-At Konoha's Outer Wall (Minutes before the signal)-

Currently standing station on one of the lookout towers on the wall, two board looking Chunin stood guard. Every now and again the two Chunin would turn in the direction of the stadium with longing looks, especially whenever they heard the loud cheers of the audience.

The first Chunin was of average height and had short brown shoulder length hair that helped frame his face. He wore the standard green flak jacket and uniform of a typically Konoha-nin and wore his headband around his head like most Shinobi.

The second Chunin was a middle age man, with brown eyes, short, brown spiky hair and beard. Like his counterpart, his attire consisted of the standard Konoha Shinobi uniform.

"Man we've got to be the two unluckiest guys in Konoha to be posted on guard duty today" moaned the younger of the two Chunin. "I really wanted to see the Chunin exam."

"Don't complain there be another one in six months' time" replied the bearded Chunin. "You'll have plenty of other chances to watch them then."

"Yeah but this time Tsunade-sama son Senju Naruto and the last Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke are participating" answered the first Chunin. "When will I ever get another chance to see a match like that. I've even heard that a member of the Hyuga Clan, who is said to be really gifted is in it, as well as some of the most talented Genin in Kumo, Kiri and Suna."

"Seriously?" asked the bearded man aid in surprise.

"Seriously, and my money is on that the finals will end with the Senju and the Uchiha heirs facing off against one another" said the younger Chunin. "The match of the decade…and I'm missing it, I'm going to regret this for the rest of my life."

-Enter Naruto OST-Heavy Violence-

Before the elder Chunin could even reply to his friend's statement the two Chunin suddenly heard a large explosion coming from the stadium.

"What the…?" said the younger Chunin said in surprise as he turned in the direction of the stadium.

"It came from the stadium, something must be happening" said the bearded Chunin, but before his partner could even respond to this. The two Chunin felt another explosion coming from outside the village.

When the Chunin turned and looked in the direction from where the explosion came from, they saw a large cloud of smoke in the distance.

Seconds later, a giant three headed snake appeared out of the smoke and quickly made it way towards them.

"Giant Snakes!" the younger Chunin shouted in surprise when he saw the three headed summons.

"We need to tell the Hokage-sama what is happening now!" said the older Chunin, but before he or his partner could do anything. The Giant Snake reached them and crushed the watchtower with them inside.

After destroying the watchtower the giant three headed Snake made its way inside the village.

This was of course not the only incident, at the same time at different points around the village; three more three headed Snake summons appeared outside the village and broke through the village outer wall.

Naturally upon seeing the giant Snakes, the other Shinobi guards tried to stop the summons from entering their village. But despite their best efforts the Konoha defenders proved no match for the giant reptiles and were instead pushed back themselves.

As the Konoha Shinobi tried to contain the creatures, they soon found themselves under attack by Suna and Oto Shinobi, who were now entering the village in large numbers through the massive holes that the Snakes made when the broke through the wall.

-In the Stadium Stands-

"Shit the Hokage!" cried Kushina when she and the other Konoha-nins saw the explosion in the Kage Box.

"Leave the Hokage to us Kushina" spoke the ANBU commander as he and his two teams leaped to the Kage Box.

"Right" said Kushina, who knew that it was best to leave the Hokage to the ANBU.

-In the Kage Box-

"Fuck!" yelled Jiraiya as he rubbed his eyes after the flash from the grenades and tried to see through the smoke.

"Sarutobi-sensei!" cried Tsunade as she blindly made her way through the smoke to her former teacher.

"Kazekage-sama what is the meaning of this…?" spoke the Sandaime as he turned to his counterpart from Suna.

At the same time the ANBU commander and his two squads arrived, where the commander quickly order the first team to follow him to help the Hokage, and had the second team go down to the stands below them and protect the Fire Daimyo and other visiting lords.

As soon as the other team left, the ANBU commander and his team came under attack from the Kazekage's guards who appeared out of the smoke.

The guards were of course easily dispatched by the ANBU Commander who skilfully sliced them both in two with his Kunai.

"Hokage-sama!" shouted Raido as he moved next to the old Hokage, but as soon as he did he was stabbed in the chest by two Kunai from an unknown assailant. Before falling unconscious from his injuries, the Tokubetsu told the old Hokage to run.

Seeing what happened to Raido, Jiraiya and Tsunade moved over to their former teacher. But just as they reached him, the Kazekage appeared behind him, holding a Kunai to the old man's throat. He then jumped up into the air with the Hokage and onto the rooftop, causing the two Sannin to follow after him.

Not sure what was happening, the Mizukage, the Raikage and their guards moved out of the smoke, not wanting to get caught in the confusion.

At the same time the ANBU commander and his team saw fours blurs sped right past them, when they turned to look behind them. They saw that the pieces of the two "dead" Suna-nins were gone and all that was left was their empty clothing.

Realizing that they were fakes, the ANBU commander and his team immediately turned to look over at the Hokage and others. Who were now surrounded by four unknown Shinobi.

"Looks like it's finally time" commented a dark skinned man with four arms, who was wearing a Shinobi headband with the symbol of Oto on it.

"I've got a lot of stress to vent because we had to stay in those cramp disguises for so long" said a silver haired youth, who seemly had another head sticking out of his back.

"You all smell like shit" spoke a red headed teen, who was the only women of the group.

"Cut it out, we're all on the same side" scolded a bulky looking youth with a Mohawk shape hairstyle.

"_Oto Shinobi_" thought the Sandaime and the two Sannin together when they saw their four Shinobi.

"We need to help the Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama" said the ANBU commander as he and his team leapt towards the Hokage and the others.

But before they could reach them, the four Oto Shinobi surrounding the Hokage and the others, all formed a single hand seal and yelled "**Ninpo:** **Shishienjin** (Ninja art: Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment)!"

As soon as the four Oto Shinobi said this, a large purple squared shape barrier formed around the four Kage level Shinobi.

When one of the ANBU tried to break through the barrier, he was immediately pushed back, after which he then burst into flames.

"Damnit, they've put up a barrier, we can't break through" said the ANBU commander after they were forced to halt their advance.

-End Naruto OST-Heavy Violence-

-In the Stands-

From their position in the stands, Kushina, Kakashi and the others could see the large purple barrier now surrounding the Hokage and the others, preventing the ANBU from helping.

"I don't believe it, they were actually able to stop our ANBU" Yamato said in surprise.

"They are clearly not regular Shinobi" commented Kakashi.

"We need to go help!" spoke Kushina, where she was about to move, only to be stopped by another ANBU.

"Bear, what the hell do you think you're doing? Get out of the way! We need to help the Hokage-sama, he's endanger!" Kushina yelled when she saw the ANBU.

Bear of course did not answer and remained silent, but just as Kushina was about to yell at her former comrade again. Four masked Oto Shinobi appeared out of the audience and flanked him, blocking Kushina and the other's path.

"Well this is certainly a bummer" mutter Kakashi.

"I never expected an enemy agent to be disguised as one of our ANBU members" said Yamato with a frown while he and the other ready themselves for combat.

Kushina surprisingly did not comment, although a low growl could be heard from her as she slowly drew her Katana. Realizing that for the enemy agent to be disguised as Bear, he must have killed him.

"He must have been the one who cast the **Nehan Shōja no Jutsu**" said Kurenai, since only skilled Shinobi could perform such a large scale version of the technique.

-On the Rooftop-

Currently trapped inside the purple barrier the two Sanin stared off with the Kazekage, who still held their former teacher hostage. Neither one was willing to act yet for fear of what would happen to the Sandaime should they try anything.

"I never expected Suna to betray Konoha like this…tell me why Kazekage-sama?" the Hokage asked, as the Suna Kage continued to hold his Kunai against his neck.

"A treaty is merely camouflage to relax an enemy. But now these little mock battles are at an end and the true one begins now."

"Are you trying to start a war?" Tsunade suddenly spoke, as she and Jiraiya stood in front of the Kazekage and the Hokage, several meters apart.

"Why yes" replied the Kazekage with a small chuckle.

"Kazekage-sama, I beseech you, stop this madness while there is still time, whatever problems there are between us, we can talk them out. There is no need for this to escalate into a war" said the Sandaime, hoping to reason with his fellow Kage.

When the Sandaime finished, the Kazekage began to chuckle, "Clearly you've not only grown old, but become complacent as well, after getting use to peace…Sarutobi-sensei."

Once the Kazekage said this, the Hokage and the two Sannin finally realised that they were not dealing with the Kazekage.

-In the Finalist Box-

"Shit! So that's what they were up! They were planning on attacking us!" shouted Naruto after seeing what happened in the Kage box. "_Damnit, I should have realized it sooner, now it makes sense. They were probably planning on having Gaara transform into his Biju state when they were ready, making it easier to destroy us._"

"Yugito what the hell is going on?" asked Karui as she turned to her team-mate, since she didn't understand what was going on. Given how last she checked, Suna and Konoha were supposed to be allies.

"Looks like Suna has betrayed Konoha" Yugito replied as she narrowed her eyes, "_Crap, looks like we've just been caught in the middle of a war, we need to get to Bee-sensei and the others now!_"

"You Bastards!" roared Naruto as glared at Kankuro and Temari and prepared to draw his Katana to attack. But before he could even pull it out half way, Temari opened up her large fan and swung it, creating a massive blast of wind that sent Naruto and the others crashing into the wall behind them.

Once Naruto and the others were dealt with Temari and Kankuro quickly jumped into the arena to aid their wounded brother. Who was on his knees holding his injured shoulder.

-On the Rooftop-

"My, my when Gaara did his thing, I was planning on stealing Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun…" said the fake Kazekage. "But it seems that I cannot have everything go my way."

At the mention of her son, Tsunade began to growl and took a step forward, only to be stopped by Jiraiya who shook his head, telling her not to.

"I see, so I was right, you're after not only Konoha, but Sasuke _and_ Naruto" said the Sandaime calmly.

"Do you actually believe that Konoha is that important?" the imposter Kage asked. "It' a pity Gaara was not able to transform when it was time, you could've all seen something very interesting. But still…it matters little, since your ignorance has finally driven the finally nail into Konoha's coffin and I have won."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that!" Jiraiya retorted angrily.

"Indeed, we do not know the results of something until the very end" added the Sandaime. "I believe taught you that…Orochimaru."

After the Hokage said his named, the former Sannin just smirked behind his mask and used his one free hand to pull of his mask and false face, revealing himself. "So good to see you too, Jiraiya-kun, Tsunade, Sarutobi-sensei."

"_I knew it!_" thought both Jiraiya and Tsunade together as they both glared at their former team-mate.

* * *

"Orochimaru!" gasped the Mizukage in shock, who was standing just outside the purple barrier.

"The infamous Nuke-nin" said Ao in surprise.

"So all this time, it was Orochimaru pretending to be the Kazekage" said the Raikage out loud. "_I knew there was something off about him._"

"But what happened to the Yondaime Kazekage-sama?" C asked.

"Who knows" replied Darui, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

"I knew this day one come" said the Sandaime sadly before staring directly into Orochimaru's eyes. "But…just because I have gotten old, doesn't mean that you can take my head so easily.

"You tell him old man!" said Jiraiya as he prepared to fight.

"If you want Sensei's life you'll have to go through us first" said Tsunade with a fiery determination as she too prepared for battle.

"Kukuku, oh I had every intention of doing so my dear Tsunade" replied Orochimaru with sinister smirk, where he then brought up his kunai and licked it with his long tongue. "And no matter how much you resist it will change nothing as you will all die here today…together."

-In the Stands-

"It seems they have quite a number of people" Asuma remarked while at the same time glancing worriedly up at his father who was trapped in the barrier. "_Stay safe Dad_."

"Tsk, we're careless, they caught us with our pants down" muttered Anko.

"And if that wasn't enough they have the Hokage-sama hostage and Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama are trapped inside the barrier" added Shizune where she then looked up to where her teacher was. When she looked inside the barrier her eyes widen in shock.

"Everyone look up inside their barrier!"

When the senior Shinobi looked up to the rooftop where the Hokage and the others were, they were shocked to see that the Kazekage was in fact Orochimaru in disguise.

"Orochimaru!" Anko hissed furiously as she felt the curse seal on her neck burn with pain.

"Shit!" cursed Kushina, who knew how bad this would make things.

"Hokage-sama" said Yamato in concern for his leader.

"_Dad_" thought a worried Asuma.

It was then when all the senior Jonin were momentarily distracted by the Kazekage being actually Orochimaru in disguise. That two of Oto Shinobi jumped forward and tried to attack Sakura and Hinata who was still in their seats.

Taken by surprise and unable to do anything, both girls closed in fear of what was to come next. But just as the masked Shinobi were about to pounce down on them, two figures suddenly appeared in front of the girls and slashed both in the chest before pushing them away.

When the two girls opened their eyes, they saw Kakashi and Kushina standing in front of them, and immediately realized they had protected them from the enemy Shinobi.

"Bastards!" hissed Kushina after drawing her Katana from its sheath. The red headed Jonin was already angry over the death of Bear, who had been a friend, and what was happening now. But after seeing the two Oto-nins going after Hinata and Sakura, she was now livid.

The other Shinobi of course notice Kushina's fury, since it was hard not to, given how her bright red hair began to rise up and was moving around like a roaring fire which matched the murderous red aura surrounding her.

"_Oh boy, things are going to get messy now_" Kakashi thought, as he knew that look all too well. He first saw it on a mission against a large group of Kumo Shinobi, who had ambushed them, and it was after that battle that people began to refer to Kushina as Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury).

Kakashi was of course not the only one who knew this look, since Yamato also knew it, and the last time he saw Kushina acted like this, things got rather…bloody.

"Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, I think its best that you two stay here and not move" Kakashi said as he looked down at the two girls, and gave them one of his friendly eye-smiles, as if there was nothing wrong_. "As who knows what will happen now that Kushina-senpai is like this._"

-Enter Naruto OST-Raikiri-

After Kushina and Kaskashi saved Hinata and Sakura from the Oto Shinobi, two dozen more Oto and Suna Shinobi appeared out of the audience, and joined the fake ANBU and the remaining other Oto Shinobi.

At the same time several Konoha Shinobi arrived and joined Kushina and the others, where the two sides then faced off with one another.

After a moment or so of staring at one another, the battle began with an angry shout from Kushina who yelled "KILLED THEM ALL!"

"I really hate it when she gets like the" said Yamato before they leapt forward.

"Speak for yourself…that's music to my ears" retorted Anko with a bloodthirsty grin as she moved forward,

Within seconds the two sides clashed, battling in the air over the unconscious audience members and between the stands at high speed. The battle was of course not easy for the Konoha Shinobi, who had to watch where they were fighting and had to use their Jutsu wisely, for fear off missing an enemy and hitting a civilian.

But despite the complication of having to fight their enemies and protect the civilians at the same time, the Konoha Shinobi proved to be more than a match for their adversaries.

During the battle Kushina deflected several Shuriken that where throw at her by an Oto-nin with his Katana, while at the same time making sure that they hit no-one.

Once the Shuriken had be dealt with, the red headed Kunoichi swiftly made her way over to the enemy Shinobi before he had time to defend himself and slashed his stomach open.

After dealing with the Oto-nin Kushina glanced behind her and notice another Oto Shinobi, not far from her, standing over a Konoha Chunin preparing to stab him with his Kunai.

Acting fast Kushina quickly raised her left hand up and fired one of her Chakra chains out of the palm of her hand.

The Chain then quickly flew through the air and impaled the Oto Shinobi from the back right when he was about to stab the helpless Konoha-nin.

After impaling the enemy Shinobi with her chain, Kushina then pulled her Chain back, with the now dead Oto-nin still attached. She then swung him around a bit before having him crash into another Oto Shinobi who was moving in on Kushina from her right.

Once the Oto-nins had been dealt with, Kushina looked over to the Konoha-nin, who signalled his thanks to her before re-joining the battle.

But as soon the Konoha-nin left, Kushina found herself surrounded by three more Oto Shinobi, two in front and one behind.

Unafraid Kushina readied her Katana, holding it up with both her hands this time.

Thinking he could catch the woman off guard, the Oto-nin behind Kushina moved forward and went to stab her in the back with his Kunai. But just as he was about to stab her, Kushina brought her Katana down and preformed a backwards stab, impaling the masked Shinobi in the stomach.

After seeing Kushina killing their comrade, the two remaining Sound Shinobi moved on the former ANBU captain.

Seeing this, Kushina immediately pulled her Katana out of the dead Oto-nin's body and with a series of high speed swords slashes and moves, dealt with the remaining Oto-nins. Who fell to the ground dead within seconds.

As soon the two Oto-nins had been dealt with, Kushina looked around for any more enemies and said "Whose next?" before jumping forward to find the fake ANBU or more enemies, which ever she found first.

Not far from Kushina, Asuma was busy battling an Oto-nin and a Suna-nin.

After taking care of the Suna Shinobi, Asuma quickly jumped backwards to avoid a Kunai stab from the Oto-nin he was battling. He then landed on the small railing in front of the stands and preformed three quick hand-seals and fired a short burst of fire from his mouth, hitting the Oto-nins dead on and killing within seconds.

As soon as Asuma had dealt with the Oto-nin, a Suna Kunoichi suddenly appeared above him and threw a Kunai at him.

Before Asuma could do anything, another Kunai appeared and deflected the incoming projectile. After which a third Kunai appeared and hit the Kunoichi in the chest, who then fell to the ground.

When Asuma turned in the direction of the Kunai, he saw that his saviour was none other than Kurenai, who smiled at him after she took out a new Kunai.

"Looks like I own you one Kurenai" Asuma said with a smirk.

"Anytime" the raven haired woman replied with her own smirk before they both of them leapt off to continue battling.

At the same time at another end of the arena, Yamato was busy dealing with several Suna Shinobi.

After dealing with his third opponent, a fourth Shinobi appeared behind him and attempted to stab him in the back. But before the Suna-nin could complete the job, he was hit in the back by several Senbon needles.

When Yamato turned around to look at the now unconscious Shinobi, he suddenly heard someone call out to him.

"Watch your back Yamato-san."

Looking up, Yamato saw Shizune standing not far from him, with her sleeves pulled up, revealing her Wrist-Mounted Senbon Launcher, which she had used to save Yamato.

Nodding his thanks, Yamato was about to say he would, but before he could he and Shizune suddenly heard some manic laughter coming from Yamato's left (and Shizune's right).

When they turned to look, they immediately realized the source of the laughter.

The manic laughter came from none other than the former apprentice of Orochimaru. Who was busy killing any Oto-nin who was foolish enough to confront her.

After dodging several flying Kunai, Anko quickly used her **Sen'eijashu** (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to launch several Snakes from her selves and fired them at two Oto-nins. Who struggled to get the snakes off them, but could not. As the Snakes wrapped themselves around the Oto-nins arms, legs and faces and bit them, paralyzing the two within seconds, allowing the Snakes to quickly finish them off.

When Anko had dealt with the two Oto-nins, three more appeared and charged forward. Undeterred, Anko jumped forward to meet them, where she manuvered past the first one and stabbed him in the back of the neck with her Kunai, killing him instantly.

Once the first Shinobi was dead, Anko quickly pulled out her Kunai from the dead Shinobi's neck and used it to block a Kunai slash from the second Shinobi.

After blocking the attack, Anko then brought up her right leg and kneed the enemy Shinobi hard in the groin, causing him to buckle over in pain.

Showing no mercy to the "_injured_" man, the former apprentice of Orochimaru finished him off with a strong kick to the face. Sending him flying out of the stands and down into the arena below. But as soon as she did this, the purple haired Kunoichi was forced to jump back to avoid several projectiles from the third Sound Shinobi.

As soon as she had finished evading all the projectiles Anko quickly counter with her own Kunai and threw it at the masked Shinobi, hitting square in the head a killing him instantly.

"Hmph, Orochimaru really is scrapping off the barrel if he using trash like this to attack Konoha, I'm just warming up" Anko said to herself before taking out another Kunai and going off to find more victims.

"Looks like someone is having fun?" comment Yamato after seeing Anko deal with the Oto-nins.

"Yeah, let's not be left behind" replied Shizune before the two of them took off.

In another part of the stands, Kakashi was busy fighting several Oto Shinobi, while at the same time making sure that Hinata and Sakura came to no harm.

Soon after Kakashi was joined by Gai, who suddenly appeared and assisted the copy-nin with the enemy Shinobi, using his superior Taijutsu skill to knock them out.

"Good to see you Gai" Kakashi said as he and the green suit wearing man stood back to back to one another.

"You too my friend, I've just sent my adorable students to go help Iruka-san and the other teachers in helping protect the students."

"Good thinking, I was just about to go over and help myself" Kushina said as she joined the two men.

"Kushina-senpai I am pleased to see you, before I came here, I spoke to Aoba-san, who told me that the village is under attack by several giant Snakes. Our forces are trying to halt their advance but they are having little effect on the creatures, especially since they also have to deal the large number of Suna and Oto Shinobi who are invading the village."

"Kushina-senpai, I think it would be best if you were to go out and help them with the Snakes, we can handle the enemy here" said Kakashi, knowing that Kushina was the best person to deal with the massive summons.

"Right" replied the red head before taking off.

"Kakashi, I'm worried about the Hokage-sama, but…"

"Let the ANBU deal with that Gai" Kakashi said as he knew they needed to focus on the matter at hand here. "The Hokage-sama won't lose so easily, besides Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama are in there with him, so he should be fine."

"I suppose you right" Gai replied, although he couldn't help but still worry for the old Kage.

-End Naruto OST-Raikiri-

-On the Rooftop-

"Kukukuku…" laughed Orochimaru as he faced off at his former team-mates. "I must say this truly is an auspicious day. How many years has it been since the four of us were together like this?"

"Not long enough!" Tsunade spat angrily.

"Cut the crap Orochimaru, you were never the sentimental type" rounded Jiraiya.

"Ah very true" replied the Snake Sennin, before he stabbed the Kunai he was holding against the Sandaime's neck into his other hand.

This act naturally surprised those watching but before anyone could comment, the Snake Sennin moved away from his former teacher. Who then quickly jumped over to his two other former students and joined them if facing off against the last.

"What is your goal Orochimaru? I know that you are not motivated by simple revenge against Konoha" said the Sandaime.

"How true" replied Orochimaru. "If I were to put by goal into words…I would simply say that I like to see moving things, as they are boring when they don't move."

"What are you getting at?" an irritated Tsunade asked, since Orochimaru loved to drone on about things.

"Impatient as always Tsunade" mocked Orochimaru. "Very well, I want to destroy Konoha, because I am interested to see what happens afterwards."

Naturally after hearing this, the two Sannin and the old Hokage frowned, as the idea of destroying an entire village for such a useless reason appalled them.

-In Finalist Box-

"OOOwww, my head," moaned Naruto as he slowly got back onto his feet and held his head in pain, after being slammed into the back of the wall by Temari's Wind blast. "Damn that Fan-girl, I'll get her back for that."

Soon after getting back onto his feet, Naruto looked over to the others, "Hey Yugito-chan, Karui-chan, are you two okay?"

"Fine" grunted Yugito as she slowly picked herself up.

"Nngh, I'm okay" groaned Karui, "But that's more than I can say for the Suna bitch once I get my hands on her."

"That's going have to wait" said Naruto, as he looked around and saw that the two Sand siblings were gone.

After seeing that both Kankuro and Temari were gone, Naruto went over to Shikamaru, who was still lying on the ground, seemly under the Genjustu. But when Naruto used the Genjutsu Kai to free him, the young Nara refused to wake up.

Knowing he had performed the Genjutsu Kai correctly, Naruto's first thoughts were that maybe Shikamaru had been knocked out when he was blasted into the wall. But when the young Senju checked him for any head injuries he saw none. It was then that Naruto suddenly notice Shikamaru's eye twitch slightly.

"_He wouldn't_" thought a now annoyed Naruto as a large tick formed on his head before saying the young Nara's name slowly, indicating irritation.

"Shi-ka-mar-u…WAKE UP!" yelled Naruto as he kicked the Nara in the butt…hard.

"Ouch!" yelled the young Nara heir in pain, as he held his sore rear.

"Naruto you jerk, what the hell was that for?!" Shikamaru said in annoyance, while still holding his butt in pain.

"You know damn well what that was for!" Naruto said angrily. "You were able to repel the Genjutsu, like the rest of us. You were just pretending to be asleep."

"Geez, Naruto you can be such a pain. I don't want to get involved in this. Let the other Shinobi deal with it."

"Shikamaru you lazy ass Jerk, you're going get involved in this fight even if I have to drag you into it. This is our village and we have to defend it with everything we had!" rounded Naruto angrily.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru, "Where's Shino, I'm sure he will be more than happy to help you."

"I don't know he was gone, as soon as I came too" Naruto replied as there was no sign of the young Aburame and he figured that Shino had gone after Temari and Kankuro.

Wanting to get into this fight as soon as possible, Naruto quickly took out a food pill from his utility belt and swallowed. "_Sorry Kaa-chan, but I'm going to have to break my promise about not using anymore food pills._"

After taking the food pill Naruto soon felt his Chakra reserve replenishing.

Once he was back to full strength Naruto turned to the two Kumo Kunoichi. "Karui-chan Yugito-chan I think it would be best if you two go to Bee-sensei, this fight doesn't concern you guys."

"Yeah, I know" replied Yugito who knew Naruto was right; this fight didn't concern them or their village. But even so, the blonde Kunoichi couldn't help but feel anxious, "_Damnit Naruto must be rubbing off on me, I know I shouldn't be bother with this battle since it doesn't involve us. But I still can't shake this feeling telling me to help._"

"Come on Karui, we need to get to Bee-sensei" said Yugito.

"Right!" replied the dark skinned girl.

Before leaving Yugito turned to look over at Naruto, "Watch yourself Naruto, and don't die…If anyone is to defeat you, it will be me."

Smirking at Yugito's comment, the Senju heir just nodded. "Don't worry I don't plan to…if I did, my mom would probably bring me back, just to kill me herself for getting killed."

Smiling at the joke, Yugito quickly made her way down the stairs to get to her sensei and the rest of her team.

Once the girls had left Naruto turned to Shikmaru, let's get to Kushina-sensei and the others and try and help.

"Geez do we have to?" moaned Shikamaru.

"Yes" replied Naruto, where he then gave the young Nara heir a look that told him he had no choice in the matter.

Knowing it would be pointless to argue any further, Shikamaru followed after Naruto as they made their way to the stands, all the while silently mumbling to himself.

"This is such a drag, Naruto can be such a pain, and he's as bossy as Ino…must be a blonde thing."

-In Stands-

Currently in the stands Kakashi, Gai and the other Konoha Shinobi were still fighting furiously against the Oto and Suna Shinobi who had infiltrated the stadium before the invasion started.

After defeating two more Oto Shinobi, Kakashi suddenly heard Sakura cry out to him.

"Kakashi-sensei, Gaara and his team have left the arena and Sasuke-kun has gone after them!"

"_That's not good Gaara is not someone Sasuke can defeat on his own, he's going to need some back up_" thought the copy-nin before making his way over to Hinata and Sakura.

"Hinata, I want you to go over to where the academy students are, Iruka and the other Shinobi teachers will be there protecting them, along with Gai's team. I want you to go help them."

"H-H-Hai Kakashi-sensei" Hinata replied, who knew that there was no point in arguing with Kakashi given the serious look he was giving them.

Once Hinata had left, Kakashi turned to his female student, "Sakura I want you to dispel the Genjutsu on Ino and wake her up and then go find Naruto and Shikamaru."

"But why?" asked Sakura not understanding what her Sensei wanted her to wake Ino and find Shikamaru and Naruto.

"Because I have a mission for you" answered the silvered haired Jonin.

"A mission" repeated the pink haired girl in surprise.

"Yes an A rank mission, just like the one in Nami no Kuni, which is why I want you all to proceed with caution, as you won't have any backup. "

"What do you mean Sensei? What do you want us to do?"

"I want you all to go after Sasuke and back him up."

"But why just the four of us, shouldn't I also wake Kiba and Choji up, so that we will have a bigger group?"

"No, with so many enemies here, a group bigger than a four man team would be notice too easily. That's why I sent Hinata to Iruka and the others, where she'll be safe, as she is still recovering from her injury from Neji."

"But how will we find Sasuke-kun and know which way he went?"

"Don't worry, I've already thought of that?" Kakashi replied where he then cut his thumb and used a summoning Jutsu to summon and Pug face dog.

"Pakkun here will help you find Sasuke, now hurry" said Kakashi with urgency in his voice, before leaving off to re-join the battle.

"O-Okay" said Sakura still not sure about the dog, but quickly got over it and then went over to Ino and used the Genjutsu Kai to wake her friend up.

Once Ino woke up, the blonde girl was naturally confused over what was happening, forcing Sakura to spend several minutes to explain what was happening and what Kakashi had ordered them to do.

When Sakura finished explaining the details of their mission, Ino quickly understood what they needed to.

"_**If you two girls are finish talking, we need to find this Naruto kid and his friend**_" spoke Pakkun suddenly, surprising both girls that he could speak.

"Did that dog just talk?" Ino asked in surprise.

"It did" Sakura replied, who was just as surprise as her friend.

"_**Yes, I'm a talking dog, now come on we don't have all day**_" said Pakkun, who was annoyed with how much talking the two girls were doing.

Getting over their surprise the two girls slowly followed Pakkun through the stands as the battle between the Konoha and invading Shinobi raged. The two girls did their best to be stay down and remain unnoticed, after a few minutes Ino suddenly turned to Sakura.

"Why the hell are we even following this dog, does he even know where Naruto-kun and Shikamaru are?"

"_**Yes I do know where they are, as I can smell them…and they're close, also I've got good hearing**_" Pakkun spoke suddenly without looking back at Ino. "_**Now unless you want a Kunai stabbed in the back by one of these Shinobi, you'll keep that trap of your shut.**_"

After being rebuked by Pakkun the Yamanaka heiress was left quite red from embarrassment.

Under normal circumstances Sakura would have been rather amused at her usual outspoken friend being left speechless by a dog. But given how they were in the middle of a battle, she decided to leave it for another time.

It was then in this moment that Sakura suddenly notice a stray Kunai out of the corner of her eye, heading straight for her friend.

"Ino watch out!" Sakura yelled as she moved to push the blonde girl out of the path of the flying Kunai. But before she could reach the female Yamanaka, a figure suddenly appeared next to Ino and deflected the Kunai.

Once the Kunai had been deflect Sakura saw that the figure was none other than Naruto.

"Naruto-kun!" Ino cried as she jumped on top of the male blonde, forcing him to the ground and hugged him tightly, "You saved me!"

"Ino-chan please this isn't the time" Naruto said as he pushed the blonde girl off him.

"_**He's right girly, we've got more serious issues to deal with**_" rounded Pakkun.

Once Ino got off him, Naruto quickly turned to the two Kunoichi, "What are you two doing her, it's dangerous, you should both go somewhere safe."

"We're here looking for you and Shikamaru" answered Sakura.

"Speaking of which, where is that lazy ass moron?" Ino asked.

"I'm here" said Shikamaru, as he slowly crawled over to the others behind the back stands.

"Shikamaru you baka, where the hell have you've been?!" Ino said loudly.

"Geez Ino stop being so troublesome and so loud, do you want the enemy Shinobi to hear you, and find us?"

"_**He's right now hurry up and fill them in on what happening, we don't have time to waste**_" said Pakkun.

Unlike Shikamaru, Naruto was not surprised to hear Pakkun speak. Since he had been talking to talking slugs and toads all his life, so a talking dog was no weirder than anything else he had seen before. Besides he had already met a talking dog named Kuromaru when he visited the Inuzuka Clan.

Heeding Pakkun advice Sakura quickly filled in Naruto and Shikamaru in on what Kakashi had ordered them to do.

When Sakura finished explaining everything Shikamaru just groaned with annoyance, "Geez Sasuke went after that psycho, what a troublesome guy, this is such a drag."

"_Damnit, Sasuke doesn't realise what he's dealing with, Gaara is more dangerous that he thinks, we need to get to him now!_" Naruto thought angrily.

"Alright let's get going we need to get to Sasuke fast."

"Yea, but first we have to get out of here alive" said Shikamaru, since there was still heavy fighting going around them and the nearest exit was a good bit way. This meant that they would have to travel through all the fighting that was going on in the stands, without getting caught in the crossfire.

"Don't worry, leave that to me" Naruto replied before standing up and using his superhuman strength to punch a hole into the wall, giving them a way out.

"Alright let's get going" Naruto yelled before jumping through the hole he made with Pakkun who led the way.

Not wanting to be left behind, Ino and Sakura quickly followed, with Shikamaru bringing up the rear, who was once again mumbling about troublesome blondes.

As they left the stands, the group failed to notice a certain Shinobi artist shadowing them from a distance. Who had been ordered by his master just as the invasion started to watch over Naruto and make sure he did not fall into the hands of the enemy. Keeping his presence hidden from his charges, Sai followed after the four Genin.

Standing not far from their position, the fake ANBU Bear and several Oto-nins watched as the four Genin left the stands.

"Is that the boy that Orochimari-sama wishes us to capture?" asked one of the Oto-nins.

"Yes" replied Bear "And if I were to guess, I would say that he and his friends have gone after Sasuke to help him stop Gaara."

"How can you be so sure?" asked another Oto Shinobi.

"Because Naruto-kun, is probably the best person to deal with Gaara when he is in his transform state, given his Mokuton Bloodline limit. That is why we must stop and capture him at all cost, Gaara's transformation is vital to the success of this invasion and if Naruto-kun were to stop him, it would be a severe blow to us."

"Well it shouldn't be too hard since he still just a kid."

"Don't underestimate that boy" the fake ANBU said calmly. "He was personally trained by the two of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja) and received special training from several high ranking and skilled Shinobi. You also all saw with your own eyes how strong he is when he fought the Nibi jinchūriki. If you were to underestimate him, you would pay for it dearly."

After hearing this Oto Shinobi remained silent, knowing that he had a point. Soon after the fake Anbu and the Oto-nins followed after the Konoha Genin and stop them from reaching Gaara.

At same time at the other end of the stands, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi where doing their best to stay low and avoid getting caught in the battle that was happening around them.

"Damn what the hell is going on, one minute we were watching the Uchiha fight that Suna kid. The next, someone cast a large scale Genjustu on most of the audience and now the stadium has become a battlefield" complained Akatsuchi.

"Looks like Suna has betrayed Konoha and joined up with Oto to attack Konoha, and they got the drop on them" replied Kourotsuchi.

"What should we do?" the girl's partner asked.

"We get out of here, this battle doesn't concern us, if we're lucky Konoha and Suna will wipe each other out. Besides we need to get back home and tell gramps about that Senju kid being able to use Mokuton, he'll want to know about that right away."

"Right!" said the bulky teen before the two of them made their way out of the stadium and the village, while making sure not to be caught in the crossfire of the two battling sides.

At the same time at yet another part of the stands, Zabuza and his team were busy defending the Water Daimyo, (who was unconscious), and making sure that no stray attacks hit him.

"Shit, this exam has really gone to hell" muttered Zabuza after deflecting a Kunai with his large sword.

"Zabuza-sensei I believe we should take the Daimyo-sama and leave this place" said Saito, who used his Katana to deflect a stray Shuriken.

"Tsk, Problem with that idea is the he could get hit when we are moving him or worse we're mistaken for the enemy by either side" replied the Demon of the Hidden Mist, while at the same thinking how bothersome these Daimyo's were. "If we stay here at least they're more likely to leave us alone and fight each other, leaving only stray attacks for us to worry about."

"What about the Mizukage-sama?" Saito asked "Shouldn't we be protecting her."

"That's why I sent Haku and Chojuro to her, they make sure she's okay and at the same time find out what she wants us to do" replied Zabuza. Who then knocked away an Oto-nin, who had been sent flying in the Mist Swordsman's direct by a Konoha-nin. "Besides she can handle herself, she didn't become the Mizukage for her looks and she has Ao to watch her back if she gets into trouble."

Not far from the Kiri-nins, team Kumo was also having a similar discussion with each other after Yugito and Karui joined them.

"Well looks like this is the end of the Chunin exam" muttered Omoi while keeping his head down so not to be caught between the battling Suna, Oto and Konoh Shinobi.

"What was your first clue moron" said Karui as she glanced over at her team-mate.

"Can it the both of you, this is not the time or the place for your bickering!" rounded Yugito before Omoi could make any comment.

"Agreed, Bee-sensei what do you think we should do?" asked Samui, since as of right now Konoha was in a state of war, and they were caught in the middle of it. The logical choice would be for them to get the Lightning Daimyo, join up with the Raikage and the others and leave Konoha as quickly as possible and let the two sides battle one another.

At this question the male Jinchūriki remained surprising silent, and thought over his options before coming to his decision.

-On the Rooftop-

As the battle in the stands and the village raged, Orochimaru, his former teacher and team-mates prepared to face off.

"Kukukuku…To think that I can fight you all again…this truly is like old time" Orochimaru said with a smirk, unafraid that he was currently outnumbered three to one.

"_Now that Saruotbi-sensei is free, we can get him out of here, all we have to do is take out one of Orochimaru's people, and the barrier will fall_" Jiraiya thought. "_After that, the ANBU can take sensei to safety and Tsunade and I can deal with Orochimaru._"

As if reading his mind, the four Oto-nins suddenly expanded the barrier, which protected their rear and preventing Jiraiya or anyone else in the barrier from attack them.

"_Guess I spoke too soon_" the Gama Sennin thought, while cursing his luck.

"Before we begin, I would like to complement you Tsunade…" Orochimaru said suddenly.

"Complement me…on what?" asked the slightly confused Slug Princess.

"I want to compliant you and Jiraiya-kun on doing such a superb job on raising young Naruto-kun. He has proven to be quite the rare find given his Mokuton Bloodline limit and other talents. In fact he reminds me a great deal of your dear little brother Nawaki…" Orochimaru said with a sly smile. When he first met Naruto he had notice how much the young blonde was like his former student, not only in terms of characteristics, but also in some physical aspects as well. (1)

"…Although unlike Naruto-kun, dear Nawaki did not show the same promise as your son, which is probably why his life was cut so tragically short" Orochimaru finished with a cruel smirk and chuckle. "Then again maybe it was because of the necklace you gave him, since you did say it was cursed."

At the mention, of Nawaki, both Jiraiya and the Sandaime glared angrily at the Snake Sennin. But before either of them could say anything, Tsunade leapt forward in a blind rage, crushing the roof tiles underneath her as she moved forward.

"YOU BASTARD…I'LL KILL YOU!" roared Tsunade as she flew toward her former friend with her fist raised.

Tsunade was already struggling with her anger over what Orochimaru had done to Naruto in the Forest of Death. But after the way the Snake Sennin had talked about her brother, and how he died, it became too much for her to handle and she exploded with rage and would not stop until she killed the man with bare hands.

"Tsunade STOP!" the Sandaime yelled, "That's exactly what Orochimaru wants!"

Sadly though, Sarutobi's warnings fell on deaf ears, as all Tsunade could think of was how she was going to kill her former comrade.

"_Fufufu…Tsunade was always so easy to anger_" Orochimaru thought with a sick smile, before avoiding Tsunade's punch by jumping up into the air. But as soon as he was in the air, the Sandaime Hokage used the **Kawara Shuriken **(Roof Tile Shuriken) technique to launch several roof tiles at him.

"Not good enough Sarutobi-sensei" Orochimaru said as he dodged them, before turning his tongue into a Snake and launching it at the old Hokage, where it bit his neck.

But just when the leader of Oto thought he had his former teacher, "Saruobi" reverted into mud revealing he had replaced himself with a **Doton Kage Bunshin** (Earth Style: Shadow Clone).

After realizing that he had been tricked, Orochimaru was sent flying to the ground by Jiraiya. Who had suddenly appeared behind him and punched hard in the back of the head.

Recovering quickly Orochimaru preformed a quick mid-air flip so to land on his feet, but as soon as he did. The Sandaime used **Doryū Taiga** (Earth Flow River) to transforms the roof tiles underneath the Snake Sennin into a river of mud throwing him off balance. This then allowed Tsunade, who had snuck up behind him to deliver powerful punch to the face that would have shattered anyone's skull and killed them instantly.

But as soon Tsunade's fist smashed into the nuke-nin's skull, "Orochimaru" reverted into mud, revealing that like the Sandaime moments ago. He had replaced himself with a **Doton Kage Bunshin.**

After replacing himself with his clone to avoid Tsunade's devastating punch, Orochimaru reappeared behind his female team-mate and prepared to strike her from behind. But before he could make any kind of attack, he was kicked away by Jiraiya. Who had appeared between his two former team-mates, saving the Slug Princess from any harm.

After being kicked away by the Gama Sennin, Orochimaru recovered within seconds and started to preform hand-seals for a Jutsu. But before he could finish his hand-seals he heard the Sandaime's yell "**Doton: Doryūdan **(Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet)!**"**

Turning to the sound of his teacher's voice, Orochimaru saw a dragon like head appear out of the river of mud that the Sandaime created earlier, which then fired several dozen large balls of mud. After which the Sandaime then used **Karyūdan** (Fire Dragon Bullet) to exhale a long stream of fire from his mouth, which ignited the flying earth projectiles, increasing their destructive power.

Within seconds of being hit by the flaming mud balls Orochimaru was engulfed by flames, causing the Snake Sennin to cry out in pain as he fell into a crumpled heap.

* * *

"As expected, not even Orochimaru is a match for the combine might of the Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama" said the ANBU commander.

* * *

"Cut the crappy acting Orochimaru, we know you're not dead" said Jiraiya as he and Tsunade re-joined their teacher.

"Agreed" added the Sandaime.

"Kukukuku…and I thought I was rather convincing" joked the former Sannin as he rose out from the tile floors while his fake reverted into mud.

"Give it up Orochimaru, not even you can hope to defeat the three of us by yourself!" said Tsunade who was still angry. But had now cooled down when she realized that Orochimaru had baited her, so that she would make a mistake for him to exploit.

"OOhhh, it seems that you all underestimating me, especially if you think such petty attacks like those you made just now will kill me. So perhaps we should stop fooling around with one another and get serious, as we are no longer Genin."

"You're right" said the Sandaime before he threw off his Hokage robes and revealed his old Shinobi uniform underneath and fell into a Taijutsu stance.

"Fine by me" spoke Jiraiya as he also fell into a Taijutsu.

"I had every intention of doing so, since I won't stop until you're nothing more than a bloody smear on the end of by heel" answered Tsunade as she began to crack her knuckles and her shoulders.

Seeing his former team-mates and teacher getting serious, Orochimaru also thought it was time, where like the Sandaime he removed his Kage robes, revealing his normal attire underneath.

* * *

As the four Kage level Shinobi faced off, the observing ANBU and other Kages could feel the immense power emanating from them. It became even more apparent when the roof tiles underneath the four Shinobi began to crack.

"Incredible all four of them are releasing a huge amount of power" commented C, who had never sensed so much Chakra at once in his life, as he watched the battle with Darui and the Raikage.

"The real battle is about to begin" said Mei and received a nod of agreement from Ao who had now uncovered his Byakugan to watch the battle.

* * *

Due to the massive amount of Chakra that was being released by the four Kage level Shinobi. Everyone on the rooftop, with the exception of the Mizukage and the Raikage, were finding it difficult to breath, where it felt like the air was pushing down on top of them.

-Enter Naruto OST-Need to be Strong-

After about a moment or so of staring at one another, the four Shinobi suddenly raced forward.

Sarutobi struck first where he threw a single Kunai at Orochimaru and then used the **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique) to multiple the number of Shuriken from one to a thousand.

At the same time Jiraiya used the **Ryūka no Jutsu** (Dragon Fire Technique) to envelop the Shuriken in flames. Turning them into flame Shuriken and enhancing their destructive capability.

Unafraid of the flaming projectiles, Orochimaru finished his hand-seals and yelled "**Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei** (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)!"

"_That move is…_" the concern Sandaime thought.

"_He wouldn't…_" Tsunade thought angrily.

"_Damn you Orochimaru_" Jiraiya thought as he cursed his former friend,

"First!" yelled Orochimaru, as the first coffin rose from the ground in front of him.

"He's using the summons as a shield…?" said the Sandaime after realizing what Orochimaru was up to.

"Second!" shouted the Snake Sennin as the second coffin rose from the ground, where together the two coffins defended Orochimaru from the flaming Shuriken.

After the coffins blocked the flaming Shuriken Orochimaru summoned the last coffin and cried "Third!"

"_Damnit, no matter what I can let him summon a third one_" Tsunade thought, as she leapt into their air and channelled her Chakra into her right fist and slammed down on top of the third coffin, just as it appeared out of the ground, and sent it back down.

"_Oh, the third one failed…pity…but it matters little, as all is well_" Orochimaru thought from behind the first two coffins.

"Good work hime, you prevented the third summon from appearing" congratulated the Jiraiya.

"Save the thanks, since we're still in trouble" the blonde woman replied, since she knew this jutsu all too well and knew what it meant for them.

"Indeed, as things will only get tougher for us now." replied the Sandaime, while at the same time wondering who exactly Orochimaru had summoned to fight for him.

"I do so hope you all enjoy this little surprise that I have made for all of you, since I picked these two to mark our reunion" said Orochimaru with a cruel smirk. "I'm certain that you Sarutobi-sensei and Tsunade will be especially delighted to see them again."

Not sure of what to expect, the three Shinobi prepared for what was to come. But when the coffin doors fell to reveal who Orochimaru had summoned with the **Edo Tensei**, the eyes of every Shinobi on the rooftop widen in disbelief at seeing who was inside.

The people, who were affected the most by the occupants of the coffins, were the Sandaime and Tsunade. For the people that Orochimaru had summoned were none other than the founder of Konoha, Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage and Senju Tobirama former Sensei of Sarutobi and Nidaime Hokage.

-End Naruto OST-Need to be Strong-

* * *

"Raikage-sama, is that who I think it is?" C asked in shock.

"Yes" replied the bulky Kage as he narrowed his eyes. "Those are two of Konoha's founders, the Shodai Hokage-sama and his brother the Nidaime Hokage-sama."

* * *

"Orochimaru" growled the Sandaime agrily.

"Damn you" Jiraiya said as he glared at his former best friend.

"Curse you wretched soul Orochimaru!" roared a furious Tsunade, who was appalled at how her former team-mate used her Great Uncle's own technique to summon him and her grandfather from the dead to fight them.

"Kukukku" laughed an amused Orochimaru, "What's wrong I thought you both would be happy to see them?"

"Not like this" replied Sarutobi.

At the same time the two former Hokage slowly stepped out from their coffins and walked forward towards the Sandaime and his two former pupils.

"It's been a long time, Saru" spoke the Shodai Hokage suddenly.

"You've aged, Sarutobi" commented the Nidame Hokage as he looked at his former student.

"And you Tsunade…you've grown up" Hashirama said, as he looked at his granddaughter,

"In more ways than one" remarked the Tobirama with a smile as he glanced at the two large mounds on his great niece's chest.

"Sofu (Grandfather), Tobirama-ōoji (Great Uncle Tobirama)" an upset Tsunade said as she fought back the tears that were beginning to fall with seeing her deceased relatives.

"I never expected to see you two again in this manner" commented the Sandaime sadly as he faced his former teachers.

"I must say I am quite surprised, I never expected anyone, other than myself, to be able to use **Edo Tensei**. I hate to admit it but this kid is something else" the Nidaime Hokage remarked as he glanced back at the smirking Orochimaru.

"Now that he has summoned us, I'm afraid we will have no choice but to fight all of you" said the Shodai Hokage sadly.

* * *

"This is the worst possible outcome" said the ANBU commander.

"Raikage-sama how is this possible, how did Orochimaru summon those two dead Hokages?" C asked as he turned to his village leader.

At first the Raikage did not answer, and just stared at the two deceased Hokage. But eventually he answered. "From what I have heard, the technique that Orochimaru used is called the **Edo Tensei**. It's a forbidden **Kuchiyose no Jutsu**, which revives the dead. But from what I have heard, unlike most summoning techniques which normally involve a user offering up some blood. The **Edo Tensei **requires the user to offer up a living person's body, allowing the soul that has been summoned to inhabit it and tie it to the living world."

"So you're saying that Orochimaru sacrificed two people to summon the Shodai Hokage-sama and the Nidaime Hokage-sama?" Darui asked with a large frown on his one visible eye, since he didn't like the sound of that.

"More than likely and it's just as likely that the dust and dirt has surrounded the bodies of the two sacrifices and formed the summoned soul's original bodies."

"So that is the infamous forbidden technique of the Nidaime Hokage…**Edo Tensei**" Ao remarked with a slight frown.

"Yes and it is just a deplorable as the stories have said" replied the Mizukage, who felt a twig of disgust after seeing Orochimaru use the technique, not liking the technique.

* * *

"As much as I am enjoy watching this little catch up, I think is time we get to the matter at hand" said Orochimaru as he walked up to the two resurrected Hokage holding two Kunai with seals attached to them.

Glancing out to the village, the Shodai Hokage could hear the sounds of battle going on down in the arena and stands as well as from the village. He could even see the large Snake summons destroying the buildings around them and explosions.

"So even now after all this time, there is still war" the Shodai remarked sadly.

"But don't you like war?" asked a mocking Orochimaru. "After all, you both excelled at it and it is because of war that the two of you have become such revered figures in the Shinobi world."

"Mocking the dead, have you no shame Orochimaru?" Saruotbi said angrily.

"My grandfather and great uncle hated war, all they wanted was a safe place for our people to live in peace!" Tsunade yelled furiously after hearing Orochimaru say that her forefathers enjoyed war.

Hearing this Orochimaru just smirked and placed the two seal Kunai into the back of the heads of the two Hokages, which allowed him to have complete control over the late Shinobi.

After the seal Kunai's were inside their heads, the colour began to return to the former Kages faces, making them more life-like.

Once the two Hokage brothers were ready, Orochimaru spoke "Now then Gentlemen, if you would be so kind, dispose of my former team-mates and my decrepit old sensei."

"Prepare yourselves Sarutobi, Tsunade…" said the Shodai Hokage.

"...For we will not be able to hold back on any of you" finished the Nidaime Hokage before he and his brother raced forward and attacked.

Within seconds the two Sannin and the Sandaime found themselves under attack by the late Hokages. Who spilt up and attacked by throwing several Shuirken and Kunai and then attacking from opposite sides.

Despite being attack from both sides Sarutobi and his two remaining loyal students easily evaded the projectiles and defended themselves from the deceased Shinobi.

For the first few minutes of the fight the five Kage level Shinobi fought with just Taijutsu.

As expected the two late Hokages proved to be highly skilled in Taijustu and had excellent teamwork where they synchronized their attacks, making it difficult for their opponents to gain the advantage. But even so, the Sandaime and his two former students proved to be an even match for the two brothers in both Taijutsu and in teamwork, where they were able to successfully defend themselves from the two Hokages attacks.

After a while the two brothers were forced back by their opponents when the Sandaime and Jiriaya each blocked their separate punches and grabbed hold of them, preventing them from moving away, and allowing Tsunade to send them both flying with a super charge punch.

Recovering quickly, the two Kage brothers flipped backwards and landed back on their feet's.

"As expected this will not be an easy fight" commented the Shodai Hokage.

"It would seem so" replied the Nidaime Hokage.

After forcing the two dead Hokages back, Sarutobi began to form several high speed Hand seals.

"Jiraiya, I'm going to need your support!"

"Right!" the Toad Sage replied, knowing what his sensei was going to do and prepared to help.

Once the Sandaime was ready he then said "**Katon: Karyu Endan** (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!" and spewed out a large steam of Fire that took the shape of a Dragon.

At the same time, Jiraiya spat out a long stream of toad oil from his mouth, which instantly ignited when it hit the flames and increased the intensity of the already super charged flames by a thousand degrees.

Within seconds the two Hokages were enveloped by the flames of the fire attack. But shortly after, the Nidaime countered with **Suiton: Suijinheki** (Water Style: Water Encampment Wall) and spat out a massive wave of Water from his mouth to hold the flames back. But even with its elemental advantage, the Water Wall struggled to hold the oil enhance flames back.

Seeing this, the Nidaime Hokage began to spit out even larger amounts of Water from his mouth causing a battle for dominance to begin between the three Shinobi.

Eventually though the Nidaime Hokage won the battle for dominance and extinguished the flames.

* * *

"Unbelievable, he was actually able to defeat the combine efforts of the Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama…by himself" muttered one of the ANBU in awe.

"_As expected from the great Nidaime Hokage-sama_" Mei thought.

* * *

After defeating Jiraiya's and Sarutobi's combination attack" the Nidame Hokage then preformed a single hand-seal and began to gather the moisture from the air and said "**Suiton Suishoha** (Water Style: Water Colliding Wave)!" After which a massive spiralling vortex appeared around the two dead Hokage and exploded into a giant wave that headed straight for the Sandaime and the others.

* * *

"Amazing, using a high level Water jutsu like that, by just forming a single hand-seal, in a place with no pre-existing Water nearby, using the moisture in the air alone" said C in disbelief.

"_Not even I could do that…_" Darui thought after seeing massive building size wave.

* * *

"_Shit!_" Jiraiya thought when he saw the Giant wave heading for them.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade stay back!" yelled the Sandaime as he formed four quick hand-seals and yelled "**Doton: Doryūheki** (Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall)!"

As soon as the Sandaime said this, he spat out a large amount of mud from his mouth onto the roof tiles in front of them, which then formed into a massive Earth Wall that blocked the giant wave.

"Quick thinking sensei!" said Jiraiya as he congratulated his former teacher. But quickly found his congratulations were premature. As the Nidaime used his Water manipulation skills to have the Water circle around the Earth Wall and surround the three Shinobi.

Before the massive Water Wave could envelope them, the three Shinobi quickly jumped into the air and onto the top of the Earth Wall to safety.

As the Water around the Earth Wall began to settle, the three Shinobi immediately jumped off it.

At the same time, the Shodai, who had been standing in the side-lines during his brother's attacks, raced towards them with phenomenal speed.

Wasting no time, the Sandaime and Jiraiya fired several fire blasts at the Konoha founder, hoping to force him back.

Tsunade also joined in by using her super human strength to throw several large pieces of the Earth Wall at her late grandfather.

But despite the massive barrage of Earth and Fire attacks he came under from. The Shodai Hokage skilfully evaded and blocked all of them, before finally jumping up into the air and sending Jiraiya flying back into the Earth Wall with a strong kick, which the Toad Sage blocked, but was still sent flying back.

"Damn, he moves pretty fast for an old guy" Jiraiya mutter as he began to pick himself up

Seeing Jiraiya set flying, Sarutobi quickly moved towards the Shodai and attempted a right cross to the Shodai's face. Only to miss as the Shodai side-stepped the punch, who then kicked some Water, (from his brother's earlier Water attack), into the Sarutobi's face, momentarily blinding the elder Hokage.

But before the Shodai Hokage could take advantage of the situation, Tsunade appeared above him and attempted to use her **Tsūtenkyaku** (Heavenly Foot of Pain), down on her grandfather's head. Who saw the attack coming and caught her leg just as it was about to hit him and then swung her around for a moment, before sending her crashing into Jiraiya, who had just gotten back up.

Once Tsunade had been dealt with, the Shodai turned back to his former student, who had just regained himself and tried to attack his late teacher. But instead, he was met with a sharp kick to the face. Along with several more kicks and a strong punch to the face and another kick to the stomach that sent the old Kage flying back into the Earth Wall.

"_Well I guess this isn't so bad_" Jiraiya thought with a grin as he was face deep into Tsunade's chest after she was sent crashing into him. But just as he was thinking about coping a feel of the blonde woman's ample chest, he was stopped by a low growl.

"Try it and you'll lose the arm, which I will then use to beat you to death" Tsunade said angrily, as if reading her team-mates mind.

At first Jiraiya actually considered trying, thinking it would be a fair trade just to feel one of those two massive mounds in his hand for one moment. Since when would this opportunity ever appear again in his life?

But he then decided it was best to leave it, since he _might_ need both his arms for this battle.

"_UUUhhhh, oh well at least I finally got to press my head on those Heavenly things, which is more than I ever hoped to achieve in life_" Jiraiya thought to himself, after Tsunade got off him.

As soon as the two Sannin were back on their feet, they saw their former teacher being set flying back into the Earth Wall.

Acting quickly the two Sannin jumped over to their teacher and helped the old man back onto his feet.

"You ok sensei?" Jiraiya asked as he helped the Sandaime up.

"Yes, I'm fine Jiraiya, thank you" the Sandaime replied before glancing up at the Shodai who just stared at the three Shinobi and took a classic Taijutsu stance. "It seems that their power has not waned in the slightest, fighting them both will prove to be quite the challenge even with the three of us working together."

"No kidding," Jiraiya answered as his arms still felt slightly numb from the Shodai's kick.

"Well you didn't think this would be easy?" Tsunade rounded.

"No" replied the Toad Sage, "But it would've been nice if was."

When Jiraiya said this, Sarutobi suddenly noticed that the Nidaime Hokage was no-where in sight, but before he could say or do anything. The late brother of Senju Hashirama appeared out of the Water behind the three Shinobi and grabbed hold of the Sandaime and dragged him into the Water.

Before Jiraiya and Tsunade could even attempt to help their Sensei, the Shodai attacked, taking advantage of their distraction, where he delivered a sharp kick to Jiraiya's face.

"_Shit! Not again_" the white-haired man thought as he was sent flying back, while Tsunade defended herself from her grandfather's Taijutsu attacks.

"You've become quite strong Tsunade" commented the Shodai's after his granddaughter dodge and blocked several of his more skilful Taijutsu moves.

"You've no idea how strong I've become" Tsunade replied, after ducking under one of her grandfather's punches and hitting him with a devastating punch to the stomach that sent the former Hokage crashing onto the tiles at the other end of the roof.

Shortly after doing this, Tsunade then saw Sarutobi emerge from the Water after escaping from her great uncle. Together the two Shinobi then quickly climbed up the Earth Wall, where Jiraiya was waiting, believing they would have the advantage of the high ground if they stood up here and could see any attacks coming.

But no sooner had they reached the top, they came under attack from the Nidaime Hokage. Who was still underwater and used the **Suiton: Mizu Yari **(Water Style: Water Javelin) technique to fire several high speed beams of Water at the Earth Wall that easily pierced right through it, bringing the Earth Wall tumbling down . (A)

"Fuck we just can't catch a break!" cried Jiraiya as he and the others landed back on the tiled roof.

"We need to stay together, if they separate us, we're finished!" said Tsunade.

"Agreed" replied the Sandaime.

"Well I think we should be alright that way, since there not too much here to keep us separate from one another. So we should be fine, as things can't get much worse than they are now."

No sooner had Jiraiya said then, the Toad Sage quickly realized he had spoken too soon as they suddenly felt the tile roof tremble.

"You just had to say it didn't you, you idiot!" Tsunade rounded angrily before they saw tree branches spring out from the roof tiles.

"This is not good" said the Sandaime, "This is the secret technique that only the Shodai Hokage-sam could use, not even Yamato can use it."

"**Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan** (Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees)!" said the Shodai Hokage as he channelled more of his Chakra into the ground.

As the Shodai continue to pour more Chakra into the ground, the entire rooftop became covered by fast growing trees.

Sarutobi and the others tried to stay together but they were eventually separate by the large trees, which eventually wrapped themselves around the three Shinobi.

* * *

"Incredible" muttered Ao.

"So this is what a true master of Mokuton is capable of…truly amazing" the Mizukage remarked.

"_When compared to his ancestor, Tsunade's son skill in Mokuton is still worlds apart from the Shodai's. But still, over time the boy could possibly one day match his ancestor's prowess, especially if he is left unchecked_" the Raikage thought with a frown.

"To think we would actually see Mokuton performed by two separate people on the same day, it's unbelievable" mutter C to himself.

"This is the same technique that is said to have created the entire forest that now surrounds Konoha" said the ANBU Commander in awe after seeing the legendary technique.

* * *

Seeing that his sensei and team-mates were now separate and trapped in the binds of the Shodai's trees, Orochimaru slowly walked up to them.

"Kukukuku, Looks like we've finally caught you all."

Unwilling to give up, Tsunade began to flex her arms, in an attempt to break free. But even with her enhance strength, it was not easy, since the tree binds were incredibly strong thanks to her grandfather's Chakra.

At the same time Sarutobi was trying reach a nearby tree branch to help him summon some backup.

Eventually after much struggle, the Sandaime finally reached the branch and placed his hand on it and shouted "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**! Come forth, Monkey King Enma!"

As soon as Sarutobi had said this a massive cloud of smoke suddenly appeared in front of him.

-Enter Naruto-OST-Heavy Violence-

"Looks like something troublesome has appeared…" commented Orochimaru with an annoyed look.

"Heh, looks like the old man is finally getting serious…it's been a while since I've seen that old monkey Enma" Jiraiya said to himself after seeing Sarutobi's summons, before becoming serious again, knowing he had to escape now to help.

"_**Orochimaru**_" growled Enma when he saw the Snake Sennin, "_**I knew this day would come.**_"

"_**You were a fool to let him go when you did, Sarutobi, you should have killed him when you had the chance.**_"

"I intend to fix that mistake now" the old Hokage replied.

"_**Heh, It's too late, you've gotten too old**_" scoffed the old Monkey.

"Perhaps…but I won't know until I try…so please Enma help me and turn into Kongōnyoi (Free Forming Diamond Pole).

Hearing this Orochimaru quickly order the two deceased Hokages to attack, knowing how difficult things would get if he allowed Enma to take on his staff form.

Acting quickly the two Hokages ran towards the elder monkey from two separate direction. But before Enma could defend himself, the two Hokages were intercepted by Tsunade and Jiraiya. Who had broken free of their binds, where the former used her enhance strength to free herself and the lesser used the **Rasengan** (Spiralling Ball) to break the binds.

After freeing herself from her binds, Tsunade immediately jumped into the air above the Nidaime Hokage and used her **Tsūtenkyaku **to send her great uncle crashing down through the tree and onto the roof tiles below.

At the same time, Jiraiya appeared in front of the Shodai Hokage and blocked the Shodai's kick with his left arm. Before brining up a newly formed **Rasengan** in his right hand, and slammed it into the Konoha founder's stomach, sending him flying.

"_**Jiraiya, Tsunade what are you two doing here?**_" the Monkey King asked in surprise.

"No time to explain, hurry up and change!" Tsunade yelled as she eyed her late great uncle who was already getting back up on his feet.

"_**Right!**_" said the Monkey King, where he jumped into the air and prepared to transform. "_If those two are here to help, we might actually stand a chance of winning._"

Once Enma transformed into his staff form, he immediately flew towards his bound friend and destroyed his wooden binds.

As soon as Sarutobi was free, the Sandaime quickly took hold of Enma and fell into a Bojutsu stance where he was then flanked by his two late students and eyed the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages. Who had recovered and were now flanking the three Shinobi.

* * *

"Amazing…what a battle…is this what a battle between Kage level Shinobi is like?" the ANBU Commander asked himself.

* * *

"Ah well, it seems that I have no choice but to join the battle now" Orochimaru muttered to himself. Before he opened his mouth to an inhuman width, allowing a large snake to emerge from it, which then opened its mouth as well and produced a long straight sword.

"_Kusanagi no Tsurugi_ (Grass Cutting Sword)" the Sandaime thought when he saw the sword.

"_Looks like Orochimaru is also getting serious_" Jiraiya thought with a frown, knowing what this meant.

"Sensei, you and Enma go deal with Orochimaru, Tsunade and I will handle these two" Jiraiya said without taking his eyes off the Shodai.

"Are you certain?" the Sandaime asked.

"Yes, now go!" Tsunade yelled fearing that the two Hokages would attack before Sarutobi could go.

"Very well then, let's go Enma" the Sandaime yelled as he prepared to attack.

"_**Even though my pole form is as hard as diamond… the Kusanagi no Tsurugi can still hurt me**_" spoke Enma.

Nodding to this, Sarutobi quickly raced forward to engage his fallen student, while his other two former students fought and held back the two Konoha founders.

After jumping into the air, Sarutobi had Enma extend his pole form and aim it at Orochimaru. Who immediately flipped sideways to avoid the pole and moved back several feet, where he then faced off against his former teacher.

For the next few minutes the two Kage level Shinobi fought in a fierce battle and despite his advance age, the old Hokage proved to be more than a match for fallen student. So much so that Orochimaru was even forced of the defensive, blocking and avoiding most of Sarutobi's attacks.

Eventually though, Sarutobi was able to gain the advantage further by extending Enma forward again, forcing Orochimaru to block the staff with the flat side of his sword.

When he did this, Enma's arm suddenly sprang out of his pole form and grabbed hold of the fallen Sannin's neck, choking the life out of him.

-End Naruto-OST-Heavy Violence-

"_**Orochimaru, this is end for you, I'm going to wring that neck of yours with my bare hands, just as I should have done years ago**_" growled the Monkey King as he continued to choke Orochimaru.

But just when he though he had the Snake Sennin, "Orochimaru" reverted into mud, revealing he had replaced himself with a **Doton: Kage Bunshin**.

After escaping the Monkey King's grip, the real Orochimaru appeared out of the mud of his clone. But no sooner had he appeared, the Sandaime sent the rogue Sannin flying backwards with a powerful swing with Enma.

Moments after doing this, two objects came crashing down on opposite sides near the Sandaime.

When the dust settle the Sandaime saw that the two objects were the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages who were badly damaged. On closer inspection the Sandaime could see that the Nidaime's right arm had been ripped off and the Shodai had a large hole in his stomach.

Shortly after both Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared next to the Sandaime, both looked slightly ruffled and had a few light injuries. But other than that both Sannin looked to be in good condition.

"I'm pleased to see that both of you are ok."

"Heh, you won't get rid of us that easily Old man" Jiraiya joked.

* * *

"Yes the battle is over, the Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama have won" said one of the ANBU excitedly. Believing that with the two Hokages down, Orochimaru would be finished.

"I would not be so certain of that" the ANBU commander said sombrely where he then pointed at the two Hokages, who were already regenerating. Once they had fully recovered they stood up as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"Shit" Jiraiya quietly cursed, "As if things weren't hard enough."

"As I thought, they and invulnerable to damage, due to the fact that they are already dead…I fear that the only way we can defeat them is if I use the Yondaime's technique" Sarutobi said.

"Sensei you can't!" Jiraiya said.

"You know what will happen if you use that technique" Tsunade warned.

"Yes I am aware, but it is our only chance in defeating the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages."

"No it isn't, there are other ways" Jiraiya said. "If we can keep Orochimaru away and separate the Shodai and the Nidaime we can seal them up one at a time."

"But…"

"Listen to me Sensei, you may be eager to give your life up, but there's no way I'm going to let you, at least not without a fight. I already failed to stop Minato sacrificing himself when the Kyuubi attacked, but I won't let you do the same thing. Not until all other options have been exhausted, so until then don't give up on us."

"For once I agree with the pervert" Tsunade said as she joined in on the conversation. "The time hasn't come something like that. The village still needs a Hokage… it needs you!"

After hearing his former student's stubborn refusal in letting him use the **Shiki Fūjin** (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) to stop the two deceased Hokages. The Sandaime could only smirk in amusement.

"Very well then, we will continue to try, although I fear it may eventually come to it, sooner or later."

"Kukuku" Orochimaru chuckled as he stood back up. "…I must say I'm rather impressed with how well the three of you are faring. You're putting up a much better fight than I had anticipated, but still you are only delaying the inevitable, for you will all die here today."

"We'll see about" replied the Sandaime as he held Enma up.

"Oh come now sensei, there is no need for false bravado" Orochimaru mocked. "I can also see that you are getting tired, you've aged quite a bit and do not have the stamina you once had...Fufufufu."

"It's true that I have aged, but it does not mean I am dead yet."

Hearing this Orochimaru just chuckled again, "Kukukuku…It's rather pitiful at how you, the man who was hailed as the Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi)…cannot beat old age."

After saying this Orochimaru then began to pull on his face, before ripping it off, like a mask, revealing a female face.

* * *

"What the…" said the ANBU Commander.

"What going on?" Ao said in shock.

"I have no idea" replied the Mizukage who was just as much in shock as Ao.

"Raikage-sama, what's going on? Who is that?" C asked, but received no answer, as the bulky Kage was just as horrified at what he was seeing as everyone else, and could not comprehend what he had just seen.

"_So he really did it_" Jiraiya thought angrily as this had confirmed everything he had feared.

* * *

"Who are you?!" the confused Sandaime Hokage yelled, as he didn't understand what he was seeing.

"Sensei that's Orochimaru" Jiraiya answered.

"Orochimaru…! But how?" asked Tsunade, who couldn't understand what was going on.

"No, Don't tell me…Don't tell me you've actually completed that forbidden Jutsu that you began all those years ago?" the Sandaime asked in horror.

At the Sandaime question, the Snake Sannin just laughed, confirming Sarutobi's worse fears.

"You're not human anymore, you're a demon!" yelled old Hokage in rage.

"You monster Orochimaru, you don't deserve to be called Human anymore" shouted Tsunade. Who had heard what Orochimaru had been trying to achieve before he was force to leave Konoha, from Jiraiya.

"Kukuku…And pray tell why I should care about being something as low as human?" the Snake Sennin asked in amusement.

"Jiraiya you knew that he had completed _that_ Jutsu" the Sandaime asked as he glanced at his former student.

"Yes" the Toad Sennin answered sadly. "I wanted to spare you both the news, since I knew how much it would hurt you, when you learned of it."

"Damn you Orochimaru…!" Tsunade yelled, "Mark my words before this day is done, there will be one less Sannin in the world."

"Now I understand the depth of my mistake, I was a blind fool not to have killed you when I had a chance" Sarutobi said.

"Don't take on all the blame Sensei, I'm just as much at fault; I could have stopped him later on when he fled. But in the end I couldn't do it either" Jiraiya said as he balled his fist in anger as he watched his former friend laugh at their anger.

"This is exactly why I wouldn't recommend you to become the Yondaime Hokage, your twisted ideas and desire for immortality would have brought disaster to the village" Sarutobi said angrily.

"My immortality technique keeps a person's soul and mind in this world forever. In other words it is like a reincarnation technique, where after I find a new body, I transfer my soul and mind into that body and take it over. The only reason I had my old face on was because I wanted to see the delight on all your faces when you saw me again."

"That's why you want Sasuke and Naru-chan, your hoping to use one of them as your next body!" Tsunade yelled in anger, realizing Orochimaru's true goal.

"Quite correct my dear, in fact once I've captured them, I'm hoping to find a way to combine both their powers together, where I would then have the two most perfect vessels imaginable."

"Such a disturbing jutsu…it is truly sickening" commented the Shodai Hokage as he moved next to Orochimaru after he had finished listening to Orochimaru's explanation of his immortality technique and his plans of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Indeed" replied the Nidaime Hokage, who was also disgusted by what he had heard after walking next to the Snake Sennin.

Even the Mizukage and the Raikage, who were watching from outside the barrier were disgusted by what they had heard. It had also confirmed everything they had heard about the former Sannin and proven without a doubt that the man had fallen far from grace or redemption.

"YOU MONSTER!" roared Tsunade in anger after hearing what Orochimaru plan to do to her son and took a stepped forward in anger, "I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HIM!"

"Kukukuku….my dear Tsunade, you act as if you have a choice in the matter. As we speak, my subordinates are tracking young Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun down and by then the three of you will be dead.

"YOU BASTARD!" cried the furious Tsunade, as she was about to take another step forward, but was stopped by Jiraiya. Who knew that Orochimaru was just goading her again into attacking him.

"Calm down, hime, he's just goading you again, don't worry about the kid, he's not one to go down easy. Besides he has Kushina, Shizune, Yamato and the others looking out for him.

After hearing this Tsunade slowly started to calm down. But even so it was not by much, as she was still glaring furious at her former friend, and had every intention of killing him and making him suffer for all his crimes.

"Just how many people have you used this despicable Jutsu on?" the Sandaime asked in outrage.

"I believe this would be my second host and I plan to do to same to either Sasuke-kun or Naruto-kun after they have grown to my liking."

"OVER MY DEAD BODY YOU WILL!"

"My dear Tsunade that is exactly the plan" Orochimaru replied with a sadistic grin before he had his face revert into his original face and then ordered the Shodai Hokage to attack. Who used his Mokuton powers to grown even more trees, enveloping the entire space inside the barrier with them, making it difficult for the observers to see inside.

* * *

"Hokage-sama/Jiraiya-sama/Tsunade-sama" cried the three ANBU together.

* * *

Inside the barrier the three Konoha Shinobi stayed inside Enma's **Kongō Rōheki** (Vajra Prison Wall), which protected them from the Shodai's attack.

"Hooooo, nice going you old Monkey, you probably just saved our hides" Jiraiya said as he let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time Jiraya notice a strange look over his teacher's face. "Hey old man are you okay?"

"_This is all my fault, everything that happened since that day. All of this could have been avoided if I had just killed him back then. But when I had the chance I just couldn't bring myself to do it_" the Sandaime thought with a mixture of sadness and anger as he thought back to that night when he raided Orochimaru's hidden lair. "_But now I will correct my past mistake and kill him!_"

-Enter Naruto-OST-Need to Be Strong-

After reaffirming his resolve to kill his fallen student a strong determined look appeared on the old man's face, a look that none of his students had seen in their sensei face in a long time.

Touching one of Enma's poles that made up the protective prison around them, Sarutobi had the monkey king revert into his single pole form, where he then once again took a Bojutsu stance and yelled. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, Enma Let's Go! I'll need you all to back me up!"

"Hai!" the two Sannin replied as stood side by side with their teacher and attacked.

For the next few minutes the observers outsides the barrier watched as the battle between the six Kage level Shinobi became even more furious. But eventually during the battle, their ability to see inside the barrier ended when the Shodai Hokage used the **Genjutsu: Kokuangyou no Jutsu** (Illusionary technique: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique) to obscure everyone's view of the battle.

-End Naruto-OST- Need to Be Strong-

-Outside the Barrier-

Once the Genjutsu blocked the observers view of the battle Haku and Chojuro suddenly appeared on the rooftop and quickly made their way over to the village leader.

"Mizukage-sama!" called the two Genin when they saw their leader.

"Haku, Chojuro, I am pleased to see that you are both unharmed" the female Kage said.

"As are we of you Mizukage-sama" replied Haku.

"What are you two doing here and where is Zabuza and your team-mate Saito?" Ao asked with a disapproving look when he saw the two Genin.

"Zabuza-sama and Saito-kun are with Daimyo-sama, and are ensuring that he no harm befalls to him in the battle below" answered Haku.

"Zabuza-sensei also told us to report to you and to ask you if we should try to leave the village with Daimyo-sama or find a safe location and wait the battle out" finished Chojuro.

"Mizukage-sama we should leave the village at once with the Daimyo-sama. This battle is Konoha's problem, it does not concern us!" said Ao.

At first the Mizukage did not respond to what Ao had said, and remained silent, as she weighed over her options, but after a minute or so she came to a decision.

"Haku, I want you and Chojuro to head back to Zabuza and tell him to get the Daimyo-sama to a safe location. Once he is safe, he is to assist any and all Konoha Shinobi in the defence of their village, as of this moment Kiri stands with Konoha."

"Mizukage you can't!" Ao shouted if shock, "This war has nothing to do with us, there is no need for us to get involved."

"Actually there is, remember we came here to Konoha not only to participate in the Chunin exam, but to also try and form an alliance with it. With Suna's betrayal the chance for an alliance between our two villages has drastically increased. Furthermore by helping Konoha we can curry some good favour with the people, and show them that Kiri has truly changed from its bloody past, which could help our village greatly later on. Also need I remind you that Orochimaru is also wanted in Kiri for several crimes against our village. We have an opportunity here that could benefit our village greatly and we will take it."

"B-But…But…But…" stuttered Ao, as he tried to argue, but before he could say anything the female Kage spoke again.

"Enough! I have made my decision…we will aid Konoha" Mei said in an authoritative voice, showing why she had been selected as the Godaime Mizukage.

After settling the argument with Ao, Mei then quickly turned to the two Genin, "Now once the Daimyo-sama has been secured, I want you two and Saito to stay with him and make sure that he stay safe."

"Hai Mizukage-sama" the two Genin replied before they took off, soon after they left, Ao and the Mizukage **Shunshin'd** down into the stands to help in the battle.

But as Haku and Chojuro made their way back down to the stands, Haku suddenly turned, and headed out into the village.

"Haku where are you going?" yelled Chojuro when he saw his team-mate take off in a different direction. "The Mizukage told us to report to Zabuza-sensei and secure the Daimyo-sama."

"I have something else I need to do, you go to Zabuza-sama and inform him of the Mizukage's orders. You and Saito-kun will be enough to protect the Daimyo-sama."

Before Chojuro could say anything more, the young girl took off leaving only small snowflakes behind.

At the same time when the Mizukage came to her decision to help the Konoha, the Raikage and his subordinates were discussing the same issue.

"Boss what should we do now?" Darui asked as he turned to the Raikage.

"I say, we get Bee-dono, the Daimyo-sama, Yugito and the others and leave the village. This battle is Konoha's problem, not ours, let the Konoha dogs fight their own battles" said C. Who like many Kumo Shinobi did not have a great deal of respect for the leaf village or its Shinobi, due to their village's strong rivalry.

"Agreed, once we have secured, the Daimyo-sama and met up with Bee and the others, we leave this village" said the Raikage. "If we're lucky, Konoha and Suna will take care of each other, or at the very least they'll weaken each enough to allow us to take advantage of the incident."

Nodding to this the two Kumo-nins took off with their Kage and made their way down below the stands.

-In the Village-

As the battle on the rooftop of the stadium continued, Naruto and his companies made their way through the village. Doing their best to avoid the heavy fighting that was going on in the village between the Konoha forces and the invading Suna and Oto forces.

"Geez, why the hell do we even have to go through all this trouble? I don't even like Sasuke," mumbled Shikamaru as they made their way through a small alleyway to avoid some fighting between some Konoha Shinobi and Suna-nins.

"Shut up Shikamaru" Sakura rounded as she turned to the lazy Nara. "Sasuke-kun needs our help, so we're going!"

"She's right Shikamaru, whether you like it or not we need to go help Sasuke. I'll admit Sasuke and I don't exactly see eye to eye all the time. But he is still a Konoha Shinobi and our comrade, and he needs our help" said Naruto.

"_**Come on you lot, enough talking, we need to get out of the village as quickly as possible before any enemy Shinobi spots us**_" said Pakkun.

"I think it's a little late for that" Ino said when they came to a sudden stop and saw the mask ANBU standing at the end of the alley accompanied by two masked Oto-nins.

Quickly Naruto and the other turned to go back to the other end of the alley but found three more Oto-nins blocking the way they came. Also they noticed four more Oto Shinobi who were looking down at them from the rooftops of the two buildings that flanked the alleyway.

"_Shit we're surrounded_" Naruto cursed inside his mind before leaning over to the Nara heir.

"Shikamaru, do you have any smoke bombs on you?"

"A couple but they won't do us any good; we're confined to this alleyway and surrounded on all sides" the Shadow user replied, already figuring out what Naruto was thinking.

"Trust me I have a plan, just have them ready when I give the signal."

Not sure what Naruto had planned, the young Nara just nodded. After which the Genin attention was soon turned to the mask ANBU. Who suddenly spoke in a slightly muffled voice that was strangely familiar to Sakura and Naruto.

"Senju Naruto, we have orders to take you with us, surrender peacefully and you will be unharmed."

"Really?" Naruto asked calmly as he walked forward from the group and held his arms behind his back. "And let me guess who gave you those orders…Orochimaru, since he is the leader of Otogakure after all."

"Orochimaru!" Ino cried in shock, who had been unaware of this.

"You serious?" Shikmaru asked in equal shock.

"Yea, back when we ran into him in the Forest of Death, he had the symbol for Oto on his headband, so it isn't hard to figure out that he is the one leading Oto."

"Hold on a sec" Ino said, "Are you saying that it was Orochimaru who defeated you, back then?"

"Yea, he was."

"_Geez, He's like a magnate for trouble_" Shikamaru thought, "_Taking on a Sannin by himself, that's just insane, he doesn't know how lucky he is to be alive._"

"Yes, you are correct, we follow Orochimaru-sama, now will you surrender peacefully or not?" the ANBU answered.

"And what if I were to refuse?"

"Then we will capture you by force and kill your friends" the ANBU replied. "But if you surrender, they will be allowed to go…unharmed, as our interests lies only with you."

"_Why do I get the feeling that if I do, they'll be killed anyhow_" Naruto thought with a small frown.

"Well then I guess I have no choice but to…NOW!" the blonde boy said as he used his hands, behind his back, to count down and signal Shikamaru to drop the bombs.

As soon as the Nara dropped the handful of smoke bombs, the entire alleyway filled up with smoke. After which Naruto moved over to the wall on his left side and used his super human strength to punch a hole through the wall, allowing the young Genin to escape through it.

"_**Good work, you two**_" congratulated Pakkun.

"Thanks" replied Naruto as they ran through the building and out into the abandoned street, which had a few dead bodies of a few Oto, Suna and Konoha Shinobi in it.

After about a minute or so, the group came to a stop in the fork in the street.

"Which way do we go now?" Sakura asked.

"_**This way**_" Pakkun answered after sniffing the air and pointing down the street to his left with his right paw. "_**Now come on before those Oto goons catch up with us.**_"

"You guys go that way, I'll go this way" Naruto said as he pointed to the opposite street.

"What? But we need to stick together!" Ino said.

"Look, you all heard that ANBU guy, they're after me, not you. I lead them away while you go after Sasuke."

"There's no way we're going to leave you to face all those guys by yourself" Sakura said.

"Listen, they won't kill me, they want me alive, so I should be fine."

"He's right Ino" Shikamaru said, who knew that to win a game a player must be willing to sacrifice a piece. But even so, this was real-life and it made decisions like this all the harder, especially since it was a friend who was sacrificing himself, and Shikamaru did not like this.

"Then I go with you as well" Ino volunteered as she moved towards Naruto, but was stopped by the spikey haired boy.

"No, it's better if I go alone, my chances of losing them are better if I am alone, besides Sasuke is going to need all the help he can get if he's going against Gaara. I'll catch up with the rest of you as soon as I lose them."

"_**I agree with Naruto**_" Pakkun said suddenly, "…_**if we want to get to Sasuke in time, he will need to lead them away, otherwise they'll just keep coming after us.**_"

Seeing that it was three against two the girls finally relented.

After wishing Naruto good luck, the three Genin and the Ninken quickly made their way down the street.

As they did, Naruto suddenly saw the fake ANBU and the Oto-nins making their way towards him by jumping over the rooftops.

Gaining their attention Naruto then ran down the street hoping to lead them away from Shikamaru and the girls.

"There he is!" said one of the Oto-nins as he pointed to Naruto as he ran down the street.

"Wait!" said the fake ANBU, as he stopped the other Oto-nins. "He's trying lead us away from the others."

"So what, our orders are to capture him, not those kids" said one of the Oto Shinobi.

"Our orders were also to make sure that they did not interfere with Gaara, which is why all of you are to go after them and make sure they don't."

"But what about him?" the same Oto-nin asked.

"Leave Naruto-kun to me" answered the ANBU, which of course made the Oto-nins frown. But none of them dared disobey him and nodded before racing after Shikamaru and the girls, leaving Naruto to the fake ANBU.

After a few minutes of running, Naruto looked back to see if any sign of the Oto Shinobi.

Seeing no sign of the enemy Shinobi, the Senju heir thought about making a **Kage Bunshin** (Shadown Clone) of himself and using the clone to lead the perusing Shinobi further away. While he hid somewhere and waited for them to pass him by, this would then allow him to catch up Shikamaru and the girls.

But before Naruto could even do this, he suddenly heard the familiar whooshing sounds Kunai flying through the air.

Acting quickly Naruto jumped to his left, narrowly avoiding the projectiles, which stabbed the ground he had been just standing on a moment ago.

As soon as Naruto had avoided the Kunai, he saw the fake ANBU landing directly in front of him, a few meters apart.

"Where are your friends?" Naruto asked, while at the same time glancing around him, making sure that none of the Oto-nins were trying sneak up on him and attack him from different directions.

"Oh, I just sent them after your friends, I decided to deal with you myself" answered the fake ANBU.

Hearing this Naruto silently cursed, since his plan had completely back fired on him and he now need to get back with Shikamaru and the others as quickly as possible.

"Well then I guess I don't have time to waste" Naruto said.

-Enter Naruto OST-Raikiri-

"No…you don't" the ANBU replied before he began to preform several hand-seals

"_Those hand-seals, so he knows __Iryō Ninjutsu_ (Medical Ninja Techniques)" Naruto thought as he recognized the hand-seals that the fake ANBU was preforming, which were for **Chakura no Mesu** (Chakra Scalpels).

Once the fake ANBU had finished the necessary hand-seals, his hands began to glow bright blue, proving what Naruto had already guessed. After which the fake ANBU disappeared into the ground, leaving only a large hole in the spot he had just been standing in.

"_Shit,_ _**Moguragakure no Jutsu**_ (Hiding like a Mole Technique)!" thought Naruto, realizing what the fake ANBU had just done.

Acting quickly, Naruto jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the masked ANBU, who had just appeared out of the ground underneath him.

Wasting no time Naruto struck back using his enhance strength and brought his right fist down on the enemy Shinobi hoping to end the fight with one blow. But instead missed him and hit the ground, as the masked man proved to be quite fast.

Undeterred Naruto chased after the fake ANBU and attempted a powerful right kick, using his inhuman like strength again. But like the last time, the fake ANBU avoided Naruto's attack by ducking under the kick and letting Naruto fly past him. Who smashed right through a wall that was behind the man.

Emerging from the new hole in the wall Naruto tried to attack the fake ANBU again, but before he could reach him. The fake ANBU disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind the blonde. Who tried to avoid him, but was too slow, where the fake ANBU touched his right arm and thigh. After which he then jumped away from the young Senju when he tried to punch him.

After landing a few meters away from Naruto, the fake ANBU was pleased to see Naruto fall to his knees and holding his right arm.

"_My arms and leg_" the blonde thought, realizing that the fake ANBU had done something.

"As you may have just noticed, I have weakened the muscles in your right bicep and thigh... Just enough to slow your movements down and prevent you from using that incredible strength of yours" the fake ANBU said before continuing.

"After being trained by the foremost expert in Iryō Ninjutsu, you of all people should know how lethal Chakra scalpels are. With it, I could severe an artery or puncture your heart without even breaking the skin."

"Then why don't you?"

"That I am afraid takes careful aim and a long blade, both of which are difficult to accomplish in the heat of battle, as you well know. Although I could probably achieve this, it would go against my orders, which are to capture you alive. So perhaps you could save us both a great deal of time and effort and give up now, that way you can also save yourself a great deal of pain."

"_Huh, arrogant bastard_" Naruto thought before smirking at the fake ANBU, "Heh, if you think that I will just lay down and give up, you don't know the first thing about me."

"I figured you would say something like that" the masked spy replied with a small sigh before racing towards Naruto with remarkable speed.

With little time to spare, Naruto brought up both his arms to defend himself where he deflected several strikes from the masked man, while he was using his **Chakura no Mesu**.

After ducking under another strike, Naruto attempted a leg sweep, hoping to catch the masked ANBU off-guard. But instead the fake ANBU avoided the leg swipe by jumping into the air and then placing his hand right on Naruto's chest, causing the spikey haired boy to fall to his knees in pain.

"_Agah! Damnit he hit my inner intercostal…heh…can't breathe!_" Naruto thought as he struggled to catch his breath, before glancing up at his masked opponent, who was standing over him. "_This guy, he's no ordinary Medic-nin, he's faster and more precise than me when using __**Chakura no Mesu**__. He might be just as good if not better that Shizune-nee, even Kaa-chan would probably have a hard time with him._"

"I have to be careful not to hit anything too vital, if you were to die unexpectedly, Orochimaru-sama would be greatly displeased with me" the fake ANBU said in a mocking tone, as he held up his hand and deactivated his Chakra scalpels. "But still you won't be moving anytime soon."

But no sooner had he said this, Naruto stood up and delivered a devastating left punch to the man's stomach, sending the Oto spy flying through the air and crashing through a stone wall.

-End Naruto OST-Raikiri-

"ACK!" cried the fake ANBU member as he spat out some blood behind his mask. Before it began to crack and shatter when he went through a stone wall. After which he landed hard on the floor in the middle of a large room of the building he crashed into. "_Eh…I underestimated him, he shouldn't be able to stand, let alone fight this well given everything he went through today, and the injuries I dealt him. But then again he is the son of one of the Sannin. I guess I cannot afford to play with him anymore; it would be so much easier if I could just kill him. But Orochimaru-sama's orders were clear and I cannot disobey him._"

After sending the fake ANBU crashing through the stone wall, Naruo immediately fell to his knees in pain and held his chest.

"_Damn it, that was close, I'm lucky that bastard got cocky and let his guard down, now I need to heal the damage he did and get back to Shikamaru and the girls, fast!_" Naruto thought as he performed some hand-seals and used a **Shōsen Jutsu **(_Mystical Palm_Technique) to heal his internal injuries.

Just as Naruto healed the damage done to his chest leg and was about to heal his arm, the blonde boy saw movement coming from the hole that the fake ANBU made when he was smashed through it.

"_No way…! He couldn't have recovered so quickly after that!_" Naruto thought in shock. "_I hit him dead on with full force._"

Soon enough the Oto spy emerged from the hole in the wall, at little wobbly, but fine otherwise. The only difference being that he no longer had his mask, which allowed Naruto to see his face.

"Kabuto!" Naruto spat out angrily recognising Oto spy's face.

"We meet again Naruto-kun" greeted the grey haired youth with an arrogant smirk.

"I knew there was a reason why I didn't like you" the blonde Senju said angrily.

"Ah yes, with the exception of Sakura-chan you and the others never really trusted me" the bi-spectral Shinobi mocked. "Tell me what was it that gave me away?"

"You were always too eager to help; especially to people you didn't even know. Like when you gave information on other opponents freely to us at the beginning of the exam, without asking for anything in return. Not to mention when you stopped Sakura-chan from opening the scroll and having us disqualified from the exam, which I'm guessing was to make sure that Sasuke and me made it to the finals. You also seemed to be stronger than you let on; at first I thought that was to make people underestimate you in the exam. But after you quit so suddenly in the preliminaries, without even trying, I knew there was something off about you"

"Yes, very good Naruto-kun, and I suppose your right, it seems I did overplay my part when I pretended to be a weak, but friendly participant in the exam" the Oto spy said as he continued to smirk at Naruto.

"Tell me how is it that you were able to recover so quickly?" Naruto asked, "You shouldn't be able to get up after being hit like that."

"Heh you're not the only gifted Shinobi in the world Naruto-kun, like you I have many gifts. One of them being my natural talents for Iryō Ninjutsu, where I developed a technique called **In'yu Shōmetsu** (Yin Healing Wound Destruction). By anticipating the spot an enemy will attack, I concentrate my chakra to that area and begin a cell recreation process right before the targeted area becomes damaged. So for as long as I have Chakra, I can completely heal any damage that you do to me."

When Kabuto finished Naruto silently swore to himself, since this made this things a whole lot more difficult.

"_Crap, as if things weren't hard enough, even if I somehow beat this prick or get away from him. It won't be without some cost and I might not be in any state to help Sasuke and the others if I get to them in time._"

Hoping the gain some sort of advantage, Naruto fired several poison tipped Senbon Needles at Kabuto, who easily evaded them. But when he moved away, Naruto threw some smoke bombs that contained a strong knock-out gas that could even render a Shinobi like Kabuto unconscious in moments.

"_Inhaling even a bit of this would be dangerous_" thought Kabuto, as the smoke enveloped him.

But just when Naruto thought he had won, he felt a pair of hands grab his legs and realized that Kabuto had used the **Moguragakure no Jutsu **again to escape the gas and tunnel underneath him.

Realizing he needed to do something quickly, Naruto gather as much Chakra as he could into his left fist and slammed it into the ground, pulverising the street and creating a large crater around him.

Once the dust settled, Kabuto, who had someone escape damage emerged from the ground a few feet away from the Senju.

"My, that was rather close" Kabuto commented with his usual arrogant smirk.

"Well let's see you try and dodge this!" Naruto yelled as he performed some hand-seals and shouted "**Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)!"

When Naruto shouted this, several dozen wooden tentacles erupted from the ground around Kabuto, forcing the silver haired youth to jump up into the air to avoid them.

After evading all the wooden tentacles, Kabuto then landed on one of the larger tentacles, where he then saw Naruto racing up the wooden tentacle before punching him right in the face.

But just as Naruto had punched him, "Kabuto" reverted into a large wooden log, revealing he had replaced himself at the last second.

Looking around, Naruto soon saw Kabuto standing on the ground below him.

Annoyed by the arrogant smirk of the elder boy, Naruto fired several large wooden spikes from hands, which Kabuto easily dealt with, by cutting them in half with his Chakra scalpels.

This of course surprised Naruto, since the wooden objects he made were very strong and could not be easily cut or destroyed.

After destroying Naruto's wooden spikes, Kabuto watched as the son of Tsunade jumped down from the wooden tentacles he was standing on and face off against him again.

Wanting to end this quickly and get Naruto to a secure location, Kabuto raced towards the blonde boy, but just as he crossed half the distance between them. He was forced to jump back, when he noticed a large hail of Kunai, Shuriken and Senbons Needles falling from the sky towards him.

As soon as he avoided all the projectiles, which now littered the ground in front of him, Kabuto notice that three young girls had now appeared in front of Naruto.

These girls were none other than Nii Yugito of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud), Yuki Haku of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) and Hattori Mai of Amegakure (Hidden Rain).

When Kabuto saw the three Kunoichi, he knew things had gotten a lot more difficult, given how skilled each of the girls were.

"Haku-chan, Yugito-chan, Mai-chan, what are you three doing here?" a confused Naruto asked when he saw the three girls appear in front of him, who were all staring at Kabuto careful.

"Heh, what does it look like, we're saving your sorry ass" Yugito replied with a small smirk and glanced back at Naruto, all the while keeping a watch on Kabuto, who had yet to move. "The three of us met up, when we were looking for you and when we saw your **Mōkushōku**, we headed straight here."

"Not that I don't appreciate the help, but why are you three here?" Naruto asked, "This is my village's fight, it doesn't involve any of your villages."

"It seems that is no longer the case with my village, as the Mizukage has ordered Zabuza-sama and the rest of us to assist your village in this battle" Haku replied, surprising both Naruto and Kabuto at the news.

"Same here" Yugito replied, "Bee-sensei decided that we would help you all out this time. Besides I told you before, if anyone is going to defeat you, it's me, so I won't let you die until I have another rematch."

"You're going to have to get in like Neko-girl, because if anyone is going have a rematch with him it's me!" Mai spoke suddenly before she turned around and grabbed Naruto by the collar and brought him right up to her angry face. "And after what you did to me, you owe me."

"What did I do?" Naruto asked, not sure what the girl meant.

"You damn well know what you did!" the girl shouted angrily, "You help back on our fight, not only do you possess super human strength. But you also have the same kind of affinity for Suiton Ninjutsu as the Nidaime Hokage, not to mention you can use Mokuton. Do you know how humiliating it was to watch your battle with Neko-girl over there and realize how much you had held back on our fight?!"

"Hey, Listen Mai-chan, I can explain, I had a good reason for not using my other abilities" a now nervous Naruto said as he tried to calm the angrily girl down.

"I don't care what your excuses are!" the Ame Kunoichi rounded. "Once this battle is over, you and I are going to have a rematch and this time you're going to use all your abilities. Also don't you dare think I have forgotten what you did after that battle with Neko-girl."

At the mention of the incident, both Naruto and Yugito blush slightly, while an irritated look appeared on Haku's face.

"That was an accident, my body just gave out when I was going to help Yugito-chan up, I swear" Naruto explained.

"Oh, and you just happen to land on her chest when you did?" Mai asked with a disbelieving look.

"It was an accident, I swear" Naruto pleaded who was starting to sweat a little, since Mai was not someone he wanted to piss off.

"Well then, you're going to have to make it up to me, by going out on a date with me" the brunette girl said, causing Naruto and the two girls to look at her in surprise.

"A-A-Ah, date?" repeated Naruto with a slight blush, as he thought about the idea of him and Mai on a date together.

"Yes"

"Are you serious?" Yugito asked as she turned to look at Mai in disbelief at how she just asked Naruto out on a date when they were in a middle of a battlefield.

"Stay out of this Neko-girl; this is between my fiancé and me?" Mai said where she let go of Naruto and turned to Yugito.

"_Fiancé, well this is certainly interesting news?_" Kabuto thought to himself as he watched the drama in front of him unfold.

"He's not your fiancé" a now very irritated Haku said suddenly, "You just declared yourself his fiancé after he defeated you. His own mother refuses to acknowledge you as his fiancé."

"Tsk, as if she has any say in the matter" Mai scoffed. "Naruto-kun and I are clearly a perfect match for one another, as we are clearly the two strongest fighters in the exam."

"Oh really?" asked Yugito with a sarcastic tone, "And that would explain how you only made it to the preliminaries, before you were knockout."

At the mention of this a large tick formed on Mai's head. "That was only because I was facing Naruto-kun, if you and I had fought then, I would have been the one who fought him in the semi-finals. Unlike you, I relay on my _own_ powers, not _another_."

After hearing Mai's retort, a large frown appeared on Yugito's face, knowing what the Ame girl meant. "Heh, that's tough talk coming from someone from one of the _minor_ villages."

"You want to go at it?" Mai asked who was angered at how Yugito just insulted her village, before taking out her two new fans and opening them up. "Well I'm more than ready to go at it of you are Neko-girl. Just don't go crying, when I send you back to Kumo with your tail between your legs."

"Heh, I would be more worried about the Kiri girl here, than you. At least she would be a challenge" Yugito sneered which annoyed not only Mai, but also Haku.

"Excuse me?" Haku asked in an annoyed tone, not liking what Yugito was stating in regards to her.

"Stay out of this Ice Princess; this is between Neko-girl and me" Mai stated

"I do not take orders from you Mai-san" Haku replied, where the three girls proceeded to glare at one another.

It got so bad, that Naruto, who was watching the argument from the side-lines, could've swore that he saw Lightning emanating out of the girls eyes as they glared at one another.

"EEEhhh, can I say something?" Naruto asked, in an attempt to calm the situation.

"What?!" rounded the three girls, where they all turned to Naruto with angry looks on their faces.

"Nothing…never mind" Naruto said meekly. Who was intimated by the looks they were giving him and did not want to be caught in the middle of the spat between the three Kunocihi.

Fortunately though, before things could get out of hand, a sudden distraction came in the form of Baki and a dozen Suna Shinobi, who were all clearly Jonin.

During the battle in the stadium, Baki had notice Naruto leaving and realized that the blonde Senju was going after Sasuke and Gaara. Knowing he needed to keep Naruto away from his student, Baki quickly gathered three teams of Suna Shinobi and went after the Senju heir, and eliminate him before he could reach Gaara.

"Kabuto, what's going on here? Why are you playing around with these kids? You need to deal with that boy before he can get to Gaara and use his Mokuton powers" Baki said angrily.

"Ah Baki-san, excellent timing" Kabuto greeted, "I was actually about to capture Naruto-kun, but as you can see, some unexpected complications appeared. So if you would be so kind, perhaps you and your men here could help me deal with them, that way we can finish things off nice and quick without further trouble."

"Great out of the frying pan and into the fire" muttered Naruto when he saw the Suna Shinobi preparing to attack.

"Remember Baki-san, Orochimaru-sama wants Naruto-san alive, and you would do well to remember that" Kabuto warned.

After hearing Kabuto forbidding him from harming the Senju heir, Baki frowned in anger. He was a veteran Shinobi of many years, who had fought in countless battles and was one of Suna's best, and yet he was being ordered about like some underling by a boy half his age, who was from another village.

But despite his anger, the seasoned Jonin knew when to swallow his pride and that the mission came first. So after quickly getting over his annoyance, Baki ordered his men to attack. Who unleashed a hail of Kunai at the four youths.

Before Naruto or the girls could even try to defend themselves, a massive wooden dome appeared in front of them and blocked the hail of Kunai. This was then followed by several dozen wooden spikes that sprung out of the ground and nearly impaled Kabuto and the Suna Shinobi, forcing them to jump back.

Shortly after, the wooden dome around the Genin retreated back into the ground.

"Nice going Naruto-kun" Mai said as she turned to her "_fiancé_."

"That wasn't me" Naruto replied.

"But then who else could use Mokuton?" Yugito asked in surprise, since last she checked Naruto was the only Mokuton user alive.

"Him" the blonde boy replied, where he then pointed to his sensei Yamato who had appeared in front of the four Genin. "Thanks Yamato-sensei, but what are you doing here?"

"When you and the others left to go after Sasuke-san, I noticed that the fake ANBU Bear and several Oto and Suna Shinobi had gone after you, so I decided to follow you as well to assist."

"Naruto-kun what is going on? How is it that you sensei can perform Mokuton. Is he a member of your Clan?" Haku asked as she turned to her friend in surprise and was joined by both Mai and Yugito, who were just as surprised and confused as she was.

"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself" spoke a new voice.

"That's ditto for me, Yo" said another new voice.

Turning to the direction of the two new voices, the group saw that the two new voices belonged to none other than Zabuza and Killer Bee. Who suddenly appeared next to the four Genin and then joined Yamato in facing against Kabuto and the Suna-nins.

Unsure of the intention of the two Shinobi, Yamato kept his guard up and eyed them carefully.

Seeing how tense Yamato was, the Demon of the Hidden Mist smirked behind his mask as he slung his oversized sword over his shoulder.

"You don't to worry Mokuton boy, I'm not you enemy today, in fact it seems that we are on the same side again. The Mizukage has order me to help you Konoha-nins out, which works out pretty well for me."

"How so" the Mokutin user asked, who was still unsure of the Kiri swordsman.

"Because I owe that brat over there a debt for saving my life and treating my wounds" Zabuza replied as he pointed his thumb back to Naruto. "And I don't like owing debts to anyone, especially to brats like him."

After hearing Zabuza's answer, Yamato just nodded, satisfied with the man's answer, since despite his ruthless reputation. Zabuza had code of honour which would require him to repay his debts to people. It also helped given how Haku was here helping Naruto as well, confirming what Zabuza said about them helping Konoha.

"Excuse me Zabuza-sama, but how did you know I would be here?" asked Haku, who was curious as to how her teacher knew she would be here.

"When Chojuro came back and informed me of that crazy red head's (aka Mei) plan and told me that you took off. I knew that you had gone after the brat here, given how _worried_ you were for him" the masked man answered as he pointed to Naruto again.

When Yugito and Mai heard this, both girls looked at the female ice user, who was blushing slightly at how her sensei mentioned that she was worried for Naruto and did her best to hide her blush from everyone.

Seeing the blush on Haku's face, both Mai and Yugito raised their right eyebrows in suspicion. Naruto on the other hand remained ignorant of the hidden meaning to Zabuza's words and took what he said without any thought.

"And what of you Bee-san, what are your intentions?" Yamato asked as he turned to the Kumo Jonin.

"I'm just being nice, as a friend in need in a friend indeed" Killer Bee rhymed with a cheesy smirk.

"Cut the crap sensei, and stop trying to act all cool" Yugito said with annoyance. "The only reason you decided to help is because you're hoping that by helping Naruto you'll earn some points with his mother."

"WWHHAATT!?" yelled Naruto in anger, before turning to glare at the elder jinchūriki.

"Hey Yo, A Man can dream and be…" said the dark skinned man, only to be stopped in mid-sentence by a murderous glare from Naruto. Who was also leaking a large amount of Killing Intent, so much so, that even Zabuza was impressed by it.

Eventually though Naruto began to calm down and took deep calming breaths, knowing that he had other important matters to deal with first.

"_Calm down Naruto, calm down_" the blonde boy thought to himself, while he continued to glare at Killer Bee. Who actually looked a little nervous from the murderous stare the spikey haired blonde was giving him. "_Now is not the time…FIRST we deal will Gaara and the invasion…THEN! We kill __Bee-sensei._"

After he had finally calmed down, Naruto suddenly turned to Yugito, as he had been wondering something ever since she appeared to help him. "Not that I don't appreciate the help Yugito-chan, but won't you, _Bee_-sensei and the others be in trouble for getting involved in this fight."

"I don't think we will have to wonder about that" the blonde girl replied cryptically, making Naruto wonder what she meant.

-In the Stands-

"DDDIIIEEE!" yelled one masked Oto-nin and he tried to stab his opponent. Only to have his opponent sidestep his stab and the grab his face and slam the poor Shinobi head first through a wall, creating a massive hole in it.

"That takes care of another" murmured the Raikage as he dusted his hands off.

"This is crazy" said C suddenly as he stood next to his leader and deflected an incoming Kunai with his own.

Ever since they appeared in the stands, the Shinobi of Oto and Suna had been specifically targeting them, forcing the three Kumo Shinobi to fight back and defend themselves.

"Damn that Orochimaru!" the Raikage shouted angrily as he smashed his large fist into a Suna-nin's face. "He's not only targeting Konoha, but us as well."

"But why?" asked C, who could not understand why the former Sannin forces would attack them as well.

"He's probably hoping to not only destroy Konoha, but also eliminate the Mizukage and me, weakening both our villages. Allowing Suna and the other villages to take advantage of our weaken state and start a war."

"How can you be so sure?" C asked as he blocked yet another Kunai which was flying towards the Raikage.

"It's the only possible explanation as to why they are attacking us" rounded the bulky Kage as kicked an Oto Shinobi away and sent him crashing into a nearby Suna Shinobi.

But what he and the others didn't know was that the reason why the invading Shinobi were attacking them was because of Killer Bee and his team. Who decided to help Naruto and his village out and attack the Oto and Suna forces, making the enemy Shinobi believe that Kumo was siding with Konoha.

"C where are Bee and the others?" A asked, wanting to know where his brother and his team were.

Using his sensory skills, the blonde Kumo Shinobi quickly located the five Shinobi.

"Samui, Omoi and Karui are all currently with the Daimyo-sama and are protecting him. Bee-dono and Yugito-san are currently outside the stadium in the village."

"Damnit, what the hell are those two thinking? They should have stayed here" growled the annoyed Kage.

"What do we do Boss?" Darui asked as he turned to his village leader, after using his large sword to slash at an incoming Oto-nin.

"C! I want you to head to Samui and her team and help protect the Daimyo-sama."

Nodding to the Raikage, the Kumo medic quickly raced off towards the three Genin and the Lightning Daimyo.

"What about me Boss?" Darui asked.

"You stay with me Darui" the Raikage said as he took off his Kage robes and hat, revealing his hulking build. "For now at least, we're fighting with Konoha…if Orochimaru thinks he can eliminate us all in one fell swoop, he is severely underestimating the Shinobi of Kumo."

After saying this, the muscular Kage exploded with Lightning, which covered his entire body and disappeared in a blinding flash, where he preceded to attack every Suna and Oto Shinobi he could see.

-With Samui and the others-

"Shit this is insane, why the hell are we even getting involved?" Karui asked as he deflected an incoming Shuriken with her Katana. But as she did, an Oto Shinobi moved in on her, and tried to stab her in the chest with his short Tanto blade. Only to be stopped by Omoi, who appeared in front of the enemy Shinobi and used the bottom of his sword handle to stop the man's attack. This then allowed Karui to jump over Omoi and attack the enemy Shinobi on his unguarded side, killing him with one swift slash.

"We're getting involved because Bee-sensei told us so" Omoi replied, before leaping into the air and deflecting several incoming Kunai that were coming in on them from different directions. "So I suggest you stop your complaining and focus on the battle at hand."

"What did you say, you lollipop sucking bastard!" an angry Karui yelled as she turned to her team-mate.

"Both of you two need to cool down as this is neither the time nor the place for your bickering" Samui reprimanded, as she kicked away a Suna Shinobi who tried to sneak up on her.

After Samui kicked the enemy Shinobi way, both Karui and Omoi ceased their quarrelling, realizing that they needed to focus on protecting not only the Lightning Daimyo. But also Samui, who had still yet to recover from her battle with Haku.

Although the blonde girl was not in any serious danger from her injuries, she was still far from a hundred percent, which both her team-mates could see. Given how sluggish her movements were and how tried she looked, even though she did her best not show it.

Once they had found their common ground again, both Omoi and Karui used their finely honed teamwork to assist their team-mate in holding back the enemy and protect the Lightning Daimyo.

-With Kakashi and the Others-

As the battle in the stands continued to rage, Kakashi and the other Jonin-sensei were still fighting fiercely against the invading Shinobi.

During the battle, Kakashi and Gai, once again found themselves back to back to one another, using their advance teamwork, which they had developed after all the years they had spent sparing and fighting alongside one another.

After knocking out another Oto-nin with a strong spinning kick, Gai suddenly notice something in one of the other stands.

"Kakashi look!" Gai called as he pointed to the other stands. "If I'm not mistaken, that's the Mizukage-sama and her bodyguard…and they are attacking the enemy."

"You're right and that's not the only weird thing" said Anko, who suddenly appeared next to the two Jonin and pointed to the stands on the opposite side. "Look over there!"

When the two Jonin looked, they were surprised to see the Raikage and his bodyguard Darui, also fighting the Oto and Suna Shinobi.

"What the hell is going on here?" muttered the former student of Orochimaru, "Why are the Mizukage-sama, the Raikage-sama and their people helping us. I would've thought they would have been the first to skip out the moment things went to hell."

"I don't know, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth" said Kakashi as he lifted up his head band to reveal his Sharingan. "With their help, we can clear out the enemy a lot faster and get to the Hokage-sama and the others sooner."

Nodding to this reasoning, the two other Jonin took off with Kakashi to find more enemies.

-With Naruto and the Others-

At the same time, Kabuto, Baki and the others Suna Shinobi became concerned over the arrival of not only the Raikage's brother, the jinchūriki of the Hachibi (Eight Tails). But also the infamous Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) Momochi Zabuza and a Konoha Shinobi, who seemly could use Mokuton, just like Naruto.

"Another Mokuton user, what's going on here?" Baki asked out loud. Who was becoming more frustrated over everything that was happening today. It was bad enough that Naruto revealed the ability to use Mokuton. But now it seemed that there was a second person who had the ability, "Is he related to the boy as well?"

"No, he isn't, or at least not in the traditional sense" Kabuto said suddenly with a small frown.

"What do you mean?" Baki asked, not understanding what Kabuto talking about.

"Not long ago, Orochimaru-sama told me a story back when he was still with Konoha. During that time Orochimaru-sama abducted sixty new-born infants to use for an experiment, which involved injecting the Shodai Hokage-sama's DNA into them. In the hope of replicating the Shodai-sama's ability to use Mokuton, allowing him to suppress and control Biju" Kabuto answered. "Sadly though Orochimaru-sama was unable to see the results of his experiment, as the Sandaime Hokage-sama discovered what he had done and forced Orochimaru-sama to flee, leading him to believe that all the infants had died."

"But it seems that is no longer the case, isn't that right Yamato-san" Kabuto said with an arrogant smirk, causing Yamato and the others all to frown angrily at the grey haired youth. "_This also certainly explains Naruto-kun's rapid growth and skill in using Mokuton and I'm certain Orochimaru will also find the news interesting as well._"

"_And people call me a demon_" Zabuza thought in revulsion, after hearing what the Snake Sennin had done.

"That's Whack Yo" mutter Killer Bee, who frowned at the news.

"Naruto-kun is this true?" asked Haku as she turned to her blonde friend with a look of shock on horror.

"It's true" Naruto said while glaring angrily at the still smirking Kabuto who seemed quite pleased with himself over digging up Yamato's past.

Seeing this just made the blonde Senju even angrier and wanted nothing more than to smash his fist right into the arrogant Shinobi's face and send him flying again.

"What kind of twisted monster is this Orochimaru?" a disgusted Yugito asked herself.

"_Even Sofu would not stand for such acts_" an appalled Mai thought.

"Naruto!" Yamato said suddenly while still staring at Kabuto, "You need to get going, find Sabaku no Gaara and make sure he does not release his Biju. If he is allowed to, he will do immeasurable about of damage to the village."

"But what about you sensei?" asked Naruto.

"I will stay here and prevent them from following you."

Not liking the idea of leaving his sensei to fight all these enemy alone, Naruto was about to object. But before he could even say a word, Zabuza suddenly spoke.

"You should do want your sensei says brat and get going, we'll stay here and back him up."

"Besides…" said the smirking Demon, "It been was while since I've been in a good fight."

"We've got your back" said Killer Bee with a smirk and thumbs up, before he took out two of his short swords from his back.

Seeing that Killer Bee and Zabuza were going to help, Naruto's concerns eased and he took off after Sasuke and Gaara, but as soon as he took off, Kabuto and the Suna Shinobi attacked.

Acting quickly Yamto created several more wooden spikes, which erupted from the ground, halted the Suna Shinobi advance. All except for Kabuto, who skilfully maneuvered around them and used his **Chakura no Mesu **to cut through any wooden spikes that remained in his way, much to Yamato's shock.

After bypassing Yamato, Kabuto quickly raced after Naruto, with the intent of removing the blonde boy from the equation.

Seeing Kabuto moving towards his student, Yamato attempted to intercept the Konoha traitor before he could reach his student. But before he could act, Baki appeared in front of him and attacked him, preventing him from helping the young Senju.

Zabuza and Killer Bee couldn't help either, as like Yamato; they were busy fighting with the twelve other Suna Shinobi who had maneuvered around the wood user's wooden spikes.

After a minute or so Kabuto caught up to Naruto, but before he could even re-engage him. He was suddenly blown back by a large gust of Wind from Mai who appeared in front of Naruto again, along with Haku and Yugito.

After being blown back by Mai's attack, Kabuto quickly channelled some of his Chakra into his feet, allowing him to stick to the ground, preventing him from being blown back any further.

"Naruto-kun, please proceed on, we will deal with Kabuto-san" Haku said, as she stared coldly at the bespectacled teen.

"Are you serious?" a surprised Naruto asked, "Haku-chan, neither you nor Yugito-chan have recovered fully from your battles and are in no shape to fight again."

"Don't worry about us, we can take him" Yugito said confidently.

"You're not listening to me" Naruto rounded, surprising the three girls, with the way he was speaking to them. "Kabuto is a lot stronger than he let on in the preliminaries; I could barely touch the bastard when we fought. He's a combat medic like me, and if I were to guess, I would say he was at Jonin level at least and is as good if not better than my nee-chan, hell even my Kaa-chan would have a hard time with him."

After hearing this, the three girls were left naturally surprised, not expecting to hear this and they could tell that Naruto was telling the truth, since they could hear the concern in his voice.

"Heh, well this certainly makes things interesting" Mai said to herself, with a grin, since it had been a while since she last fought.

"We appreciate the warning Naruto-kun, but we will not change our minds, so please go" Haku said stubbornly, while watching Kabuto careful for any sudden movements.

"But…" Naruto tried to say, before he was interrupted by Yugito.

"Listen Naruto, you need to get going now!" Yugito rounded as she turned to the younger blonde. "You're the only one that can stop that Psychopath and if you stay here to fight, you may not get to your friends in time."

Knowing that Yugito was right, Naruto greeted his teeth in frustration.

"Fine, I leave him to you, but take these, you're going to need them" Naruto said. Before he pulled out a small pill bottle from his utility belt, and took out two pills from it and handed them to Yugito and Haku. "They're food pills, they should help restore you Chakra reserves and allow you both to fight."

Nodding their thanks, both girls quickly took the pills, and within seconds they felt their bodies resurge with Chakra and energy and were ready to fight again.

After giving the girls the food pills, Naruto wished them luck before taking off.

Seeing Naruto leaving, a large frown appeared on Kabuto's face, as he needed to capture Naruto before he met up with Gaara. But his current situation presented him with an unexpected opportunity, namely Haku and Mai. Both girls had proven themselves to be highly skilled and capably Kunoichi, where even Orochimaru praised their skill. If he could capture them along with Naruto, he knew his master would be very pleased with him, even if he had to kill them, their bodies could reveal some valuable data. Especially Haku's, who was the last of the Yuki Clan and wielded their unique Bloodline limit Hyoton (Ice Release).

"My, my, I had heard that Naruto-kun was quite popular with many of the girls here in Konoha. But it seems that he is just as popular with them in other villages as well…In fact, he seems to hang around with quite a lot of cute girls" Kabuto commented with irritating smirk. "I'm a little envious."

None of the girls of course reacted to Kabuto's comments and continued to stare at the grey haired Shinobi, waiting for him to make a move.

"If you don't mind me asking perhaps you could tell me, which of you is his favourite?" the smirking Oto-nin asked.

"Tsk that's a stupid question" Mai replied, "I'm the obvious choice, especially when compared to these two."

"Pardon me?" Haku asked nicely with a kind smile, all the while a dark murderous aura hung over her, where Kabuto could have sworn he saw the image of a demon in it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yugito asked angrily.

"Heh, isn't it obvious, I'm clearly the best choice" Mai said confidently, as she flipped her ponytail into the air and puffed her chest out showing over her ample bosom. "Besides I am his fiancé after all."

"I believe that is debatable Mai-san, since you are the only one who believes that" Haku retorted with an annoyed look, before turning into an evil looking smirk. "Besides I believe Naruto-kun said he prefers someone who is not so _showy_."

After Haku said this, a large tick appeared on Mai's head, where she quickly turned to glare at the ice user, knowing what she was really saying.

"That's pretty big talk coming from someone like you Ice princess, at least I have something to show, you're barely above a Pettanko."

Blushing angrily at the comment regarding her chest size, Haku glared coldly at Mai, and looked ready to kill the granddaughter of Hanzo. But before anything like that could happen, the two girl's attention suddenly turned to Yugito after she said, "That's the only thing you got going for you."

"You got something to say, Neko-girl" Mai asked angrily as she turned to the Kumo Kunoichi.

"You heard me" retorted the blonde girl coldly, and stared at Mai, unafraid.

"Ha, I knew you had a thing for my Naruto-kun, I just bet you maneuvered yourself on the ground, just so Naruto-kun would land on top of you!" accused Mai.

"I DID NO SUCH THING!" screamed the now red faced Yugito, as the memory and humiliation of what happened at the end of her and Naruto's match was still fresh on her mind.

"Tsk, Like I believe that" scoffed the Ame Kunoichi.

"For once I would have to agree with Mai-san, as you clearly made no effort to avoid him or push him off you when he landed on you" Haku commented as she stared suspiciously at the now red Yugito.

"I'M NOT INTERESTED IN NARUTO-KUN!" yelled the now scarlet Nibi jinchūriki

"Naruto-kun?" said both Haku and Mai said together who now shared the same suspicious look.

"I didn't mean that…it was an accident!" an embarrass Yugito said quickly, as she couldn't believe that she used Kun when she mentioned Naruto. "I don't see him that way, and I couldn't get him off me because I couldn't move my body."

"Well that was convenient" Mai said sarcastically, who didn't believe a word Yugito said.

Standing not far from the girl, an amused Kabuto watched as the three Kunoichi continued to bicker. Soon after the three girls stopped arguing and just glared angrily at one another.

As Kabuto watched the three-way glaring match, he could see a dark menacing aura hovering over the three Kunoichi. He could even have sworn he saw fire emanate from the three girls eyes as they stared angrily at one another.

"_Oh, ho, ho…_" a grinning Kabuto thought, "_Could it be that I landed on the proverbial landmine?_"

At that moment, not that far from the four Shinobi, a certain blonde haired Senju, had a sudden bad case of the chills. As if something bad was happening somewhere and he was involved in it in some way.

Deciding to take advantage of the girls' distraction, Kabuto reactivated his Chakra Scapels and quickly raced forward in an attempt to finish the three Kunoichi off quickly.

But just as he reached them, the three girls quickly jumped into the air and avoided him, before landing several feet away from him.

"Hmmm, I guess I was hoping for too much to think that would work" Kabuto muttered to himself.

"Tsk, Sneaky bastard" Mai mumbled before glancing back at her fellow Kunoichi. "You two just stay back, I handle him myself."

"That would be unwise Mai-san" Haku warned. "Naruto-kun said that Kabuto was extremely dangerous and should not be underestimated."

"I can handle him myself, you two would only get in my way" Mai scoffed, before she raised one of her hand size fans and yelled "**Futon: Kyōfuu** (Wind Style: Strong Wind)!" creating a massive blast of Wind. (2)

When the Wind attack hit him, Kabuto shielded his face with his arms and channelled some of his Chakra to his feet, allowing him to stick to the ground. But even with this, the grey haired Shinobi struggled to hold his ground, due to the strength of the blast, as he was pushed back a few feet and received several cuts on his arms and legs.

After the attack ended and as soon as Kabuto lowered his arms, Mai suddenly appeared kneeling right in front of him and tried to slash his stomach open with the spikes that appeared on the tips of her right hand fan.

Acting fast, Kabuto quickly jumped back and narrowly avoided the deadly slash, where only his shirt was cut, leaving a long horizontal slash across his shirt.

As soon as Kabuto avoided her attack, Mai moved forward and attacked with her two fans, which now both had spikes on their tips and attempted to slash the Konoha traitor again.

But when she tried, Kabuto skilfully avoided her slashes and then kicked her left handed fan out of her hand and jump back a few feet.

Undeterred, Mai continued to go on the offensive and took out and threw two Kunai at the grey haired teen. Who avoided the projectiles before racing up to the Ame Kunoichi and slamming his hand in the middle of the girl's chest with his **Chakra no Mesu**, disrupting her breathing and pushing her away, as well as causing her to drop her other fan.

As she flew through the air the injured Mai, quickly formed several hand-seals and thought "_**Katon: Ryū no Hōkō**_(Fire Style: Dragon's Roar)!" as she expelled a massive stream of fire from her mouth.

Within seconds, the large stream of fire enveloped the Oto spy, who was shocked by how quickly Mai had been able to counterattack after he injured her.

"Heh, He wasn't that tough" the granddaughter of Hanzo thought with a painful smirk, as she was still having some trouble breathing, thanks to Kabuto's attack.

But before she could congratulate herself any further, a pair of glowing arms appeared out of the ground underneath her and grabbed hold of her legs, weakening her muscles.

"_Damnit_" cursed Mai, as she fell to the ground, realizing she had been duped.

Once Mai hit the ground, a smirking Kabuto quickly appeared out of the ground, and pushed up his glasses.

"I have to say, I'm rather impressed with fighting ability and can see why Orochimaru-sama praises your skill" commented Kabuto. "But still, I'm afraid you are not quite at my level just yet."

Just as the grey haired youth was about to deliver the final blow, he suddenly saw several flaming hairballs flying towards him, forcing him to jump away.

After forcing Kabuto away from Mai, Yugito quickly appeared in front of the Ame girl, acting as a shield between her and Kabuto, who landed not far the two girls. But moments after his feet touched the ground Kabuto suddenly felt a sudden chill in their air.

When he turned around, the grey haired teen saw a large ice mirror appear behind him, which Haku emerged from and stabbed him in his lower back with some Senbon needles.

But as soon as she did this, "Kabuto" turned into a wooden log, revealing that he replaced himself and more than likely did it as soon as he felt the chill in the air.

Realizing that she had missed her opponent, Haku quickly moved over to where Yugito and Mai were, and immediately used her needles to treat the damage that was done to her legs.

At the same time Kabuto reappeared in front of the three girls and began to re-evaluate his situation, while Yugito eyed him careful, to make sure he didn't try anything.

"Heh, so much for handling it yourself" remarked Yugito with slight sneer.

"Shut it, Neko girl!" rounded Mai, who was in no mood to deal Yugito, wanting nothing more than to pay Kabuto back for her humiliation.

"Given Kabuto-san's advance skill level, I believe it would be in _all_ our best interests if we put our difference aside, for now at least, and work together to defeat Kabuto-san…wouldn't you agree Mai-san" asked Haku as she treated Mai's legs.

For a moment Mai said nothing, but eventually after much thought the young Kunoichi spoke. "Fine, we'll work together, but don't blame me if you get in the way and get yourself killed, as I have no intention of holding back."

"Funny I was just about to say the same thing to you" Yugito replied with a confident smirk, which Mai returned.

"Then we are in agreement" said Haku, with a pleased look, even though she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of working with Mai. She willing to put her problems with the Ame girl aside for now, since she knew she had bigger problems to deal with.

Zabuza had thought her long ago that Shinobi should try not to take things personally, since sometimes your life may depend on working with a former enemy to defeat a common enemy, who is stronger than both of you.

Shortly after Mai was once again back on her feet and together the three girls prepared to take on the right-hand man of Orochimaru, who frowned when he saw them like this.

"_It seems things have gotten more problematic_" Kabuto thought, knowing that with the three girls now working together, it would make defeating them, that more difficult and time consuming.

Not wanting to waste any more time than he already had, Kabuto quickly raced towards the three teens, who immediately did the same and recommenced their battle.

-With Naruto-

After leaving Kabuto to his three female friends, Naruto made his way through the village hoping to find his friends.

As he jumped across the buildings that were damage from previous fighting, Naruto used a healing jutsu to treat his remaining injuries from his battle with Kabuto.

But once he got over the wall, he found he could not find any tracks or evidence that would tell him where his friends or the Oto-nins went.

Realizing he needed help, Naruto bit his finger and preformed several hand-seals before placing his hand on the ground and yelling "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Summoning Technique)!" causing a large cloud of smoke to appear.

Once the smoke dissipated, a small orange toad was revealed.

"**_Yoh Naruto, What's up? Been a while_**" greeted the small Toad.

"Hey Gamakichi's, look I really need your help" Naruto said quickly, having no time for pleasantries.

"**_What's up? I thought you summoned me to play, since I haven't been summoned for ages_**" Gamakichi complained. "_**I've been stuck looking after Gamatatsu, with no-one else to play with and you don't even bother to give me any snacks****.**_"

"Look, I'm sorry Gamakichi, I'll make it up to you later I promise, but I really need your help, it's an emergency."

"**_What do you need me for?_**" the small toad asked since he wasn't much of a fighter.

"I need your help in finding my friends, they took off after another friend of mine who is after this crazy Suna Shinobi and they are being chased by a large group of enemy Shinobi."

"_**Okay fine I'll help, but once this is all over you have to summon me more often and double the amounts of snacks you usually give me****.**_"

"Done" Naruto said quickly, knowing that he had no time to argue with the orange toad and needed to get to his friends fast. "So can you find them?"

"_**Give me a second**_" replied Gamakichi as he began to sniff the air, since Toad had a strong sense of smell. (3)

"_**Okay, I got the scent of a large group of people all heading in that direction**_" Gamakichi said, where he pointed west.

"Great!" said Naruto before he quickly picked up the little toad and placed him on his head so that he could keep up with Naruto and inform him of any change in directions.

-With Sasuke and the others-

For several minutes Sasuke raced through the Konoha forest after the Suna Siblings, in an attempt to prevent them from escaping. Eventually he started to gain ground, given how Temari and Kankuro were slowed down from carrying Gaara.

As he grew closer he met with Temari, who had stayed behind to stall the Uchiha, but was unable to do so for long, as Sasuke proved to be too much for her to handle, especially given her weaken state.

Before Sasuke could finish her off, Kankuro appeared after turning back to help his sister and told her to take Gaara away and threat his injuries while he held Sasuke off. But before their battle could begin, Shino interceded, telling Sasuke to go after Gaara and Temari while he dealt with Kankuro.

Taking the young Aburame's offer, Sasuke maneuvered past Kankuro and continued after Gaara and Temari and eventually caught up with them and faced off with Gaara again who had recovered from his injury.

But before they could recommence with their battle, Gaara began to wither in pain and then transform.

When the transformation ended, Sasuke was horrified to see that the upper right half side of Gaara's body and changed into a demonic form, where the boy barely looked even human anymore.

Recovering from his shock, Sasuke immediately defended himself from the mad boy's attacks. But despite his best efforts, the young Uchiha proved to be no match for the partially transformed Gaara, who easily blocked all the raven haired boy's attacks and forced him to hide.

Even Sasuke's trump card the **Chidori**, proved to be unable to end crazed jinchūriki, where he was only able to damage him slightly. In fact all it really did was excite the boy and made him become even more bloody thirsty and accelerated his transformation, where he grew a massive tail and attacked.

As the battle continued, Sasuke attacks started to weaken, realizing that he had used the **Chidori** too much and was running low on Chakra. Sasuke tried to conserve his remaining Chakra and fought using his Kunai and Shuriken. But these soon proved to be useless where Gaara began to taunt Sasuke, stating that his hatred was weak and that he should run away like the coward he was.

When the Uchiha heard this, his boiled began to boil, causing Orochimaru's curse seal to activate, where its markings began to spread throughout his body.

Gathering what Chakra he could, Sasuke channelled it into his left hand and used it to form one last **Chidori**, which he used it to deal a serious injury to Gaara, causing his right arm to revert back into its normal form. But this victory was short lived as Gaara's left arm quickly changed into the same long demonic arm as the right. Also the effects of using the curse seal and using most of his Chakra finally took its toll on Sasuke, causing him to collapse on the large tree branch he was standing on.

Seeing that his opponent was unable to move, Gaara leapt towards the young Konoha Genin, with the intent of killing the elder boy. But just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he was stopped by and hail of Kunai and Shuriken, forcing him halt his attack and move away to a nearby tree branch.

When Gaara looked towards Sasuke, he was angered to see that the ones who had stopped his attack had been Ino and Sakura. Who had finally reached them in time to save Sasuke and were sitting next to him to see how injured the boy was.

The two girls were also accompanied by Pakkun, but were without Shikamaru. Who had stayed back when they realized that they were still being followed by the Oto Shinobi that had been chasing them earlier.

When the girls finally took full notice of Gaara, like Sasuke they were horrified to see the Suna boy's new form.

Angered by how he was robbed off his prize by such weaklings, Gaara let lose an inhuman roar of rage, which woke the girls up from the frozen state, allowing them to jump in time to safety with Sasuke, when Gaara attack.

For the next few minutes the two girls and the dog spent their time dodging Gaara's enraged attacks, knowing that one hit could be fatal.

With Sakura busy carrying Sasuke, Ino was the only one capable of attacking, but even then there was little she could do, as no matter how many Kunai and Shuriken she threw. The crazed boy would block them all with his demonic arm and fire them right back at them.

She couldn't even use her **Shintenshin no Jutsu** (Mind Body Switch Technique) as Gaara allowed her no opportunity to even try, with his relentless attacks.

Eventually Ino's luck finally ran out, as Gaara finally managed to hit her with his large demonic arm and sent her crashing into a nearby tree. It was only thanks to the quick reactions of the brave dog Pakkun, who pushed her into a nearby branch as she fell, that saved her from falling to the ground and possibly to her death.

Seeing Gaara take out her friend, Sakura, quickly placed Sasuke down on the branch she was standing on and brought her Kunai up and bravely held her ground to protect Sasuke.

But despite her brave act, she was easily dealt with, where the mad jinchūriki who grabbed hold of her with his long demonic arm and slammed her into the tree behind her, knocking her out and pinning her to the trunk of the tree with one move.

Realizing the danger they were in, Sasuke struggled to get up but his body refused to do so.

"_Damnit, where finished!_" Sasuke thought angrily, as he couldn't believe that it was all going to end here. "_It will take nothing short of a miracle to save us now!"_

Now that he had finally dealt with the _annoyances_, Gaara prepared to finish Sakura off, and planned to deal with Ino and Pakkun next. Leaving Sasuke last, so that could savour killing him, after all the pain he had caused him.

Hidden in the trees, a terrified Temari could only watch in horror, as her younger brother transformed more and more into the monster that had haunted her nightmares for most of her life. Knowing that there was nothing she could do, for as far as she was concerned, the three Genin were as good as dead, no-one could stop Gaara now.

But just as Gaara was about to deliver the fatal blow to Sakura and end her life, a large crescent shape blade of Wind appeared and severed Gaara's demonic hand from the rest of his arm. After which Gaara was sent flying backwards into a large tree several meters away, courteous of a powerful kick to the face from a yellow blur, which suddenly appeared in front of him.

After crashing into the tree, Gaara raised his head to see who had kicked him.

When he looked up, he was surprised to see that the person was none other than Naruto. Who was now standing next to the injured Sasuke and in front of the now knocked out Sakura, with a serious look on his face, (despite having a Toad on his head),as he held his Katana forward.

"Looks like I just made it."

N/A.

Well that's it for another Chapter, Happy Christmas everyone. I hope that enjoyed my Christmas present to all of you, since this is now officially my longest Chapter out of all my stories. I also hope you all enjoyed the invasion and the various fights.

As you can guess the next Chapter will deal with Gaara and Naruto's fight, which I know many of you are looking forward to. It will also have the continuation of not only the battle of Konoha, but also the battle between the Sandaime, the Sannin and the revived Hokages.

Again I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter and I will try to update another of my stories as soon as I can. Since I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish writing up the Chapter to my next story…So Happy Christmas."

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews, (if you're a member of fan fiction), since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as I mentioned before, please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons, especially now, since the poll will close soon.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Although it hasn't been confirmed, it has been hinted that Nawaki was once Orochimaru's student

(2). Now I have notice some of you have commented that Mai is tad too arrogant, this is true, but it is only part of her Character. Given how highly she is regarded in her village, due to her lineage and because of her growing strength, with few being able to challenge her there. Her ego will of course be deflated a good bit further on in the story and she will learn some humility, with the help of Naruto, plus it will help develop her Character.

(3). This little note was mentioned in one of the fillers, can't really remember which one.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Suiton: Mizu Yari **(Water Style Water Javelin): A high level Water Ninjutsu that creates highly pressurized beams of Water. The beams of Water can be created by shooting them from the user's mouth or from a nearby water source, or even from the air if the user is skilled enough to do so. The beams are extremely powerful, where they can travel at great speed and are hard to avoid, also they're strong enough that they can easily pierce right through rock or through steel.

**Omake:**

"My, my, I had heard that Naruto-kun was quite popular with many of the girls here in Konoha. But it seems that he is just as popular with them in other villages as well…In fact, he seems to hang around with quite a lot of cute girls" Kabuto commented with irritating smirk. "I'm a little envious."

None of the girls of course reacted to Kabuto's comments and continued to stare at the grey haired Shinobi, waiting for him to make a move.

"If you don't mind me asking perhaps you could tell me, which of you is his favourite?" the smirking Oto-nin asked.

"Tsk that's a stupid question" Mai replied, "I'm the obvious choice, especially when compared to these two."

"Pardon me?" Haku asked nicely with a kind smile, all the while a dark murderous aura hung over her, where Kabuto could have sworn he saw the image of a demon in it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yugito asked angrily, after which the three girls erupted in a large argument over which of them Naruto liked more.

Just when it looked like an all-out of Kunoichi brawl was about to erupt between the three girls, a voice suddenly spoke.

"Well ladies if any of you are interested, I'm available?" Kabuto offered, while given what he believed to be a charming smile.

This was of course with a large amount of Killer Intent from the three girls, who all gave him a deadly glare and emanated the same dark murderous aura, making the grey haired teen feel very small as they towered over him.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" the three girls shouted together. After which Yugito fired a massive blast of fire, Mai created a large blast of Wind and Haku unleashed a hail of Senbon needles.

The three attacks then combined together to create a gigantic flaming vortex, filled with flaming Senbon needles.

Seeing the massive fire attack heading towards him, the bi-spectral Shinobi could only sigh and muttered "Figures" before the attack massive attack enveloped him.

Ah thus ended the life of Yakushi Kabuto, who realized first hand why one should never get in the middle of a fight between three pissed off Kunoichi's.


	32. Chapter 32

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty-two: No Sacrifice, No Victory!**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"**_Biju/Summon talk/Thinking Jutsu_**"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_Realizing the danger they were in, Sasuke struggled to get up but his body refused to do so._

_"**Damnit, where finished**!" Sasuke thought angrily, as he couldn't believe that it was all going to end here. "**It will take nothing short of a miracle to save us now!"**_

_Now that he had finally dealt with the final "annoyance", Gaara prepared to finish Sakura off, and planned to deal with Ino and Pakkun next. Leaving Sasuke last, so that could savour killing him, after all the pain he had caused him._

_Hidden in the trees, a terrified Temari could only watch in horror, as her younger brother transformed more and more into the monster that had haunted her nightmares for most of her life. Knowing that there was nothing she could do, for as far as she was concerned, the three Genin were as good as dead, no-one could stop Gaara now._

_But just as Gaara was about to deliver the final blow to Sakura and end her life, a large crescent shape blade of Wind appeared and severed Gaara's demonic hand from the rest of his arm. After which Gaara was sent flying backwards into a large tree several meters away, thanks to a powerful kick to the face from a yellow blur, which suddenly appeared in front of him._

_After crashing into the tree, Gaara raised his head to see who had kicked him._

_When he looked up, he was surprised to see that the person was none other than Naruto. Who was now standing next to the injured Sasuke and in front of the now knocked out Sakura, with a serious look on his face, (despite having a Toad on his head), as he held his Katana forward._

_"Looks like I just made it."_

-With Naruto and the others-

"N-N-Naruto!?" said Sasuke in surprise after seeing the blonde boy.

Glancing at Sasuke and seeing his weaken stated, Naruto just nodded before glancing over at Sakura and then Ino, who were both knocked out.

Seeing this Naruto growled, since if there was one thing he couldn't stand it was seeing his friends hurt.

"Sasuke, can you move?"

"I think so" grunted Sasuke as he slowly pushed himself up.

"Good, because I need you to free Sakura and then get Ino and protect them both, since they might get caught in the crossfire when I attack Gaara."

"Naruto you can't be serious?! That guy isn't normal!" Sasuke warned, while looking at Gaara who was staring at them. "Even you can't take him on by yourself given the state your in."

Looking at Naruto, Sasuke could tell that Naruto wasn't exactly a hundred precent, given how he was panting little, indicating that he had been running at top speed to get here in time. Also given Naruto's state after his last battle, the Uchiha wondered if the blonde had any Chakra left to fight with.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, just protect the girls" Naruto said before taking Gamakichi off his head and putting him next to Sasuke.

"Sorry Gamakichi, but it's probably safer if you stay here with Sasuke, you might get hit when I start fighting."

"**_Okay Naruto, just make sure you stay safe, since you owe me some snacks_**" said the small Toad, "**_Oh and give that creepy guy one from me._**"

Smirking at this Naruto just nodded, before jumping over to another tree, ensuring that Gaara's attention was focused on him and that he wouldn't go after the others.

Watching Naruto move away from Sasuke and onto a large tree branch to his far right, Gaara turned to face the young Senju heir. Who just stared coldly at him, without as much as a hit of fear in his eyes.

Seeing this, the young Suna Genin grinned before breaking into a crazed laugh, "Heh, Heh, Heh, hahahahaha…Yes, at last you've finally appeared. I knew you would eventually come. The Uchiha proved to be entertaining for a time, but now at last you've come…and the true battle can finally begin!"

After saying this, Gaara then allowed his Sand to cover his entire upper body and took on an ever more demonic looking appearance than before, shocking Naruto and the others. The only part of his body that was not covered in sand was his legs.

"_This should prove to be interesting_" thought Sai, who had been following Naruto since he left the stadium and was hiding in a large tree and prepared to watch the battle.

After getting over his shock of seeing Gaara's new appearance, a now frowning Naruto sheathed his sword.

Seeing this Gaara also frowned, "What are you doing, don't tell me you're planning to run away?"

"Not on your life" Naruto replied angrily, "You told me a while back that you wanted to see me angry again. Well congratulations, you've got your wish, as nothing pisses me off more than when people start hurting my friends!"

-Enter Naruto OST- Heavy Violence-

After Naruto said this, the two young Shinobi stared angrily at one another and prepared to attack.

Naruto made the first move, within a blink of an eye the blonde disappeared and reappeared right in front of the Suna Genin and delivered a super charged punch to his face, sending the red headed boy flying backwards.

"_Fast!_" was all Temari could think, who watching from her hiding spot, after which she saw Naruto appear on Gaara's right side, while he was still in mid-air, and sent his crashing right through a tree with powerful kick.

As Gaara was smashed through the tree, Naruto reappeared behind Gaara in mid-air, and once again hit him with another powerful kick, that sent the boy flying in the opposite direction and into another tree.

"_H-H-How is possible? Gaara is actually being overpowered!_" thought Temari in shock. "_Is this the power of the Senju Clan?_"

"What's wrong Gaara? Had enough already, because I'm only getting warmed up" Naruto yelled as he landed on a tree directly in front of Gaara. Who was slowly getting back up on his feet and glaring angrily at Naruto.

"Get up!" the blonde boy yelled. "I'm not done with you yet! You're going to pay for what you did to my friends!"

"_Damn him, my sand can barely protect me from his attacks_" Gaara thought angrily as his sand slowly reformed itself.

Not willing to let Naruto hammer away at his defence with his super human strength. Gaara quickly opened his mouth and fired a massive blast of Wind at Naruto. Who quickly drew his Katana and used his **Surasshu-fū** (_Wind Slash_) to cut right through Gaara's Wind attack, causing it to dissipate, and fly straight towards Gaara.

But before the fast moving attack could hit the Suna boy, Gaara jumped into the air, causing the Wind blade to slice right through the tree.

After avoiding the attack, Gaara then extended his demonic sand arm forward at Naruto in an attempt to grab him.

Seeing this, Naruto immediately re-sheathed his Katana and side-stepped Gaara's arm and grabbed hold of it with both his arms and used his super strength to swing the Suna jinchūriki around and into another tree.

After slamming Gaara into another three Naruto then formed a single hand-seal and used the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique) to create several replicas of himself and had them attack his opponent.

As the clones leapt forward and flew towards the large dust cloud that formed around Gaara, after he was slammed into the tree. They suddenly heard Gaara yell "**_Fūton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa _**(Wind Style: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough)!" from within the dust cloud.

After which a massive blast of Sand and Wind erupted, blowing away the dust cloud and destroying the clones in one go.

Once clones were all gone Gaara then yelled "**Suna Shuriken** (Sand Shuriken)!" as he swung his arms and fired dozens of Sand shaped Shurikens from his arms.

Acting fast Naruto quickly re-drew his Katana again and used the **Hien no Jutsu** (Flying Swallow technique) to cover his Katana with Wind Chakra and used it destroy the Sand Shuriken as they were about to hit him.

When all the Sand Shuriken were dealt with, Naruto then jumped towards Gaara, who unleashed yet another massive blast of Wind from his mouth and fired it at Naruto. Who then used his **Surasshu-fū** technique to cut through the Wind attack again, and sliced through the large tree branch Gaara had just be standing on, (before he was force to jump away), causing it to fall to the ground.

Seeing Gaara evade his attack Naruto then quickly created another clone of himself and used it to throw him at Gaara. Who was still flying in mid-air and could not avoid Naruto's sword slash, which severed Gaara's tail from him, causing it to revert into Sand and fall to the ground.

After cutting Gaara's tail off, Naruto then quickly propelled himself off the side of a nearby tree and delivered a powerful spinning kick into Gaara's back, damaging his jinchūriki form again and smashing him through two large trees. Before being punched again in the face by the clone Naruto made earlier and being sent flying backwards into yet another tree.

"**_Guwa_****_!_**" cried Gaara in pain as be crashed into the tree.

"Gaara!" cried Temari.

"Looks like Senju is holding nothing back" Sai muttered to himself, who was rather impressed with how well Naruto was dealing with Gaara.

"**_Those were some nice moves the kid just pulled_**" commented Pakkun as he watched the battle unfold. "_So that's the Naruto kid Kakashi has been telling me about, he sure wasn't kidding when he said the kid was a powerhouse like his mother._"

"**_Alright Naruto, sock it to him_**" cheered Gamakichi.

"_Unbelievable, it took everything I had just to wound Gaara, and that was just when he was partially transformed_" thought Sasuke in disbelief. "_And yet Naruto is knocking him around like he was some kind of ball and damaging him in ways I never could._"

"**_Hey duck butt head, didn't Naruto tell you to do something?_**" Gamakichi said, as he looked up at the Uchiha, who was still watching Naruto fight Gaara.

Realizing that the little toad was right, Sasuke slowly made his way over to Sakura and freed her from the large sand arm. But before he went over, he spared an angry glare at the small orange toad for what he just called him.

After being smashed into the tree a badly injured Gaara slowly got back on to his feet, his jinchūriki form was already in a sorry state and was struggle to reform due to all the damage he took. Had the sand not absorbed the majority of Naruto's attack, Gaara was certain his body would be in shambles.

Just as his jinchūriki form had reformed, he heard Naruto's voice above him, shouting out "**Suiton: Mizurappa** (Water Style: Wild Water Wave)!"

When Gaara looked up, he saw Naruto standing up on a large tree overlooking him and spewing out a large stream of Water at him.

At the same time a second Naruto appeared on Gaara's left and spat severed large blasts of Water at him from his mouth.

When the attacks hit, Gaara was able withstand them thanks to the sand that covered his body. But when the attacks ended, the Suna Genin could not help but wonder what the young Senju was up to. Since Water attacks of those levels would not hurt him in his current form, the most they could do was wet his sand.

He of course soon got his answer when a third Naruto appeared in front of him and hit him right in the stomach with an enhanced punch. But the big difference in this punch was the effect it had, where it not only sent Gaara flying through three trees this time. But it also destroyed most of the sand around his body and crippled him.

"_Gaara…! No, he's seriously hurt!_" Temari thought fearfully as she watched her younger brother smash through three trees and crash into a fourth.

"**_Unyagh_!**" cried Gaara in pain from the devastating punch. "**_What's going on…? What happened…? How did he break through my sand so easily? Why didn't it absorb the force of the punch?_**"

"Did you really think that I spent all my time training in just my Mokuton Bloodline limit and Kenjutsu?" Naruto asked as he and his two clones stood on a large tree opposite Gaara, looking down on him. "I also spent the past month coming up with a way to defeat you  
_ultimate_ defence. Your sand is fast and strong, especially when it is compressed. But that's only when it's dry, when its wet, it's no better than mud."

"_Impossible…!_" a stunned Temari thought, "_He actually found a way to defeat Gaara's sand defence and make it worthless!_"

"_Not bad for a blonde_" Sai thought to himself.

"Now I'm going to end this!" Naruto said and he started to form a long series of various hand-seals, which Temari recognised from watching Naruto's battle with Yugito. At the same time Naruto started to gather a large amount of moisture from the air and the trees, causing many of the surrounding trees to dry up and wither.

When he finished, Naruto then yelled "**Suiton:** **Suiryūdan** **no Jutsu** (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" where a massive Dragon made out of Water formed around him and then headed straight for the injured Gaara.

At the same time Naruto's two clones, who had been busy gathering their Chakra into their hands and converting it into Lightning, released their Lightning into the Water Dragon and yelled "**Raisuiryūdan** (Lightning Water Dragon Bullet)**!**"

From his position, the injured Gaara, (who could not move thanks to his injuries), watched in horror as the massive Lightning enhanced Water Dragon flew towards him at immense speed, and struck him with tremendous force. That sent him through the tree and crashing into the ground with incredible force, causing a large explosion that covered much of the ground bellow in dust.

-End Naruto OST- Heavy Violence-

After a few minutes the dust finally settled, showing Gaara laying the middle of a large crater, conscious but unable to move. Thanks to his injuries and because his body was numb from the Lightning that had run through his body when he was hit by the attack.

"_Gaara!_" a worried Temari thought when she saw her brother's state. "_How is this possible? How can anyone? Let alone a kid like him, be able to completely overpower Gaara in his current form? It should be impossible._"

"**_Nice one Naruto!_**" cheered Gamakichi.

"_How does he keep doing it?_" thought Sasuke in awe, as he carried the now free Sakura on his back, and went over to the unconscious Ino.

"**_Unbelievable, I don't believe my eyes_**" muttered Pakkun, (who was standing next to Ino), after seeing Naruto's last attack.

"_This Guy_" Gaara thought painfully as he stared up at Naruto, "_Just what is he, where does he get all this strength and power from?_"

After thinking this Gaara then remembered what Naruto said to him when he confronted him several weeks back."

-Enter Flashback-

"What is your goal?" Gaara asked.

"What?" replied the Senju heir.

"Why do you seek power?"

For a moment Naruto said nothing and just stared back at Gaara, unsure why he had asked him this. But eventually he spoke, "I want to become strong because I want to protect the people I care about."

-End Flashback-

After remembering Naruto's words from back then and remembering how Naruto said he was going to make him pay for attacking his friends. Gaara then started to remember his own childhood, and how people feared and hated him, how he was always alone with no friends, his only companion being the sand that protected him, like a mother's embrace.

Remembering the pain and anguish he suffered when growing up, he also remembered how Naruto said he pitied him when he said that he had no-one he cared about or would risk his life for.

Angered by Naruto's words and the memories of his harsh childhood, Gaara swore to himself that he would not lose to someone like Naruto, who believed that by protecting others was the source of strength. He would not lose to someone who had no hatred and fought for others instead of himself.

At the same time Naruto ordered one of his two clones to jump forward and a finish Gaara off.

"_There's no way…There is now way…_" Gaara thought over and over in his head, as he saw the clone falling towards his with his fist raised, before shouting. "THERE'S NO WAY I WILL LOSE TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU!"

In that moment a massive amount of sand suddenly exploded from the ground underneath Gaara and flew straight into the air, destroying the clone that was about to attack Gaara. After which a massive cloud of smoke suddenly erupted, forcing Naruto, his clones and everyone else to move back.

When the smoke cleared, they saw Gaara's fully released form, which towered over them like a small mountain.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked himself as he carried to two girls and stood next to Pakkun, who knew this wasn't good.

"_He's done it…_" Temari thought fearfully, "_He's finally unleashed his perfect form._"

"_This is not good_" Sai thought with a large frown, where he prepared to move away.

"_Fuck!_" the Senju heir cursed when he saw Gaara's new form. "_That must be the released form of his Biju…damnit…this is exactly what I hoped wouldn't happen. I should've finished him off sooner when I had the chance. There's no way I can use _**_Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu _**_(Hokage Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands), even if I was at a hundred precent, it just too big…Looks like I have no other choice._"

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried as he turned to the raven haired Uchiha, "Take Sakura-chan and Ino-chan and get as far back as you possibly can, if you stay here your likely to get killed."

"Naruto! Don't tell me you're actually thinking of taking on that thing?!" Sasuke yelled back, "Not even you could possible beat something that enormous; we all need to get out of here now!"

"This is no time to argue, just go, I'll be fine" Naruto replied before turning to another direction. "I suggest that you get out of here too…fan-girl!

Surprised by how Naruto knew she was nearby, the Kazekage's daughter remained silent and before she could say anything. She saw Naruto and is last remaining clone bite their right thumbs and started to perform a set of familiar hand-seals.

-Enter Naruto OST- Sannin Battle theme (Original)-

"_Summoning?!_" Temari realized, "_Don't tell me he's actually going to try and fight Gaara? There's no way he can summon anything that is large or powerful enough to stand up to Gaara in his perfect form…it's not possible!_"

"_What the hell are you doing Naruto?_" Sasuke thought who also recognised the hand set.

"_Could he actually be trying to summon what I think he's going to summon?_" Sai muttered to himself when he saw the two Naruto's forming hand-seals

"If this is how you want to do things Gaara, that's fine by me…let's take this fight to the next level!" the two Naruto's shouted together as they looked up at their adversary.

At the same time Naruto made contact with the Kyubi, "_Alright you stupid fox, it's rent time, I need your Chakra and I am going to need twice the amount of Chakra you gave me when I first used it._"

"**_And why exactly should I help you?_**" asked Kyubi with a slight growl after Naruto called him stupid.

"_Because if you don't then he'll probably kill me, and I'll be sure to take you with me_" Naruto replied. "_So tell me __what would bother you more? Dying along with a lowly human or having "**your**" host losing to the host of a weakling like __Shukaku? Since that is basically what would happen, should I lose this fight?_"

At the mention of losing to Shukaku, Naruto could hear the Kyubi growling angrily, unaware of the small smirk that appeared on the blonde's face. Who was silently congratulating himself on playing on the fox's ego, after hearing the Kyubi refer to Shukaku as a weakling in previous conversations. It was obvious that the fox had very little respect for his fellow Biju; hence the idea of losing to him in any way would greatly aggravate the nine-tailed demon.

"**_Very well boy, I will give you want you need, just make sure you do not lose to that worthless fool Shukaku!_**" the Kyubi replied before sending Naruto his Chakra.

After receiving the Kyuubi's Chakra and finishing their hand-seals. The two Naruto's slammed their hands onto the tree branch they were standing on and yelled "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Summoning Technique)!"

After slamming their hands onto the tree branch, the surrounding area was filled by two gigantic clouds of smoke, forcing the people below to once again move back.

As the smoke slowly began to blow away, two gigantic figures could be made out. But once the smoke finally blew away, they became fully visible, and revealed that Naruto and his clone had summoned a giant Slug and Toad, who were equal in size to Gaara's current form.

But the thing that shocked most people was that these were not just any giant Slug and Toad. These were the leaders of their respected tribes, the Slug Queen Katsuyu and the great Chief Toad Gamabunta, the personal summonses of the Slug Princess Tsunade and Toad Sage Jiraiya.

"_Are those…?_" a shocked Sasuke thought, when he saw the two summonses, recognising them from the descriptions he had read about them from books on the Sannin.

"_But how…?_" thought a wide eyed Temari. Who like Sasuke recognised the two summonses from the stories she had heard from veteran Shinobi in her village about the Densetsu no Sannin (_Legendary Three Ninja_).

"**_It's amazing that he summoned just one of them…let alone the two of them in a situation like this_**" said Pakkun in awe.

"Incredible" muttered a surprised Sai, who had a shocked expression on his face, which was extremely rare for anyone to see, given his ROOT training. "_Danzo-sama will indeed be interested to know this._"

-End Naruto OST- Sannin Battle theme (Original)-

"_Naruto…_" Sasuke thought is disbelief over what the blonde had just done. "_How do you keep doing things like this?_"

At the same time, as he looked up at his blonde comrade, standing up on Gamabunta's head. Sasuke could not help but be reminded of an image he had once seen of the massive Toad, with the Yondaime Hokage standing on his head, just like Naruto. This image grew even stronger, when Sasuke thought on the resemblance between Naruto and the former Hokage, which was only highlighted by the coat Naruto was wearing. In fact if Sasuke hadn't known any better he would have believed that the two were related.

"_What the hell is this guy?_" a worried Temari thought, who couldn't believe that Naruto summoned two such enormous summonses to fight for him.

-In Konoha-

Currently inside the village a massive three headed Snake rampaged through the village, destroying, entire buildings and swatting away any brave Konoha Shinobi that dared to try and get in its way.

Just when the massive summon was about to crush several Konoha Shinobi who had tried to block its path. The three Shinobi suddenly saw several dozen chains made out of Chakra erupted out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the Snakes body, pinning it to the ground.

When the three Shinobi turned around they saw Kushina standing not far from them, with her hand touching the ground.

"Uzumaki-san?" said one of the Shinobi, who recognised the red headed Jonin.

"Don't move" yelled Kushina, who could see the giant Snake struggling and trying to break free.

Not wanting to give it a chance, Kushina quickly held out her hand and fired three more Chakra chains with spike tips, which flew through the air and went underneath the Snake's chins and then up through their heads, killing the three headed creature instantly and causing it to puff away.

Once the Snake was dealt with, the three Jonin quickly thanked the red headed woman for saving them. After which the four of them jumped onto the rooftop of a nearby building and then made their way to another one of the giant Snakes. But as they leaped across the buildings, Kushina suddenly heard one of the other Shinobi speak.

"What the hell are those things?" said one of the Shinobi as he pointed to the distance to three massive figures.

When she turned, a look of concern appeared on Kushina's face, as she realized who and what the three large figures were. Even though it was hard to tell given how far they were, she could still just make out their appearance.

"The large one to the left is Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall)**, **_jinchūriki_of theIchibi no Shukaku (The One-tailed Shukaku), in his fully released form. The other two facing him are the Chief Toad Gamabunta and the Slug Queen Katsuyu."

"Wait, does that mean that Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama are facing off against Suna's _jinchūriki?" asked one of the other Shinobi._

_"No replied Kushina, "Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama are both fighting with the Sandaime Hokage-sama at the stadium."_

_"Then who summoned them?" asked the same Shinobi, since last he checked only Jiraiya and Tsunade could summon those two summonses._

_"My student…Naruto."_

"Naruto…?" the Shinobi asked in confusion, not really understanding the female Uzumaki, until it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. "Wait…as in Senju Naruto, Tsunade-sama's son!"

After Kushina nodded in confirmation, the three Shinobi jaws hit the ground and then went back a fourth to the three large creatures and Kushina.

"But how is that possible?" asked the third Shinobi, who was the first to come out of his stupor. "I understand the boy may be gifted, but still to be able to summon one such as Gamabunta-sama or Katsuyu-sama…it goes far beyond normal Shinobi skill, let alone summing both of them."

"Trust me, Naruto is anything but normal" said Kushina. "Besides it can be no-one else, since as I said, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama are with the Hokage-sama and Naruto is the only person who has ever been allowed to form a contract with both the Slugs and the Toads."

When Kushina finished the three Shinobi were left stunned, since it was unheard of for anyone, let alone Genin to form a contract with not one but two separate summons, especially ones of such size.

As the three Shinobi tried to sort this new information out, Kushina stared at the three large beings. After seeing Gaara in his release form, Kushina wanted nothing more than to race over and help her student. But she if she did, there would be no-one left to stop the Snakes from destroy the village, since more of Konoha's Shinobi were busy getting the civilians to the shelters and holding back the enemy.

There was also the fact that she was too far away to be of any use and by the time she got to Naruto and the others it would be too late to do anything.

This left her with only one option, to continue her mission in stopping the Snakes and trust that Naruto, Gamabunta and Katsuyu would be able to stop the mad _jinchūriki._

_"Come you three, stop day dreaming, we have overgrown reptiles to deal with" Kushina yelled, waking the three Shinobi from their stupors and causing them to follow after her, as she raced off to deal with the next Snake._

_-With Naruto-_

After summoning Gamabunta and Katsuyu, Naruto, who was atop Gamabunta's head, fell to his knee panting heavily.

Like many time before, using the Kyubi's Chakra had left its toll on the young Senju's body, leaving him weak and exhausted. Even with the food pill that he took early, Naruto found himself feeling extremely tired and worn, not even his clone was immune from the side-effects of using the Kyuubi's Chakra. Given how it disappeared in a puff of smoke, shortly after summoning Katsuyu.

But despite the side-effects of using the Kyubi's Chakra, Naruto was still quite pleased with himself, since with Gamabunta and Katsuyu fighting with him, he could take on Gaara in his current form.

"**_Yes, Yes, YES!_**" Gaara shouted excitedly in his new form, followed by an insane laugh, after seeing Naruto summon the two massive summonses. "**_You are the perfect pray… even now, your power continues to grow and you continue to challenge me. When I kill you, I will truly have proven my existence to the world!_**"

"**_What the hell is going on here?_**" spoke Gambunta suddenly, before looking up at Naruto on his head.

"**_You again, what the hell do you want?_**" grumbled the Toad Chief.

"**_Hello Naruto-dono, I am pleased see you again, do you require my assistance?_**" the Slug Queen asked after turning to look at Naruto.

"Hey" Naruto greeted with a tired smile and way, "Sorry to bother you two, but I need both your help to defeat this guy."

"**_Huh?_**" said Gamabunta, before he and Katsuyu looked over at Gaara.

"**_Suna no Shukaku_** (Shukaku of the Sand)" said the large Toad Boss with a frown, recognising the large Biju.

"That's him, I fighting his host Gaara, who transformed into this, which is why I need your help" answered Naruto, believing the two summonses would help him.

"**_Forget it_**" replied Gamabunta suddenly.

"WHAT?!" shouted Naruto, not believing that the large Toad just told him that he was abandoning him in his hour of need.

"**_Why the hell should I fight a guy like him?_**" asked the Toad Chief, "**_It's just plain stupid, only an idiot would take him head on_**."

"Why? Because you told Ero-sennin, Kaa-chan and the others that you would make me one of your subordinate and help me out when I am in trouble!" Naruto yelled as he stood up in anger and started to stamp his foot furiously on the large Toad's head. "A Boss is supposed to help his subordinate out when they are in trouble, isn't that your morale code!"

"**_I'll admit, I did say that I would make you my subordinate_**" replied Gamabunta, acknowledging that he said that. "**_But, we still haven't had a drink yet._**"

"Are you're crazy? I can't drink alcohol, I'm only twelve, I'm not fucking twenty!" cried Naruto. "You're just making excuses, so that you won't have to help me!"

"**_Hmph_**" said the large Toad, not denying the accusation.

"**_You need not worry Naruto-dono, I shall assist you in your battle_**" said Katsuyu.

"Really?" asked Naruto happily as he turned to the giant female Slug.

"**_Of course, you're my summoner and I am obligated to help you when you call._**"

"**_Tsk, like I said only an idiot would_**" grumbled Gamabunta.

"Hey, don't insult Katsuyu-san, she at least knows something about loyalty and honour and is going help me" Naruto retorted angrily, forgetting how tired he was, and stamped his foot on the large Toad's head again.

"**_Watch your mouth brat!_**" Gamabunta shouted, "**_Don't you dare insult my honour, if I wanted to I could go back home and let you fall to your death._**"

"Oh yea, I dare you to try!" Naruto replied before jumping onto the Chief Toad's head and sticking out his tongue and saying "NNaahh!"

This action of course infuriated the Toad Boss, since Naruto could really get under his skin at times.

Luckily before things could get further out of hand, Katsuyu suddenly spoke, gaining both Naruto and Gamabunta's attention.

"**_I will admit that fighting someone like Shukaku would be extremely difficult, even for one such as me_**" spoke the Slug Queen. "**_But if you were to help Gamabunta-san, our chances of victory would greatly increase._**"

"**_Pfff…And why exactly should I help this kid, especially after all the cheek he's given me?_**" asked the Toad Boss.

"**_Oh come on Pops don't be like that, help Naruto out_**" spoke Gamakichi, who suddenly appeared on top of Naruto's head. "**_Even you said that Naruto had a lot of potential like his pops._**"

"**_Gamakichi! What the hell are you doing here?_**"

"**_I was board, and I hadn't see Naruto in a while, so I came out to play with him_**" replied the small before pointing over to Gaara.

"**_But anyway, you see that guy over there; he was picking on me!_**"

"**_What did you just say?_**" Gamabunta asked angrily, while glaring at Gaara. Since if there was one thing the Boss Toad would not stand for, it was someone picking on his kids.

"**_Yea, he tried to squash me more than once. If it wasn't for Naruto protecting me from him… he would have_**" replied the small orange Toad with a wink to Naruto.

Seeing the wink, Naruto nodded back his thanks and smiled, he also made a note to triple the amount of snacks he would give Gamakichi later.

"**_I see, okay then_**" Gamabunta said as he slowly drew out his dagger, not knowing that he had been tricked into the fight by his son and Naruto. "**_Kid! As of this moment I officially accept you as my subordinate._**"

"**_Katsuya! Can I count of your help?_**"

"**_Of course!_**" the Slug Queen replied with a nod.

"**_Good_**" said the Chief Toad before turning back to Gaara,

"**_You're going to pay for what you did…you damn flunky!_**" yelled Gamabunta before jumping forward to attack Gaara.

"**_Hang tight brat!_**" shouted Gamabunta as he moved forward with tremendous speed and cut Gaara's right arm off.

"Nice one Chief!" yelled Naruto as he did his best to stay on the massive Toad, when he crashed landed back onto the ground. But after cutting Gaara's arm off, Gamabunta also lost his dagger, where it crashed to the ground and caused a small shockwave near Sasuke and the others. Who were watching the battle from below.

As soon as Gamabunta had severed Gaara's arm, Katsuya made he own attack, where she spat out a large blob of acid at Gaara. Who blocked it his other remaining arm, causing a large portion of it to vaporize from the acid, before reforming again. After which Gaara then extended his massive arm forward and wrapped it around the large Slug and attempted to squeeze her like a zit.

But before this could happen, Katsuya exploded into a thousand small slugs, allowing her to escape from Gaara's hold and move over to Gamabunta and Naruto, before reforming again.

"**_As I feared this will not be an easy battle_**" said the female Slug.

"**_You think?_**" retorted the Boss Toad, "**_That guy's body was so heavy I could barely cut through his arm with my dagger, which I lost now._**"

"**_We'll have to end this battle quickly, before we destroy the surrounding landscape_**" said Katsuya.

"Hey, Gamabunta-san, Katsuya-san, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan and Sasuke are down there, so please be careful when you're fighting. If you can, could lure him away from here, that way they're less likely to get caught in the fight."

"**_Sakura-chan, Ino-chan?_**" asked Gamabunta, noticing the suffixes Naruto was using when mentioning the two girls. (1)

"**_There's his "this" pops_**" said Gamakichi as he held up his pinkie finger. "**_Naruto is quite the player here._**"

Hearing this, the large Toad smirked in an amusement.

"**_Ah yes, I see, Tsunade-sama has mention to me several times, that she is rather vexed with the number of young girls Naruto-dono has relationships with_**" commented Katsuya.

"I am not having a relationship with anyone!" yelled an annoyed Naruto, who was blushing slightly from the state remark.

"**_Heh, Heh, Heh, come on brat don't be like that_**" said Gamabunta with a large smirk. "**_Jiraiya has told me all kinds of things involving the number of girls he has seen you hang around with. Just tell us which one of them is you favourite?_**"

"They're just my friends!**_"_** shouted a now irritated Naruto, "And I don't have any favourites! So don't believe anything that Ero-sennin says, knowing him and his perverted mind, he just made those stories up for those stupid books of his."

"**_Oh come on Naruto, there's not wrong with being popular with girls_**" teased Gamakichi.

"Can we please focus on the battle now and away from my personal life?" cried a frustrated Naruto, who was two steps away from tossing the small toad into the air for causing all this.

Before any of the summonses could respond, Gaara suddenly started shouting.

"**_Interesting, Interesting… Not bad Senju Naruto! Not Bad at all!_**"

"_Shit!_" thought Temari, when she heard Gaara, knowing what was to come next and decided to move further away from the battle.

At the same time, the real Gaara appeared on top of his Biju's form head.

"You have proven to be a much more entertaining opponent than I had imagined, Senju Naruto" said Gaara when he appeared. "As a reward, I shall show you the true strength of the Suna no Keshin (Incarnation of Sand)."

"**_Watch it brat, that kid is about to unleash his Biju and its true power_**" said Gamabunta when he saw Gaara preforming a single hand-seal.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked not fully understanding what the Chief Toad was saying.

"**_When the host of Shukaku is awake, the Biju's true power is limited, which is why his hosts sleep so little. It also prevents him from eating away their personality. But if they were to sleep, then his true power would be released… and if I'm right, that kid is planning on using the Tanuki no Jutsu_** (Force Sleep Technique) **_to unleashing_** **_Shukaku._**"

"**_Gamabunta-san is correct, we should prepare for what is to come_**" said Katsuya with concern in her voice.

"_Crap, this isn't good_" Naruto thought before he suddenly heard Gaara's Biju form yelling.

"**_YYAATTTTAA! I Finally Free Baby!_**"

"So that's Shukaku" Naruto said after seeing the way Gaara's Biju's form was acting now.

"**_Man that is one funky Biju_**" Gamakichi remarked.

"**_Oh Yea, and I've even found some people I want to kill!_**" shouted Shukaku while pointing at Gambunta, Naruto and Katsuya. After which his then yelled "**_Futon: Renkuden_** (Wind Style: Compressed Air Ball)!" and fired a large high speed blast of Wind from his mouth.

"**_MOVE!_**" shouted Gamabunta as he jumped into the air to avoid the attack, while Katsuya once again divided herself into thousands of small slugs.

After jumping up into the air Gamabunta formed and single hand seal and yelled "**_Suiton: _****_Teppōdama _**(Water Style: Gunshot)**_!_**" before firing a large compressed ball of Water at the large Biju.

Seeing this, Shukaku fired yet another large blast of Wind to intercept the Water attack.

When the two attacks collided, they exploded, causing the Water to fall to the ground bellow like a shower.

"**_It's like a storm_**" said Pakkun as the Water rained down on him and Sasuke, "_And I already just had a bath._"

"What Kind of battle is this?" Sasuke asked himself, who placed the two girls down to watch the battle and couldn't believe the scale of the attacks, which were reshaping the landscape around him.

"Well this is annoying" muttered Sai as he shielded his face with his arm.

After the two attack hit, Katsuya suddenly reformed behind Shukaku and rammed right into him. But because of how heavy he was, she was unable to push him very far, where the large Biju then grabbed hold of her with his one remaining arm and threw her away.

Recovering quickly, Katsuya then yelled "**_Zesshi Nensan_** (Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid)**_!_**" and spat out a large concentrated blast of acid at the oversized Tanuki. Who countered with another blast of Wind and sent the acid flying across the surrounding area, causing many trees to be melted.

After countering Katsuya's attack, Shukaku fired several more blasts of Wind at the Slug Queen, but before the attacks could hit. Gamabunta landed in front of Katsuya and fired two more blasts of Water and intercepted them. But he was unable to block the third Wind blast, which hit him dead on, causing a large explosion and sending the Chief Toad crashing into the Katsuya.

"**_Oh Yeah! I killed them! I killed them!_**" cheered the large Biju. "**_Two for the price of one… Oh Yeah!_**"

But as the large Biju continued to cheer for "killing" the two large summonses. Gamabunta and Katsuya both suddenly emerged from the smoke caused by the explosion.

"**_That hurt you bastard!_**" the Toad Boss yelled angrily, where he and Katsuya rammed into Shukaku and pushed the oversized Biju away, tearing up the surrounding ground in the process.

"Katsuya, I'm sorry to ask this, but can you avoid using your acid anymore?" Naruto asked as he turned to the female Slug. "I know that would make the fight more difficult, but if Shukaku counters with his Wind blast again, it could cause the acid to fall on Ino-chan, Sakura-chan and Sasuke."

"**_Very well Naruto-dono_**" replied the large female Slug. "**_But we need to be more careful, and avoid taking hits like the one before._**"

"**_Yea, I know_**" spoke Gamabunta. "**_Those blasts have a lot of Chakra moulded into them; I can't take many more hits like that. We need to wake that kid up, or else this battle will never end._**"

"How do I wake him up?" Naruto asked.

"**_Just Punch him!_**" replied the Toad Boss, before he and Katsuya were force to separate to avoid another powerful Wind blast from Shukaku.

After dodging Shukaku's attack Gamabunta quickly leapt over the Biju and grabbed hold of him with his webbed hands. But before Naruto could jump over to Gaara, Shukaku pushed him away.

"Damnit, you need to stay still longer otherwise I can't jump onto him!" yelled Naruto.

"**_That's easier said than done_**" the Toad Boss retorted, "**_I don't have any claws or fangs to help me hold onto him._**"

"**_Perhaps I could be of some assistance then_**" said Katsuya as she moved next to Gamabunta. "**_If I can come up behind Shukaku, we can pin him between us, allowing Naruto-dono to jump onto Shukaku_**."

"**_Hhhmmm that might just work_**" said Gamabunta as he thought on it. Originally he was planning on use a **Henge** (Transformation) to change into something with fangs or claws. But the problem with that idea was that he wasn't very good at **Henges**, hence Katsuya's plan was much better.

"**_Okay then let's do, it!_**" the large Toad said before he and Katsuya were force to separate again, after Shukaku fired a massive ball of Wind at them.

The attack was so powerful that when it exploded, it unleashed a powerful blast of Wind, destroying many trees and forced Sai, Sasuke and Pakkun to hold onto the trees they were standing on, and not be blown away.

When the Wind ball exploded, Katsuya tried to circle around Shukaku, but before she get into position, Shukaku sent her flying back with a swipe from his large tail.

Gamabunta who tried to play interference was also pushed back by Shukaku. Who backhanded the Toad Boss with his arm and fired another powerful Wind ball.

Acting fast Gamabunta quickly jumped into the air to avoid the powerful attack, allowing Shukaku fire another blast a Katsuya. Who narrowly avoided it by splitting herself up again, although many of her miniature forms were unable to avoid the attack fully, and were sent flying across the air.

"What a battle" said Sasuke after seeing the amount of destruction the three creatures were causing as they fought.

"_This place may not be safe for much longer, I may be force to move into the air_" Sai thought as he shielded his face from the shockwave of another Wind ball that had just exploded.

"**_Damn it…his power is increasing by the minute, if we don't end this soon, we won't be able to stop him_**" grumbled the Chief Toad.

"Then let's do it already" Naruto said before asking Gamkichi to get off his head, knowing that it would not be safe for the small toad once he jumped off his father's head.

"**_Alirght!_**" yelled Gamabunta before jumping into the air and spat out a massive ball of Water at the Biju, who quickly blocked it by firing one of his Wind balls. But as soon as the two attacks collided, Gamabunta burst through the shower of Water and rammed right into the massive Tanuki, pushing the Biju back a small bit.

At that moment Katsuya, who had finally gathered all her miniature forms together, appeared behind the Sand spirit and rammed into his back, pinning him in between the two massive summonses.

"**_Okay Naruto…Now is your chance!_**" Gamabunta shouted, as he and Katsuya pushed Shukaku between them.

"Right!" yelled Naruto as he jumped into the air towards Gaara and charged up his fist with Chakra.

"This is your wakeup call!" Naruto yelled and he slammed his super charged first right into Gaara's face sending the Suna boy flying out of Shukaku's forehead and nearly off its head entirely.

"**_NNNoooo, I just got out...! I can't go back in already!_**" screamed Shukaku before his spirit returned to his seal.

"**_Nice, he was actually able to dispel the Jutsu_**" Pakkun said.

But surprisingly Shukaku form remained, indicating that Gaara still has some power left.

"**_Well done, Naruto-dono, but this battle is not yet over, your opponent can still fight_**" said Katsuya as she did her best to keep the Sand Biju between her and Gamabunta.

"**_Damn, this brat is a tough one, I didn't think he would still have this much power left?!_**" Gamabunta said angrily as he tried to hold back the Sand Biju.

Just as Katsuya said when Naruto looked up he saw Gaara standing up on Shukaku's head, holding his injured face and glaring angrily at the blonde Senju.

"_Crap, I held too much back when I punched him_" Naruto thought angrily. (2)

"_Damn him_" Gaara thought angrily as he glared at the spikey haired blond. "_He dispelled by Jutsu._"

Wanting to end this battle now, Naruto quickly raced towards Gaara. But before he could get even half way, his feet started to sink into Shukaku, stopping him in his tracks. After which Gaara then held out his hand and yelled "**Sabaku Kyū** (Sand Binding Coffin)!" and had some of the Sand that made up Shukaku's body converge on Naruto.

"**_Naruto-dono!_**" said Katsuya in concern.

"**_Pops you need to help him!_**" shouted Gamakichi.

"**_Right!_**" said the Toad Boss before he spat out his long tongue and had is surround Naruto protecting him from the sand.

"That won't help" yelled Gaara, where he then had the sand underneath Naruto form around him.

"**_Just how much power does this brat have?!_**" Gamabunta asked, after retracting his tongue and struggle to keep Gaara in between him and Katsuya.

"Now you will finally die" Gaara said furiously as the sand around Naruto began to cover him, "My existence will not perish!"

"There's no way I am going to lose to you! I will protect both my friends and Konoha!" Naruto yelled as he channelled a large portion of his remaining Chakra into his fist and slammed it down onto the Shukaku's face.

When Naruto slammed his fist into Shukaku's face, a large explosion erupted, causing sand to fly everywhere blocking everyone's view of Naruto.

But before anyone could even wonder what happened to the blonde, Naruto emerged out of the cloud, flying towards Gaara. Who tried to stop him with his Sand, which Naruto easily broke through with his inhuman like strength and punched Gaara right in the face again. This time holding nothing back and sending the elder boy flying off Shukaku's head.

Soon after, Shukaku's body finaly began to crack before finally dissolving into sand again.

"Is it over, did he win?" Sasuke asked, seeing Gaara's Biju's form dissolve.

"**_I think so_**" replied Pakkun

"_You did good kid_" Gamabunta thought, "_Despite your worn out state from using the Kyuubi's Chakra; you were still able to find the strength to fight on. Even though you're probably the most stubborn, reckless, cheeky, smart arse brat I have every come across…you've a lot of promise in you._"

"**_Hey, Katsuya, if it's alright with you, can you stay here and make sure the kid is okay?_**" Gamabunta asked. "**_Unfortunately I can't stay as I am at my limit and need to head back._**"

"**_Of course Gamabunta-san, and thank you, _**"replied the Slug Queen, who knew Gamabunta needed to head home to recover. Given how she had no bones she could take more hits than the Toad Boss and last longer in battle.

Nodding his thanks, Gamabunta looked up to Gamakichi who was still on his head. "**_You ready Gamakichi?_**"

"Yep, replied the small Toad, before he and his father, disappeared in a large burst of smoke, followed by Gamabunta's dagger.

The resulting explosion blew the still falling Naruto, crashing into a nearby tree.

"Oooh" moaned Naruto as he rubbed his head after hitting the tree. "Damn that oversized Toad, why the hell did he do that?"

"**_Naruto-dono, are you well?_**" Katsuya asked as she made her way over to the tree Naruto was on.

"Yea, I'm okay" the blonde replied as she slowly got back up to his feet and made his way up to the top of the tree. "But can you tell me where Gaara landed?"

"**_He landed in that direction_**" the Slug queen answered, turning to her right.

Nodding his thanks Naruto quickly leapt off the tree he was on and made his way to where Katsuya told him to go.

Shortly after, Naruto found the Suna boy, laying on the ground in a small crater, covered in bruises, his head bleeding from Naruto's last punch and his clothes destroyed, caked with dried blood and dirt.

When Gaara saw the blonde boy land nearby, Gaara began to wonder what made the Senju heir so powerful. He also began to wonder why someone who had not hatred in his heart was so much stronger than him, who lived for only himself and killed anyone who got in his way.

As Naruto drew closer to him, Gaara suddenly started to feel something he had never felt before…fear. He was afraid of Naruto…he was afraid of dying…he was afraid that Naruto would kill him.

"S-S-St-Stay back… Don't come near me!" cried a now frightened Gaara. "My existence will not be extinguished…I will not die!"

But despite Gaara's cries, Naruto continued to make his way toward the sand wielding boy.

But just when Naruto was only six feet away from Gaara, Temari and Kankuro suddenly appeared in front of Gaara, preventing Naruto from getting any closer.

"We won't let you touch him" Temari said with determined look on her face, which was mimicked by Kankuro.

"_I've never seen Gaara so hurt, or in such a weakened state. Just what the hell did that Senju kid do to him?_" a concerned Kankuro thought as he glanced at his younger brother.

"_Tsk, I don't have the time or the energy for this_" Naruto thought angrily, since he was already pretty tired from using the Kyubi's energy. He also wanted to wrap up things here quickly so that he could get back to the village and help.

But just as Naruto was about to say something to Suna siblings, Sasuke appeared out of one of the trees and landed next to him.

"Sasuke, what are doing here?"

"What does it look like dope…helping you" the Uchiha replied, who still had his curse markings covering the left side of his face, causing Naruto to be concerned.

"Where are the girls? You should be protecting them."

"They're safe, I also left Kakashi's dog Pakkun to watch over them."

Even though the idea of Pakkun protecting Ino and Sakura did not inspire much confidence in Naruto, the blonde knew the girls were in good hands. He was also grateful for the assist from Sasuke since together they could easy deal with both Temari and Kankuro, despite both of them being fairly worn out.

As the four Genin faced off, each Genin prepared to attack. But before anything could happen, several dozen ink Snakes appeared out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the three sibling's bodies.

"What the…" cried Temari in surprise.

"Damnit" yelled Kankuro, before he and his sister fell to the ground next to Gaara, who was also bound by the ink Snakes. Even though it was unneeded, given how his body couldn't move from his injuries.

"Nicely done, Naruto" greeted Sai as he appeared out of nearby tree in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sai!" Sasuke said with a frown, "What are you doing here?"

"Just helping your worthless butt Uchiha" Sai answered with his usual fake smile, causing Sasuke to glare at him.

"_Heh, like I believe that_" Naruto thought with his own frown. "_I bet he's been following and watching us from a distance, ever since we left the village. My guess is that he is trying to gain more Intel on our abilities for Danzo and would only intervene when it was needed to._"

Ignoring the raven haired boy's glare, Sai went over to Gaara and drew his Tanto and pointed it at Gaara. Who was staring back at him with a mixture of anger and fear in his eyes.

"Now if you don't mind, I will wrap things up here" the ROOT agent replied as he prepared to finish off Gaara with his blade.

"Gaara!" cried Temari and Kankuro together, when they saw what Sai was preparing to do, and futilely tried to break free from their binds.

But before Sai could deliver the fatal blow, he was stopped by a sudden shout from Naruto who yelled "STOP!"

After stopping his blade just as he was about to pierce Gaara's jugular, the young ROOT agent turned to the blonde.

"Is there a problem Naruto" Sai as with a raised eyebrow, all the while keeping a close eyes on Gaara as well.

"They're defeated, there's no need to kill them."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Suna has betrayed us, they have allied with Oto and they have attacked our village. They are our enemy…and all enemies of Konoha must be killed, especially **_him_**" spoke Sai as he looked down at Gaara with any emotion. "He is Suna's jinchūriki and is therefore a serious threat to our village and cannot be allowed to live, if he were to transform again he could do a great deal of damage to Konoha."

"He isn't a threat to the village now, he doesn't have enough Chakra to fight anymore and his body is too damage to move."

"As long as he lives he is a threat to the village" Sai retorted coolly.

"I was the one who fought and defeated him, and I am the one who will decide what to do with him" Naruto said forcefully and took a step forward to highlight his point. "And I will not let you kill a defenceless person in cold blood, even if he is an enemy."

"And what would you have us do with him…let him go?" Sai asked with a sarcastic tone and another fake smile.

"We'll take him prisoner" Naruto replied.

"And them?" the dark haired boy asked as he glanced at the bound Kankuro and Temari, who shared worried looks with one another.

"Them as well."

"I see" Sai replied calmly "And what if for argument sake, I ignored your request and decided to kill them."

"I would stop you" Naruto replied with a determined look in his eyes.

For a moment the two Genin just stared at one another, entering into a battle of wills.

But eventually after a few minutes of staring, Sai removed  
his tanto from Gaara's neck and sheathed it.

"Very well then, we'll take them as prisoners."

Nodding to this Naruto was about to jump up to the top of a nearby tree, but before he could, Sai suddenly spoke again.

"You should know Naruto that I am actually a bit disappointed with you."

"Why's that" Naruto asked as he turned to the pale face boy, who still had his fake smile on.

"For such a strong and gifted Shinobi, you're really a naïve, soft hearted idiot, who doesn't deserve to be a Shinobi of Konoha."

"Hmph, coming from you Sai, I'll take that as a complement" Naruto replied with a smirk, before he jumped up to the tree to call Katsuya over.

"_He's a strange one I'll give him that_" Sai thought with a raised eyebrow. "_But still if seems that Danzo-sama was correct. Naruto has clearly been influence by the Sandaime Hokage-sama's teaching, and if he is to be any use to Konoha he will have to be purged of those beliefs._"

During their little stand-off, Naruto had once again proven to Sai that even though he had immense potential as a Shinobi, who could possibly lead Konoha to greatness. He still lacked the heart and will to do what was necessary. He had first he shown this at the battle on the bridge in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country), when he stopped Kakashi from killing Zabuza.

And now once again he had shown this naivety and soft-heartiness, to a person he had just being fighting against. Naruto even threaten to fight him should he try to kill Gaara, and although Sai was fairly certain he could take on and defeat both Sasuke and Naruto in their weaken states. He decided not to since Gaara and his siblings would prove to be useful hostages, since they were the children of the Yondaime Kazekage and probably have valuable Intel on their village. Not to mention they would be useful bargaining chips for future negotiations with Suna, once they had dealt with the invasion, especially Gaara given his status as a jinchūriki.

Once Katsuya arrived Naruto asked the Slug Queen to transport Gaara, his siblings, as well as Sakura and Ino.

The Slug Queen was of course happy to help and used her **Katsuyu Daibunretsu** (Slug Great Division) technique to have several medium size versions of herself leave he body and act as transport for the three Suna Siblings. She even created two more and sent them over to where Sasuke had left Sakura and Ino and brought them over to them.

As Naruto loaded Gaara onto one of the Katsuya clones, the red headed boy suddenly spoke.

"Do not think just because you spared by life, I will show you the same mercy. I am not weak like you. I promise you I will kill you one day for what you have done to me, I will make you suffer for all the pain you have caused me and I will feed your blood to my mother…I swear it!"

"Heh, join the club, because you're not the only one who is after for me and you probably won't be the last."

Gaara of course did not respond to this and just glared angrily at the blonde boy. Who slowly walked away from him, although as he did, Sai turned and spoke to him.

"Still what to keep him alive?" the dark haired boy asked with another fake smile.

"I'm sure" Naruto replied before he jump up onto a tree and then up on to Katsuya "…_whether he appreciates it or not_."

"Naruto what are you doing?" Sasuke asked when he saw the blonde boy jump up on top of Katsuya.

"I'm heading back to Konoha with Katsuya, she's told me they're still having trouble with the giant Snakes in the village, so I'm going to help. You guys stay with Gaara and the others and make sure they don't try to escape."

Before Sasuke could say anything to stop the blonde, Katsuya took off with surprising speed for a giant Slug.

"**_That kid seems to be always on the go_**" mutter Pakkun, who was standing next to the two Katsuya clones that were carrying the unconscious Sakura and Ino.

"Naruto certainly doesn't like to sit still for very long, don't you think Sasuke?" Sai asked with his usual fake smile when he turned to his team-mate.

"Shut up Sai!" Sasuke replied angrily before they began to make their way back to Konoha.

-With Naruto-

After leaving Sasuke and Sai and exhausted Naruto  
rested on Katsuya's head, who offered to heal Naruto's injuries, which he had suffered while battling Gaara.

As Katsuya healed his minor injuries, Naruto took out another food pill to help keep him going. Although he still had enough Chakra to fight, his body was worn out from using the Kyuubi's Chakra.

"_Kaa-chan is probably going to kill me once she finds out that I've taken more food pills_" Naruto thought as he swallowed the pill. "_But I can't worry about that now, I need to be able to help._"

When Naruto and Katsuya arrived at outer wall, the two could clearly see that the invading force had broken through all of Konoha's outer defences and had moved into the centre of the village with the giant Snakes leading the way.

"_Damnit things are bad_" Naruto thought before he suddenly felt a presence, after which two masked Shinobi appeared on the outer wall in front of him.

"Surprised by the sudden appearance of the Shinobi, Naruto prepared to defend himself and was about to order Katsuya to attack, but stopped when he realized that the two Shinobi were ANBU.

"Peace, Naruto-san we mean you no harm" spoke one of the ANBU wearing a Badger shape ANBU mask as he held up his hand in a peaceful manner.

"We are with Konoha's Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Squad), also known as ANBU" said the ANBU with a bird shaped masked.

"How do I know that you are both the real deal? The last ANBU I met turned out to be an enemy and nearly killed me" Naruto said, as he kept his guard up.

"Because they're with me" spoke a new voice, after which a familiar scared face man appeared next to the ANBU.

"Hey I know you…" Naruto said in recognition when he saw the man. "You're the examiner from the first exam…Morino Ibiki."

"Good to see you alive brat," the scared man replied with a nod. "Now if you don't mind telling me what are you doing here, and why are you on Katsuya-sama? When he saw her, we assumed that you were Tsunade-sama."

For the next few minutes, Naruto explained his orders from Kakashi about stopping Gaara to Ibiki and then went on to give a brief rundown of want happened.

When Naruto finished explaining what happened, both Ibiki and the ANBU were stunned by the news that mere Genin, not only fought and defeated a jinchūriki. But also summoned two of the three legendary summons of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja).

"_Incredible_" thought the one of ANBU in awe.

"_Truly one would expect nothing less from the son of Tsunade-sama_" thought the other ANBU admiration.

"_Jeez, what the hell is with this kid?_" thought Ibiki thought with a small bead of sweat falling down his face. After hearing such a story, Ibiki would normally think that the kid was lying, since it was too ridiculous to believe. Yet the proof was staring him right in the face, or to be exact, Naruto was standing right on top of it.

Furthermore, Ibiki had received reports from several of his people stating that they had seen a giant Toad and Slug battling another massive creature outside the village.

When he first heard the reports, the man naturally assumed that Jiraiya and Tsunade were battling the creature. It was also why when he later heard the reports that a giant Slug was heading for the village. He assumed that it was Tsunade riding on top of it, which was why, he and the ANBU came to the outer wall, in the hope of asking for her help against the giant Snakes.

After learning the truth, the head of Konoha's ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force, was force to doing something he never imagined to do.

"Hey kid I have a favour to ask?"

"Yea what is it?"

"We're having a lot of trouble with those giant Snakes that are attacking the village. Right now Kushina is trying to deal with them herself, but she could do with some help, before the Snakes can do anymore damage to the village."

"_Kushina-sensei!_" thought Naruto before he focus back on Ibiki. "But what about the enemy, they've already reached the centre of the village?"

"Leave them to us, we have a plan for them" the scared man replied.

"What do you mean?" the blonde boy asked not fully understanding what Ibiki was saying.

"Konoha has a manual in the event that the village comes under attack by an enemy" answered the Bird masked ANBU. "Stage one, involves us eliminating all enemy forces that have infiltrated the village."

"But in the event that we are unable to, we immediately move to Stage two," continued the Badger masked ANBU. "In other words, evacuate all civilians and non-combatants to designated shelters around the village and slow the enemy's advance, after which we move to Stage three."

"And what does that involve?" Naruto asked.

"That all Shinobi forces around the village are to attack and eliminate the enemy from the village, and that stage should begin at any minute, since the civilians have all reached the shelters."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto quickly had Katsuya go through the large gab in the wall that one of the giant Snakes made earlier and headed towards the nearest giant Snake.

"Ibiki-taicho, are you sure this is a wise decision?" asked the Bird masked ANBU.

"Agreed, to be honest I don't like idea of sending a boy like him into battle" said the other ANBU.

"I don't like it much either, but right now we need use everything we've got to drive the enemy back, and that boy can clearly do things we cannot" the scared face man replied. Who at the same time could not help but find the whole situation disgraceful, since it was supposed to be the adults who protect the kids, not the other way around.

Shortly after though, the three men's attention was soon turned elsewhere when they heard a large bird cry.

"That's the signal, it's time to get into position" said Ibiki to the two ANBU who nodded and **Shunshin'd** (Body flickered) away.

Before joining them Ibiki took one last look at Naruto, and wished the kid luck, while at the same time hoping the blonde boy stayed safe. Knowing that if anything happened to the spikey haired blonde, his mother Tsunade would come after him and would do things that would make even the scared face man shudder in fear.

-With Naruto-

As Naruto and Katsuya moved through the ruined part of the village, Naruto formed a single hand-seal and created a dozen Shadow clones of himself.

"**_Naruto-dono, what are you doing?_**" the Slug Queen asked in surprise.

"I'm getting off here, you help Kushina-sensei out with those oversized Snakes…I'll be able to help more if I'm down there."

"**_With respects Naruto-dono, I believe it would be better if you stayed with me, where I can protect you_**" replied Katsuya.

"Thanks Katsuya but I'll be fine, besides I'm worried about Kaa-chan, Ero-sennin and Jiji, and want to see if they are okay."

Sighing at this, the large Slug Queen just nodded, knowing that she would not be able to convince Naruto not to leave her.

"**_Very well Naruto-dono, but please, take one of my clones with you, that way I can keep in contact with you and come should you need help. I can also send you healing Chakra in the event that you are injured and cannot heal yourself._**"

Agreeing to this, Naruto took the miniature Katsuya clone that appeared below his feet and placed it on his shoulder. After which he then ordered his clones to move out, where they jumped down into the village and scattered, to do what they could to help.

-At Konoha's Memorial Stone-

Currently kneeling in front of the Konoha Memorial Stone was a lone woman with long purple hair, dressed in ANBU attire. She did not pay much attention to the distant sounds of the battle going on in the village, as her attention was focused on the Memorial Stone.

After a few minutes she raised her hands and traced over one of the names written on the stone…the name of her now deceased lover.

"I will avenge you…Hayate" said the women before a determined look appeared on her face and she stood up and placed her Cat ANBU mask on. After which she turned around to face four more ANBU, who had just appeared.

Shortly after the five ANBU heard the bird's cry from above.

"There's the signal. Let's go." said an ANBU wearing a Tiger Mask.

"Hai replied the woman before they all **Shunshin'd** away in a puff of smoke.

* * *

In the centre of the Konoha, two squads of Oto and Suna Shinobis were racing through the streets at top speed.

Suddenly though a hail of Shuriken appeared from above, halting the Shinobi's advance and taking out a member from each squad, while the remaining other members deflected the rest with their Kunai.

When the two Shinobi groups looked up they saw five ANBU looking down at them from a small bridge above them.

"That's as far as you go, you will not take another step further into our village!" declared the purple haired female ANBU.

* * *

In another part of the village the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi was busy fighting over two dozen Suna Shinobi, using his superior Jūken fighting techniques to defeat any who came near him.

As the battle progressed five Suna-nins tried a direct attack, hoping to overwhelm the Hyuga Clan head with their numbers. But instead Hiashi sent three of them flying back with a single palm strike, the remaining two then tried to attack him from both the front and behind. Only to be sent flying back as well by Hiashi, who used his lightning fast Jūken strikes to defeat them.

After dealing with the five Suna-nins, the remaining seventeen Suna Shinobi surrounded the man and kept the distance from the man.

"What are you guys doing?" spoke the leader of the two groups. "He's only one man!"

Seeing that the enemy were preparing to attack all at once, Hiashi decided to strike first and began to spin around at high speed. After which he then yelled "**Kaiten** (Revolving Heaven)!" where a massive spinning dome, that was easily three times the size of Neji's, formed around him, sending all seventh Shinobi flying into the air.

When the technique ended, Hiashi was left standing in the middle of a large crater, while the defeated Suna Shinobi crashed down onto the ground around him.

"The Hyuga Clan are the strongest in Konoha, you would be wise to remember it" said Hiashi with his Byakugan activated.

* * *

In yet another part of the village the fathers of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were busy fighting a large group of Suna Shinobi, using the special techniques of their respected Clans along with their patented Ino-Shika-Cho formation to defeat their opponents.

Not far from where the senior Ino-Shika-Cho members were fighting. The Inuzuka Clan head Inuzuka Tsume, her daughter Hana and their canine partners were leading several other members of their Clan and the cainine partners in an attack on several Suna Shinobi on the rooftop of a large building.

In the centre of Konoha, Kushina and her team were just finishing off another one of the giant serpents, where the red head had just bound the snake up in her chains.

But as she stabbed the two headed Snake in both its heads with the pointed tip of one of her chains, causing it to disappear. Another large Snake appeared out of the ground behind her and bared it fangs down on her before it prepared to swallow her up with one glop.

"Kushina-san!" yelled on of the Konoha Shinobi, when he saw the large Snake.

"_Shit!_" thought Kushina, realizing he was finished, but just the massive Snake descended down on her, a large female voice suddenly shouted "**_Zesshi Nensan!_**" After which large yellow paste hit the Snake, covering its entire body.

Within seconds the creature screamed out in pain as it began to melt before exploding in a puff of smoke.

Still in shock over what happened and that she was still alive, Kushina slowly turned in the direction of the attack where she saw the massive Slug Queen tower over the Konoha building not far from her.

Quickly making her way over to the Slug Queen, Kushina leapt over several buildings and then onto the large female Slug's head.

"Thanks for the assist Katsuya-sama, looks like I owe you one" said the red headed Jonin.

"**_My pleasure Kushina-san_**" replied the Slug Queen.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing here, where are Gamabunta and Naruto and what happened to that Suna kid?"

"The Suna jinchūriki was defeated by Naruto-dono, Gamabunta-san and I and has been captured along with his siblings. After which Gambunta-san returned to Myōbokuzan (Mount Myōboku) to recuperate from injuries and Naruto-done has left to check on Tsunade-sama, as well as help with the battle."

"Damn kid," Kushina mumbled angrily, "I swear he won't be happy until he gets himself killed." After saying this Kushin silently swore that once this battle was over she would bash some common sense into the blonde for being so reckless, that is unless his mother got to him first.

"**_You need worry about Naruto-sono too much Kushina-san. Before he left Naruto-dono took one of my clones with him, so I am in constant contact with him_**."

After hearing this Kushina nodded, and although this news did help settle her concerns a little, it still did no ease them entirely.

Soon after though Kushina pushed aside her thoughts for her students and turned to the last remaining Snake summon, which was making its way over to her and Katsuya.

As the creature drew closer, its it large fangs at them, showing it was not afraid of them.

"Katsuya, if it's okay with you can I count on your help with dealing with this overgrown reptile?" Kushina ask. Given how Katsuya and her did not have a contract and the Slug Queen was under no obligation to help her.

"**_Of course, Kushina-san, Narurto-dono requested that I was to help until all the summonses were dealt with._**"

Pleased to hear this, Kushina thanked the Slug Queen again and then turned to face the last Snake summon together.

* * *

After jumping off Katsuya Naruto and his clones broke up and each went their own way. For the most part the clones helped any wounded Konoha Shinobi they found and healed their injuries. If they could not fully heal the injured Shinobi, then the clones would stabilize them and carry them to the hospital where they could be treated by someone who could.

After a while one of Naruto clones arrived at the Inuzuka Clan compound, where it found an injured Inuzuka girl. Who looked to be no more than eight years old and was holding a small grey pup in her arms, trying to protect it from the Oto-nin, who had cornered them against a large wooden fence.

Standing in front of the injured girl and her pup and growling at the Oto Shinobi was a _Kurimaru._

_In an attempt to defend the injured girl, Kurimaru leapt forward and tried to bite the masked Shinobi's leg. But instead was easily kicked aside by the man and sent flying into the wall next to the girl._

_"Out of the way you mangy mutt!"_

_"Kurimaru!" cried the girl when she saw what happened to the poor brave pup._

_Seeing this, the Naruto clone quickly raced forward and yelled, "Get away from them you bastard!"_

When the Oto-nin turned to the sound of the clone's voice, he saw the clone leap into the air and kick him right into the face, sending him right through the wooden wall, knocking him out instantly.

Once the enemy Shinobi was knocked out the clone turned to the young Inuzuka girl, who was staring at him with a mixture of shock and awe.

"Are you okay?" the clone asked, as he looked down at young girl, who was still in shock and could only nod.

Seeing that girl was okay, the clone quickly went over to the hurt Kurimaru and used the **Shōsen Jutsu** (_Mystical Palm_Technique) to heal the injured pup.

When the clone had finished treating Kurimaru and the small dog saw the Naruto clone, it quickly leapt up and started licking the clone's face.

"Hahahahaha…okay stop it Kurimaru…hahaha…I'm happy to see you too."

After a few minutes the small pup final relented and stop licking the Naruto clone, allow it to go over to the young Inuzuka girl and use his **Shōsen Jutsu** to heal her.

Once the girl injury was treated, the clone spoke to her, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Hai…" said the girl with a nod, "Thank you for saving Arisu-chan and me, as well as Kurimaru when he tried to protect us from the man."

After the girls thanked him, her grey dog began to bark, indicating it was thanking him as well.

"Not a problem, I was happy to help, Kurimaru and me are friends, isn't that right boy" said the Naruto clone as he looked down at the small half wolf, who barked in agreement.

As soon as the Naruto clone was certain the girl was ok he decided to head to Kiba's house and stay there until the battle was over, making sure that the girl and the two dogs stayed safe.

-Outside the Stadium-

As the battle in the village raged, the Godaime Mizukage Terumī Mei was busy dealing with several Suna and Oto Shinobi. Who dared to attack her, using her Yōton (Lava Release) and her Futton (Boil Release) Bloodline limits to eliminate the enemy Shinobi.

After dealing with the majority of the enemy Shinobi inside the arena, the Mizukage decided to move outside around the arena.

Not far from the female Kage, Mei's Bodyguard Ao, was also busy fighting several enemy Shinobi. But made sure he never strayed too far from his village leader and that she was always within eyesight of him, ensuring that should she be endanger he could get to her quickly to help.

After knocking out an Oto-nin with a surprisingly strong kick, the Mizukage caught the glint of a Kunai flying through the air from her right.

Acting fast the female Kage ducked under the flying projectile, which embedded itself into a nearby stone wall.

But just when the female Mizukage turned to where the Kunai came from, she noticed that tied to the end of the Kunai was an exploded note, which exploded moments after the Kunai hit the wall.

With no time to waste, Mei jumped forward and avoided the large blast with little harm. The only exception being a slight dizzy, this was caused when a small piece of debris hit the side of her head.

As the Mizukage tried to steady herself, the Suna Shinobi, who had thrown the Kunai and exploding note, decided to take advantage of female Kage's dizziness.

After preforming several hand-seals, the Suna Shinobi fired a powerful stream of Wind from his mouth and sent it towards Mei.

By the time the Godaime Mizukage steadied herself and saw the approaching Wind attack, she realized it was too late to avoid or block the attack and braced herself.

"Mizukage-sama!" Ao cried, when he saw Mei in trouble and raced towards her.

But just when the attack was about to hit her, a large dome made out of wood erupted from the ground around her, and protected her from the Wind attack.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the wooden dome, the Suna Shinobi failed to notice the large wooden tentacles that appeared out of the ground underneath him, where he was quickly restrained by them, before he could do anything.

"Mizukage-sama are you alright?" asked a concern Ao who appeared in front of the dome.

"Yes I'm fine Ao" replied Mei, who appeared out from behind the wooden dome.

"Who did this?" Ao asked as he looked at the wooden dome and then to the captured Suna-nin who struggled futilely against his binds.

"I believe that would be obvious Ao, given how we only know of one person capable of doing something like this" answered a smiling Mei before pointing towards a nearby rooftop.

Looking in the direction that the Godaime Mizukage was pointing to, the Head of the Hunter-nin division saw one Senju Naruto standing on the rooftop. After a brief smile and wave to them, he disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

"That kid again" muttered Ao raising his left eyebrow.

"Hmph, it seems that I am now the one indebted to him" commented Mei with an amused smile while at the same time thinking, "_I always did like a man who had good timing._"

-Inside the Stadium Stands-

After knocking out another Oto Shinobi with a hard punch to the gut, Kakashi took the Kunai the man had in his hand and threw it at another Oto-nin, who was trying to run away, and hit him in the back of the neck, killing him instantly.

As soon he had dealt with the man, Kakashi saw a third Oto-nin racing towards him and took out a Kunai from his pouch. After which the two Shinobi disappeared in a blur and clashed with one another for an instant before reappearing at opposite ends.

Shortly after reappearing a large slash appeared on the Oto Shinobi's stomach where he then fell to the ground dead.

At the same time not far from Kakashi, Gai was finishing of a Suna Shinobi, who he had knocked out with a strong hit to the back of the head.

With the Suna-nin knocked out Gai then signalled over another Suna Shinobi who was standing a few feet away from him.

Taking Gai's challenge the Suna Shinobi raced forward, but was quickly defeated by the bushy eye browed man. Who dealt a powerful kick to the young man's stomach and then spun around and delivered an equally powerful upward kick to an Oto-nin's chin, knocking him out instantly.

"I believe that was the last of them" said Shizune who suddenly appeared next to the green clad man.

"Looks like it" replied Kakashi, who made his way over to them along with Kurenai and Anko.

Soon after the five Jonin and joined up, they heard a familiar voice call out to them, "Shizune-nee, everyone!"

When the group turned they were surprised to see a dirty, tired Naruto running towards them carrying a miniature version of Katsuya on his shoulder.

"Naruto! What are you doing here, I thought I sent you to help Sasuke and stop Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall/Desert)" said Kakashi.

"I beat him, and we capture him along with his brother and sister."

When Anko heard this, the former student of Orochimaru was naturally surprised by it. "_Damn, in just one day, he took on and defeated the Prodigy of the Hyuga Clan, the Kazekage's daughter and two jinchūriki…and he's still standing! He's got amazing stamina, that's for sure…which will probably come in pretty hand once gets older and starts dating._"

"Where are they?" Kurenai asked.

"I left them with Sai and Sasuke, I went on ahead with Katsuya here."

"**_Hai_**" said the miniature Katsuya, "**_After the battle with Shukaku and Sabaku no Gaara, I offered to bring Naruto-done to Konoha and help in the defence of the village._**"

"Shukaku?!" repeated Shizune in surprise, "Naruto, explain exactly what happened."

For the next few minutes Naruto gave the five Jonin the same run down of the events between Gaara and him, as he did Ibiki and the two ANBU. When he finished telling them what happened, all five Jonin were amazed by what Naruto had done.

"Well done Naruto-kun, truly you embody the flames of youth, to accomplish so much in just one day" said Gai loudly. Who then smiled at the young blonde, causing his teeth to gleam brightly, making Naruto wonder once again if the jumpsuit wearing man bleached his teeth.

"Naruto how were you able do all that after you battled with Nii Yugito?" Shizune asked. "Don't tell you used another food pill!"

"Eh, actually I took two" Naruto said guiltily.

"TWO!" shouted Shizune in disbelief causing the blonde boy to cringe slightly at his surrogate sister's loud voice. "Naruto, you know how dangerous it to take multiple food pills in short periods of time!"

"Looks Shizune-nee we can worry about me later, I came here because I want to know what going on with Ka-chan, Ero-Sennin and Jiji."

"They are still battling inside the barrier, from what we have heard they holding his their own against the Orochimaru, Shodai, and the Nidaime Hokage-samas" answered Kakashi. Who then went on to explain in more detail after seeing the confused look on Naruto's face when he heard that the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages fighting against Tsunade and the others.

When Kakashi finishing explaining what happened, the young blonde gashed his teeth at how Orochimaru revived his ancestors and were using them as weapons against his family.

"_Damn that bastard!_" Naruto thought angrily.

"Why hasn't anyone gone to help them, hasn't anyone broken through the barrier?"

"No, the barrier is impenetrable the ANBU have already tried" explained Kakashi.

"_If that's the case, then there's only one way to help_" thought Naruto.

"Katsuya-chan I'm going to need you help again" Naruto said as he turned to the miniature Slug clone, who just nodded. After which the blonde took off down the stands.

"Naruto, where do you think you going?" Shizune yelled.

"To help Kaa-chan and the others" answered Naruto.

Before Shizune or any of the others could even stop the blonde boy, he disappeared in a puff of smoke along with the Katsuya clone.

-Inside the Barrier-

As the battle inside the village raged and slowly turned to Konoha's favour the battle against Orochimaru and the revived Hokages was going in the opposite direction.

Although the Sandaime Hokage, Tsuande and Jiraiya were able to hold their own, they were slowly being worn down by the two Hokages. Who unlike them did not feel pain or tired and had an unlimited Chakra.

During the battle when the Shodai Hokage used the **Genjutsu: Kokuangyou no Jutsu** (Illusionary technique: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique) to cover the space inside the barrier in darkness. The Sandaime and the others were forced on the defensive, where they stood back to back to one another and defended themselves from the various assaults from the two Hokages. But after a little while Tsunade was finally able to use her advance skill in Genjutsu to break the Shodai's Genjutsu, allowing them to see their adversaries.

Soon afterwards the two Sannin and their former sensei were able to isolate the Nidiame Hokage, from his brother the Shodai. Who was kept at bay by Tsunade, allowing the Sandaime to capture the Nidaime using his **Kongō Rōheki** (Vajra Prison Wall), which in turn allowed Jiraiya to prepare an Fūinjutsu (Sealing technique) to seal the former Hokage away.

But before the Jiraiya could complete the sealing, Orochimaru, who had realized what the two were doing, intervened and prevented the Nidaime from being sealed away. After which he temporarily disabled Hiruzen with several of his Snakes and freed the Nidaime from the **Kongō Rōheki **using the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Grass Cutting Sword), allowing the brother of the Shodai to attack Jiraiya.

As the battle continued to rage on, the Sandaime's age finally began to show, where the old man was beginning to tire, forcing Tsunade and Jiraiya to stay close and defend him.

"**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!**" cried the Nidaime Hokage, who used his high Water affinity to create massive Water Dragon from the moisture in the air.

As the large Water Dragon moved closer, Tsunade step forward and used her monster-like strength to destroy the Water Dragon with a single punch.

But as soon as she had destroyed the Water Dragon, Tsunade suddenly found herself bound by wooden binds, created by her grandfather from his outstretched right hand, leaving her vulnerable to attack from the Nidaime, who fired another powerful Water attack.

Before the attack could hit, Jiraiya used his **Hari Jizō** (Needle Jizō) technique to extent his hair and pulled Tsunade free from the wooden binds and next to him, just before Tobirama's attack them.

When the Water attack ended, the two former Hokages saw that both Sannin and their teacher were unharmed thanks to Jiraiya's hair, which had protected them all from the Water attack.

After the Water attacked ended, Jiraiya the used his **Hari Jigoku** (Needle Hell) technique to fire multiple hardened needle-like hairs at the two deceased Hokages, forcing them to jump further back to avoid the needle-like hair.

Once Hokages and fallen back, Jiraiya had his hair revert back to its original form. But no sooner had he done this, Orochimaru appeared behind them and attempted to stab his former best friend in the back with the Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

But before the sword could stab Gama Sennin, the Sandaime had Enma extend backwards, hitting the Hebi Sennin right in the chest and sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

"Thanks Sensei, I owe you one."

"No need to thank me Jiraiya…pant, pant…it's the least I could do…pant, pant…after all the trouble I've caused you and Tsunade" replied the Sandaime as he tried to catch his breath. "_I've really become a pathetic old man._"

Seeing the state that his old teacher was in Jiraiya knew he needed to do something, otherwise they were all finished.

"Tsunade, Sensei, I hate to ask this of both of you, but can you both hold off Orochimaru and the Hokages for a few minutes for me."

"Jiraiya do you plan to do what I think you plan to do?" asked Tsunade realizing what Jiraiya was thinking.

Nodding to this Jiraiya simply said "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Very well Jiraiya, we'll buy you as much time as we can" the Sandaime replied as he slowly lifted himself you.

At the same time, after crashing into the large tree, Orochimaru manoeuvred himself around his former comrades to join up with the two Senju brothers.

After joining up with the two late Hokages, Orochimaru noticed that Jiraiya had pulled back, while the Sandaime and Tsunade positioned themselves forward, and had taken up defensive stances.

Seeing this Orochimaru quickly realized what his former team-mate was up to "_SSSooo, Jiriaya-kun is planning to use his Sage mode. If he were to succeed, it would make things even more troublesome._"

Wasting no time Orochimaru quickly ordered the Shodai and the Nidaime to attack.

- Enter Naruto Shippuden OST 1 Denkousekka (Lightning Speed) -

As soon as Orochimaru gave the order the two Hokages raced forward and split up in an attempt to outflank Sarutobi and Tsunade.

The Nidaime was the first to attack, where he fired several high speed Water blasts at Jiraiya, who was busy trying to gather natural energy and needed to stay perfectly still.

Before the Water blasts could hit Jiraiya, the Sandaime intervened and used Enma to skilfully block the Water attacks. After which he then had Enma extend forward and hit his former teacher square in the chest, sending him flying into the barrier, and causing him to burst into flames.

At the same time at the opposite end of the battlefield Tsunade was busy defending herself again her grandfather the Shodai Hokage. After blocking her grandfather's path to Jiraiya, Tsunade entered into a fierce Taijutsu battle.

As the fight continued, the Shodai proved to be a difficult opponent for his granddaughter to face, even though she had the advantage in strength. He had the advantage is skill and fighting experience given the countless battles he fought during the Great Shinobi Clan Wars, the founding of Konoha and the First Great Shinobi World War.

It was made even more difficult when Hashirama used his **Moku Bunshin no Jutsu** (Wood Clone Technique) to create three more copies of himself and had them attack Tsunade.

When the Shodai and the three clones attacked, Tsunade was pushed entirely on the defensive where she did her best to avoid and block all their punches and kicks. It was only thanks to her enhance training, that allowed her to keep up and avoid her grandfather and his clones attacks.

Using her enhance strength, Tsunade was able to keep Hashirama and his clones at bay, but it was not without cost, where she received a slight wound on her left side from one of his Mokuton attacks.

Seeing that Tsunade was wounded, the Shodai and his clones decided to attack all at once in the hope of overwhelming the blonde woman.

Realizing what they were doing, Tsunade immediately smashed her fist onto the rooftop, creating a large cloud of dust and a large hole in the roof in the path of the former Senju Clan head and his clones, forcing them to break up into pairs.

When the four Hashirama's broke up, two of the wood clones stood close to one another; while the dust cloud surrounded them, knowing that if they broke up they would be vulnerable to a sneak attack. But their caution soon proved to their undoing when they sensed a presence above them and saw Tsunade falling down towards them while preforming a powerful axe kick.

Acting fast, the two wooden clones separated, narrowly avoiding the deadly axe kick, which created another large hole in the roof.

After avoiding Tsunade's attack, one of wood clones attempted a strong side kick from Tsunade's left. But instead was caught by the Slug Princess who then swung him into the second clone. Who tried to attack her from the opposite side.

When the two clones crashed into each other, Tsunade immediately jumped away and activated the exploding notes she had planted on the first clone when she caught his kick and destroyed them both.

But no sooner had she destroyed the two clones, the real Shodai Hokage appeared and hit her in her wounded side with a strong spinning kick, sending her crashing onto the roof tiles.

With the intent on finishing her off, the last wood clone appeared above Tsunade and preformed it's in own falling axe kick down on her head. But before the attack could make contact, Tsunade flipped backwards onto her feet at the last second, and preformed a supercharged reverse heel kick, right into the side of the clones head, destroying it instantly.

- End Naruto Shippuden OST 1 Denkousekka (Lightning Speed) -

"Impressive Tsunade-chan, you've indeed become quite strong. "But it seems that you're now nearing your limit" said the founder of Konoha. Who could see that Tsunade was sweating and panting heavily and was bleeding baldly in her side, and would not last for too much longer without treatment.

"I'm not dead yet!" the woman replied stubbornly, while at the same time thinking, "_Come on Jiraiya, how much more time do you need? I don't know how much longer I can hold him back?_"

When Tsunade glance back at her team-mate, she saw Orochimaru moving towards Jiraiya at high speed, intending to impale their former team-mate with Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

"Jiraiya look out!" cried Tsunade before she was force to move away, when the Shodai took advantage of her distraction.

Seeing Orochimaru heading for him Jiraiya prepared to move, but before he could, the Sandaime intervened and slammed his former student in the side of his head with a forward kick, sending him tumbling across the ground.

"Jiraiya focus on gather your energy, leave Orochimaru to me."

Nodding to his teacher, Jiraiya then quickly closed his eyes again and continued to gather more natural energy.

"You'll pay for that old man" Orochimaru hissed as he slowly stood up and pointed his sword at the old Hokage.

"You're welcome to try my foolish student" the Sandaime replied as he took a standard Bojutsu stance.

* * *

"Incredible…What a battle" mutter one of the ANBU as he watched the Sandaime battle Orochimaru and Tsunade fight the Shodai Hokage.

"Indeed, they are far above us, but I fear the Hokage-sama is nearing his limit, since he his barely keeping Orochumaru at bay" spoke the ANBU Commander.

"What is Jiraiya-sama doing, why is he just standing there?" asked another ANBU.

"I do not know" the ANBU Commander replied, "…But if the Hokage-sama and Tsunade-sama are going to such an extent to protect him, it must be important."

"Maybe he is gathering Chakra for some sort of Jutsu" said the first ANBU.

"Perhaps" answered the ANBU commander, "…But for now all we can do is wait, and hope that it works."

* * *

As the fight between the Sandaime and Orochimaru continued, the Snake Sennin jumped away from his old sensei and used his **Sen'eijashu** (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) technique to fire several dozen Snakes at the Sandaime. Who quickly began to spin Enma around and high speed to destroy the snakes.

But no sooner had he dealt with the Sanke he suddenly heard Jiraiya shout "Sensei above you!"

When Sarutobi looked up, he saw Orochimaru in mid-air above him, attempting to stab him with his sword.

Acting fast, Sarutobi quickly stab Enma into the ground and had him extend forward, allowing him to escape Orochimaru's sneak attack without any injury.

-Enter Naruto Shippuden OST 2 - Rising Dragon-

Orochimaru on the other hand was not so fortunate, as the Sandaime left a surprise for his former pupil in the form of an exploding note, which he left behind just before he had Enma propel him away.

"Shit!" cursed Orochimaru as he tried to jump away but was caught in the blast slightly and injured in his left shoulder.

But before he could even assess his injuries, the wind was taken right out of him when he was hit right in the chest by Enma in his pole form. After which Sarutobi had him extend forward again, knowing that the Snake Sennin would be unable to avoid the attack while he was in mid-air.

But just when the Sandaime though he had his fallen student, "Orochimaru" exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing he had replaced himself with a **Kage Bunshin** (Shadow Clone).

"How foolish do you think I am sensei!" cried Orochimaru who was racing towards the Old Hokage from behind, with his sword forward.

"Damn it" cried the Sandaime as he turned around and tried to block Orochimaru's stab with Enma, but was sent flying back by the force of the attack.

After sending the Sandaime crashing across the rooftop, Orochimaru followed up his assault by throwing several kunai with exploding notes tide to them, and detonated them as soon as they stabbed the roof tiles around the Sandaime Hokage.

Who fortunately was able to avoid the explosion by using Enma extending pole technique to propel him up onto a large nearby tree.

But when his feet touched the truck of the tree, Orochimaru unleashed another assault on the Hokage by summoning several Snakes from his sleeves and having them spit acid at the Sandaime. Who was forced to manoeuvre around the large tree to avoid the deadly venom spit, which melted anything it touched.

Eventually Orochimaru was able to hit the Sandaime in the leg with his Snakes venom, after which he then launched the Snakes at his wounded teacher, which then latched onto his neck and bit him.

Seeing this Orochimaru smirked, believing he had finally killed his old teacher. But his smirk disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, when he saw the "Sandaime" explode into a puff of smoke, revealing he had replaced himself with a **Kage Bunshin**.

Realizing he had been tricked, Orochimaru immediately looked around for his teacher and quickly found him, standing above him on a large branch of another tree, where he then spat out a massive stream of fire, which hit the Snake Sennin dead on.

- End Naruto Shippuden OST 2 - Rising Dragon-

"Saruobi you fool, you can't be using **Kage Bunshin**, in your state, your not as young as you were, your just wasting you strength!" yelled Enma after the Sandaime ended his attack.

"I'm, fine just don't worry about me…pant, pant" answered the tired Sartuobi, who was sweating and breathing even harder than he did before.

After fire from his attack died down, the Sandaime quickly jumped down next to the spot where he hit Orochimaru. But instead of seeing his corpse all he found was a burnt skin, which turned to ash the moment he touched it.

"_Damnit, he escaped!_" Hiruzen thought angrily and started to look for any sign of his fallen pupil. But before he could begin his search Sarutobi's attention was caught by the sudden appearance of his other pupil Tsunade. Who landed next to him in a small heap, covered in cuts and dire blood and small pieces of wood sticking out of her arms and legs, not to mention the nasty wound on her side.

"Tsunade are you all right?!" a worried Sarutobi asked as he kneeled down to his only female student.

"Not exactly" Tsunade replied as she slowly got back up onto her feet with the help of her old teacher.

Once Tsunade was back on her feet the two Konoha Shinobi saw the Shodai Hokage appeared in front of them.

"_Damn it, I just need a little more time_" thought Jiraiya, as he watched Tsunade and the Sandaime prepare to fight the Shodai Hokage.

As the battle progressed the Sandaime and Tsunade found it difficult to keep up with the Shodai, due to their injuries and weariness from battling for so long and hard.

It got even worse for the two when Orochimaru joined the fight, where he succeeded in wounding the Sandaime in his right arm with a slash from the Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

But as bad as things were, it was nothing compared to when the restored Nidaime Hokage appeared and fired a giant Water Dragon at Jiraiya. Who could not move since he was still gathering energy and was hit dead on by the Water attack and slammed into the large tree behind him.

"Jiraiya!" cried the Sandaime and Tsunade together, who could do nothing to help, since they had their hands full with Orochimaru and the Shodai Hokage.

"_Kukukuku…that's one down_" Orochimaru thought with a sickening smirk,.

But no sooner had this smirk appeared, it disappear just as quickly when a massive blast of fire erupted from the large hole Jiraiya made in the tree, when the Nidaime's Water Dragon hit him, and hit the brother of the Shodai Hokage dead on, blasting him away.

After the blast, everyone's attention turned to the direction of where the blast came from and could hear voices talking from the hole inside the tree.

"**_Hey Kid, why'd always summon us ta annoyin' places like this?_**" said a female voice. "**_It's no wonder Bunta is always so ticked off with you!_**" (3)

"**_Ah don't be like that, Ma_**" said another voice which was clearly male. "**_Jiraiya-chan always has his reason for doin' it, besides…_**"

"**_For cryin' out loud, be quite, Pa!_**" said the female voice angrily.

"I know it's been a while, and I truly do apologize for meeting you both again in such a place, Ma, Pa" said Jiraiya.

"**_It's alright forget it, but still, kid…weren't ya complainin' that tha way this form affects yer face will chase away them dames?_**" said the male voice.

"Yeah well, like it or not, it's something I have to deal with. My opponents are Orochimaru the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage-sama's, whom Orochimaru revived and is controlling with the **Edo Tensei** (Impure World Reincarnation)."

"**_Orochimaru…? Edo Tensei…? And the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage-sama's…?... Are you serious Jiraiya-chan?_**" the male voice asked in surprise.

"I'm afraid so" replied Jiraiya.

"**_Well then I guess it can't be helped then_**" said the male voice.

Moments later Jiraiya finally emerged from the hole, allowing everyone to see him.

When Jiraiya emerged from the hole in the tree everyone could see that his appearance had changed. The lines on his face had become much thicker; taking over each side of his face. His nose had grown bigger and gained warts, and he had gained excess hair and toad-like eyes. But the most notable change to his appearance was the two small toads, who were wearing capes, fused to his shoulder, making it seem like he had three heads.

The first Toad on Jiraiya's right shoulder was green in colour and was clearly male, given his appearance. He had white hair styled in somewhat like a Mohawk, along with thick eyebrows and a small goatee.

The second Toad on Jiraiya's left shoulder was green underside with purple marking around her mouth and the back of her body. The top of her head looked as though she is wearing a hair net with hair-rollers underneath, giving her an 'old woman' look."

"**_You should really learn how t'use Sage Mode by yourself, Jiraiya-chan_**" said the male Toad.

"Sorry Pa, but when compared to you two, I have still have a long way to go. But for now can you lead me a hand with these three?"

"**_Hmph, well we can't very well go and leave you here t'fend for yourself_**" replied the female Toad.

"Heh, thanks Ma" replied Jiraiya with a smirk before he jumped out of the hole and down onto the tile roof, causing a small crater as he landed, surprising those around.

"_So that's Jiraiya's Sage Mode?_" Tsunade thought to herself when she saw her team-mates new appearance.

"_It seems things have now become even more difficult_" Orochimaru thought with a frown.

"Interesting" commented the Shodai Hokage, "_Looks like Sarurobi's student can use Sage mode too._"

* * *

"What's going on? What has happened? What are those Toads on Jiraiya-sama's head" asked one of the ANBU.

"I'm not certain…but I believe that is Jiraiya-sama's Sage Mode" answered the ANBU commander.

"Sage Mode?" repeated the second ANBU.

"Yes, I had heard stories about, but in honestly I did not know if they were true or not" replied the ANBU commander. "According to the stories, when in this form, Jiraiya's powerful is greatly magnified."

"Then there's a chance he could defeat Orochimaru and the Hokage-sama's" said the first ANBU.

"Perhaps, but it is too soon to tell."

* * *

After Jiraiya made his appearance in his new form, the Nidaime Hokage reappeared and re-joined Orochimaru and the Shodai Hokage.

Like his brother, Tobirama eyed Jiraiya's new form with interest.

"**_So that's yer old team-mate Orochimaru?_**" Ma remarked as she eyed the Snake Sennin carefully and could sense the dark malevolent aura coming from him.

"**_And those are indeed tha Shodai Hokage-sama an' tha Nidaime Hokage-sama_**" said Pa as he narrowed his eyes.

Shortly after Tsunade and Sarutobi made their way over to Jiraiya and stood next to the Toad Sennin.

"Heh, so this is the Sage Mode that you use to brag about so much…" commented Tsunade with a small smirk. "I just hope it was worth all the trouble we went through."

"Trust me hime, you will be in complete awe of my power, once I cut lose" replied Jiraiya with his own smirk before a serious look appeared.

"You and Sensei should step back, both of you have done more than enough…it's time I pulled my weight."

"Are you sure you can handle them both by yourself?" the Sandaime asked, not liking the idea of leaving Jiraiya to fight Orochimaru and the two Hokages by himself.

"**_He won't be alone, he'll have us!_**" Ma said with a confidant look, "**_Besides ya two are both too tired and injured ta keep up with us, ya'll just get in tha way._**"

"**_Ma's right, ya both need to rest for a bit an' treat you injuries while ya can, leave these three ta Jiraiya-chan an' us_**" said Pa.

Knowing that the two old Toad Sages were right, both Tsunade and Sarutobi jumped back to a safe spot, allowing Tsunade to treat their respected injuries.

At the same time, Jiraiya slowly walked over to Orochimaru and the two former Hokages, and stopped when they were only a few meters apart.

"So this is your Sage Mode?" commented Orochimaru in a mocking tone, "Well I must say Jiraiya-kun, it's a rather becoming look for you...kukukuku"

Ignoring his former friend's taunts, Jiraiya calmly stared at the three Shinobi, waiting to see which of them would make the first move.

"**_Geez, this just had to happen durin' our dinner time_**" grumbled Ma.

"**_Ma, instead of dinner, focus on tha enemy._**"

"**_Excuse me?!_**"

"Well I guess it's finally time for the main event" said Jiraiya as he slowly began to go into his introduction dance. "For now on, I'll switch from my Ninjutsu to my Senjutsu! Behold my angelic halo, shinning from the heavens above! The gallant Jira—Gauh!

"**_STOP YELLING INTO MY EAR, DANG IT_**_!_" shouted Ma and Pa together, as they punched Jiraiya in opposite cheeks, squishing his face together.

"_Way is it that there is always someone ruining my poses?_" Jiraiya thought sadly.

"**_Now, let's hurry up an' get this over with_**" an annoyed Ma said, "**_I need ta put the dinner on._**"

"**_Ma, could ya forget about dinner for the moment?_**" said an irritated Pa. "**_We gotta worry 'bout the two revived Hokages, they practically indestructible thanks to the Edo Tensei!_**"

"**_Shut your trap! I'm the one makin' the dinner every day! It's tough bein' a housewife these days, ye senile old fart!_**"

"**_What's tha hell's yer problem, woman?! I'm over here worryin' about ya and ya just just keep mouthin' off at me!_**"

"_Now, who are the ones screaming in whose ear?_" Jiraiya thought as he listened to the two old couple argue with one another, while shouting in both his ears.

At the same time, everyone who was watching the three Toad Sages all had large sweat drops on the back of their heads, and were unsure how to make the situation. Given how Ma and Pa had completely forgotten about the situation they were in and were too busy arguing with one another to care.

Having enough of the two old Toad's bickering, Orochimaru ordered the Nidaime Hokage to attack.

But just as the former Hokage had reached Jiraiya, he was sent flying back with incredible force and into a large tree directly behind Orochimaru, thanks to a strong kick from the Gama Sennin.

"Hmmm…Impressive" Orochimaru remarked, who was completely unfazed by what just happened.

"Now then, can we save your martial disputes for a later time and finish thing already?" Jiraiya asked, hoping that his two teachers wound turn their attention on their opponents.

"**_Hmph, I guess I'll just fry somethin' up then_**" Ma said before preforming a hand-seal. "**_Kid, you bring tha oil, Pa you brin' tha Wind!_**"

"Right!" said both male Toad Sages, who like Ma formed their own hand-seals and in hailed deeply. After which the three Toad Sages thought "**_Senpō: Goemon_** (Sage art: Goemon)!" where Pa spat out a large stream of Wind, which combined with the large stream of oil that Jiraiya spat out, and the large stream of fire from Ma. Combined together, the three techniques created a giant wave of boiling oil that encompassed the entire arena and enveloped Orochimaru and the Shodai Hokage.

At the same time, Tsunade and the Sandaime were forced to jump up into the trees for safety due to the boiling oil covering much of the rooftop.

"_Damnit Jiraiya you idiot, don't forget we're here too!" _Tsunade thought angrily as she and Sarutobi watch the boiling oil cover the rooftop and slowly start to burn the surrounding trees.

After a few minutes the level of the oil began to fall, due to the large holes Tsunade made in the roof when she was fighting the Shodai Hokage.

Once the boiling oil had all but gone, Jiraiya looked to see how much damage his attack caused. But too his surprise instead of seeing charred burnt bodies, like the Nidaime Hokage, he saw a large wooden dome, which had somehow withstood the attack.

"Shit, his Mokuton techniques are a lot stronger than I thought" Jiraiya commented, before jumping into the air and said "But's let's see how you do against this…**Chōōdama Rasengan** (Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Sphere)!" and created a giant **Rasengan** that was easily three times his own size.

But when the attack hit, instead of breaking, the wooden dome withstood the attack and actually pushed Jiraiya and his attack back.

"Impossible! How did it withstand Jiraiya's attack?" Tsunade said in shock, while treating the Sandaime.

Sarutobi on the other hand was not surprised that the Shodai's wooden dome had withstood and forced Jiraiya's **Chōōdama Rasengan** back. Before his death, the Shodai had once told Sarutobi about his final battle against Madara. Who had summoned the Kyubi in an attempt to overthrow Hashirama from his position as Hokage. During the battle, the Kyubi had used its **Bijūdama **(Tailed Beast Ball), which Hashirama blocked and deflected with the very same defence. This was why it was no surprise to the Sandaime that the Shodai's **Mokujōheki** (Wood Locking Wall) was strong enough to not only block Jiraiya's attack, but also force it back, since the **Rasengan** was based on the **Bijūdama**.

After being forced back by the Shodai's wooden dome defence, Jiraiya flipped through the air and landed on a large tree branch.

"_I don't believe it…I was once able to hollow out an entire mountain with that technique, and yet he threw it back at me like it was a beach ball_" thought the Toad Sage with a stunned look.

Shortly after Jiraiya was thrown back, the Shodai lowered the wooden dome around him and Orochimaru, who had a large smirk on his face. "_What one would expect from the man who once held the title of Kami no Shinobi__._"

As Jiraiya stared down at Orochimaru and the revived Shodai Hokage, Pa suddenly shouted, "Behind you!"

Heading the old Toad's warning, Jiraiya glanced back and saw the Nidaime Hokage appear behind him.

Acting quickly, Pa took out a smoke bomb from his robs and threw it, causing it to explode and create a large cloud of smoke.

Using the smoke as cover Jiraiya sneaked up behind the Nidaime Hokage and punched him right in the face, sending the former Hokage flying forward and crashing onto the tile roof below.

After seeing the Nidaime being sent flying out of the cloud of smoke, Orochimaru and the Shodai waited for Jiraiya to appear out of the smoke.

Knowing this, Jiraiya then sent out a small Toad summon to distract them, allowing him to sneak up behind them and use his **Kebari Senbon** (Hair Needle Senbon) technique to fire a barrage of Chakra enhanced hair strands.

But to his shock, the Shodai Hokage was somehow able to react in time to block the technique by creating a wooden wall in behind him and Orochimaru, protecting them from the hair needles.

**"**_The Shodai Hokage-sama doesn't waste a single move, if he and Orochimaru had tried to dodge, I would've had them. Instead he created a wooden wall to shield an attack coming from behind… He really is a terrifying man._"

"**_Jiraiya-chan, looka!_**" shouted Pa suddenly and pointed toward Tsunade, who was still treating the Sandaime.

When Jiraiya turned to Tsunade's and Sarutobi's direction, he saw the renewed Nidaime Hokage racing towards them.

"Damn it, Tsunade is too busy treating Sarutobi-sensei to defend herself in time" Jiraiya thought.

"**_Don't ca worry Jiraiya-chan, we'll deal with him_**" Ma said as she formed a single hand-seal and thought "**_Zessenbaku_** (Fighting Tongue Bind)!" and channelled her Senjutsu Chakra into her tongue, allowing it to grown to its maximum length, and fired it at the Nidaime Hokage.

Seeing her deceased ancestor racing towards her, Tsunade tried to move the Sandaime out of the way. But before the Nidaime could reach them, Ma's tongue appeared and wrapped itself around the former Hokage, restraining him and holding him in mid-air.

After capturing the Nidaime, Ma then had her tongue throw the late Hoage into the air, allowing Pa to hit him with his **Zessenzan** (Fighting Tongue Slash), splitting the former Senju Clan head in two. (4)

"Nice one" said Jiraiya before he was force to jump away to avoid a sword strike from Orochimaru.

But no sooner had he jumped up into the air, Orochimaru used his **Sen'eijashu** (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to fire several snakes at his former team-mate, which wrapped themselves around Jiraiya's left leg.

This then allowed Orochimaru to swing the Toad Sage around and into a tree.

Unfortunately though for the former Sannin, the attack did little damage to Jiraiya, who easily picked himself up after crashing into the large tree. Since thanks to the enhence durability of being in the Sage Mode, Jiraiya could fall on a bed of spikes and come out of it without so much as a scratch.

Realizing he needed to even the playing field, Jiraiya quickly made a shadow clone of himself and had it attacked the Shodai Hokage, while he dealt with Orochimaru.

After being created, Jiraiya's shadow clone quickly  
started forming hand seals and thought "**_Katon: Dai Endan_** (Fire Style: Big Flame Bullet)!" before expelling a massive fire blast.

With no time to waste the Shodai Hokage used his **Mokujōheki** (Wood Locking Wall) to protect himself from the Fire blast. After which he then created several wooden tentacles underneath Jiraiya's clone and had them wrap themselves around him. But before they could fully bind the clone, it switched itself with a wooden log and escaped the binds. After which the clone used **Yomi Numa** (Swamp of the Underworld) to turn the tile roof underneath the Shodai's feet into mud, causing him to sink into it like quicksand.

Acting quickly the Shodai immediately formed a ram seal and channelled his Chakra underneath him, causing a large number of large wooden tentacles to form underneath him and lift him out of the miniature swamp.

Once he was free, the Shodai then had his wooden tentacles attack Jiraiya's clone. Who was force to jump around to avoid them, but was eventually hit by the late Hokage. Who appeared above him and kicked him hard in the side of the head, causing him to disappear.

As soon as he had dealt with Jiraiya's clone, the Shodai turned to the real Jiraiya who was busy fighting with Orochimaru.

For the most part of their fight Orochimaru struggled with holding Jiraiya off, given how his Sage Mode proved more formable than he had anticipated, where it not only increased his strength, durability and Ninjutsu. But also increased his speed, he was only just able to keep his former team-mate at bay by using the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. But he soon lost that advantage when Ma pulled the sword out of his hand with her long tongue, giving Jiraiya the chance to punch his former comrade.

Seeing the punch, Orochimaru quickly moved his head out of the way, but no sooner had he done this, he was sent flying away by a powerful hit and crashed into one of the nearby trees.

"_How did that Jiraiya do that? I'm certain I avoided his hit, but he was still able to hit me?_" Orochimaru thought in confusion, before Jiraiya appeared in front of him and prepared to deliver the final blow.

"This is where it heads Orochimaru!" said Jiraiya with a determined look. But before he could deal the fatal blow, the Toad Sage was sent flying sideways by a powerful kick from the Nidaime Hokage who suddenly reappeared next to Orochimaru.

Recovering quickly, Jiraiya prepared to attack, but before he could do anything, he heard Ma shout, "**_Jiraiya-chan look out!_**"

Looking up, Jiraiya saw the Shodai Hokage flying in the air, preparing to hit him.

"_Damnit_" thought Jiraiya, knowing he could not block or dodge this attack in time. But before the Shodai could hit him, he was sent flying by a double kick from Tsunade and the Sandaime, who now appeared next to Jiraiya.

"Looks like I owe both again…thanks."

"No thanks needed Jiraiya" replied Sarutobi.

"You sure your well enough to continue fighting old man?"

"I will be fine Jiraiya, I have no intention of dying just let."

"Just try not to use too much of you Chakra sensei, I may be able to help heal your body, but I can't restore your Chakra reserves, which are already pretty low" warned Tsunade.

"Your concern in appreciated Tsunade, but I have no intention of leaving all the fighting to you and Jiraiya. This is my mistake and I intent to fix it, no matter the cost" the old Hokage replied stubbornly.

As the three Konoha-nins continue to speak to one another, the Shodai Hokage quickly moved over to Orochimaru and his brother. After which then Nidaime began forming hand-seals before yelling "**Genjutsu: Kokuangyo no Jutsu** (Illusion Technique: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique)!" causing the entire area to be once again encased in darkness.

"Shit, not this technique again" grumbled Jiraiya, where he, Tsunade and Sarutobi were force on the defensive, and went back to back with one another, making sure that Orochimaru or the former Hokages did not sneak up on them.

-Enter Naruto OST 3 Hokage Theme-

After taking up their positions next to one another, the Sandaime and his two former students waited and listened quietly for the sound of incoming any attacks, which soon came in the form of Shuriken

Hearing the sound of the spinning Shuriken the three Shinobi acted quickly using their quick reflexes, which they developed from years of battle, to deflect the flying Shuriken.

But as they were busy deflecting the projectiles, the Shodai and the Nidaime snuck up on the three Shinobi, where the Shodai punched the Sandaime in the stomach, sending him flying. After which the Nidaime came up behind both Tsunade and Jiraiya and kicked them in the back, sending them flying in opposite directions.

Recovering quickly, the three Konoha Shinobi landed on their feet and tried to defend themselves in the darkness, listening for any sounds.

Shortly after, they heard the sounds of feet racing toward each of them and were forced to defend themselves from different attack.

Like Jiraiya and the Sandaime, Tsunade fought furiously against her opponent. Who she soon realized was her grandfather, after getting stabbed in the leg by a wooden spear.

After breaking the spear and pulling it out of her leg, Tsunade pressed on with the fight, unwilling to give up the female Senju leapt into the air and attempted another falling axe kick. Only to miss when the Shodai took a step back and then preformed a leg swipe, which Tsunade avoided by jumping into the air and flipping over her grandfather.

Once her feet were back on the tiled rooftop, Tsunade made a series a lightning fast japs that were enhance with her super strength. But each and every single one of them were skilfully avoided or deflected by her grandfather. Who then tried to hit her with spinning backhand, but missed when she ducked under it and hit him with a powerful uppercut that nearly blew the Shodai's head off.

Realizing she had the advantage, Tsunade tried to finish it with one more punch to the stomach with her right arm. But before she could hit him, Tsunade suddenly found her right arm caught in the Shodai's wooden binds and thrown across the ground.

At the same time at other end of the field the dark field, the Sandaime was busy fighting Orochimaru, where he was eventually able to knock Orochimaru sword out of his hand.

Despite being disarmed by the Sandaime, Orochimaru continued mock the old Hokage as they fought.

"Do you really think you can win Sensei?" Orochimaru asked mockingly "This village is not only being attacked by my forces, but by the forces of Sunagakure. Your people… The Konoha Shinobi will all die, right down to the last woman and child, none will be spared! The destruction of Konoha will succeed!"

After saying this Orochimaru kicked the Sandaime in the stomach and started to laugh.

"That will never happen" spoke Sarutobi as he held his stomach in pain and used Enma as support. "As Hokage it is my duty to protect Konoha, like all those before me who had held the title of Hokage, I am the man who inherited the Will of Fire from the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokage…the will of Konoha. So, you cannot easily defeat us!"

"Fufufufu… What a load of dribble, it's nothing more than a bad joke!" said Orochimaru. "You are merely the temporary head of an organisation called Konoha…Even the carved stones faces will eventually weather away and decay."

"Hmph, if you really think that Orohimaru, then you are more of a fool than I realized" Sarutobi remarked with a painful smirk as he thought about all the different people in his village. "The village of Konoha is not just an organisation to me! Many Shinobi are born in this village every year, and they grow…like those before them they live, fight and die to protect this village. Even though many of them are not blood related…they all share the same will…and are a family."

"Heh, Then I will break you, its support, along with Jiraiya and Tsunade, and destroy the house you Konoha" retorted the Snake Sennin.

"Even if you kill me, the support will not be broken, not even if you somehow kill Tsunade and Jiraiya as well. A new Hokage will rise to stop you and he or she will have inherited the Will of Fire from me, which was passed down by those who held the title before me, just as the Yondaime Hokage did."

"Tsk, The Will of Fire, you still rambling about that...?" Orochimaru said with a sneer. "It's nothing but a fickle flame, that is on the verge of dying out along with this village

"You still do not understand…Orochimaru?" said the Sandaime. "You should not underestimate us or the Shinobi of our village! Like us they will fight you with their very lives to defend this village, and you have clearly forgotten what I have taught you. That when a Shinobi fights to protect something that is important to them, their true strength will appear…you will never succeed!"

Annoyed by his old Sensei continued defiance, Orochimaru went back on the attack.

Not far from them an injured Tsunade struggled to get up, holding her now bleeding arm and leg.

"Damnit" cursed Tsunade as she tried to form a hand seal to use a healing jutsu. But was forced down by a strong kick to the chest and was followed by someone placing their foot on her throat, nearly crushing it.

In an attempt force her late grandfather off her, Tsunade tried to grab his leg with her uninjured hand, but was stopped when the Shodai placed his other foot on her hand, nearly breaking it in the process.

"_No, I can't die now…not like this!_" Tsunade thought as tried to think of a way to free herself, since she couldn't use her injured arm.

"I am sorry Tsunade…please forgive me" said the Shodai sadly as he held a Kunai in the air and prepared to stab Tsunade in the head.

Knowing what was to come, Tsunade instinctive closed her eye, (ignoring that fact that she couldn't see to begin with) and silently prayed that her son would be safe and that Shizune and the others would be there for him.

But before the fatal blow could be dealt, the famed Senju Clan head was sent flying off his granddaughter by a powerful kick to the face that sent him crashing right into his brother. Who had been fighting Jiraiya and had inadvertently ended up being the Shodai's path when he was sent flying by the unknown person's kick.

- End Naruto OST 3 Hokage Theme-

After the Shodai crashed into the Nidaime Hokage, the Genjutsu immediately dispelled itself, allowing Tsunade and the others to see again.

At the same time, Tsunade slowly opened her eyes after feeling the Shodai getting off her.

Once her eyes fully opened, she saw the Genjutsu being lifted, allowing her to see who had saved her.

When she locked up to the person who had saved her, her eyes widened in shock when she saw a familiar mess of spikey blonde hair and an equally familiar long, short sleeve white coat with red flames on the edges.

At first upon seeing the person, Tsunade thought "_Minato?!_" But just as quickly as she thought this, reality caught up with her and she realized that she was in fact looking at her son Naruto. Who was staring angrily at his to ancestors, who were lying on top of one another.

"I don't care if you two are my ancestors, if either one of you tries to hurt my Kaa-chan again, I will put you both back into the ground…permanently!" Naruto said angrily as she started to crack his knuckles in a similar manner to his mother.

"_The kid!_" "Jiraiya thought in shock when he saw his godson. "What the blazes is he doing here?"

"**_Jiraiya-chan, who tha hell is that?!_**" Ma asked in surprise when she saw Naruto.

"That Tsunade's son Naruto!"

"**_Tsunade's son…? Then that mean he's…!_**" Ma said in surprise before she was stopped by her husband.

"**_Hush Ma, there no need for ya to say anymore, remember what Gamabunat told us._**"

At this the female Toad Sage just nodded, since Gamabunta had explained to them about Naruto along with why his full heritage needed to be kept secret.

After stopping his wife, Pa then turned to look at Naruto, who was still staring angrily at his late forefathers.

"_Tha resemblance is uncanny between tha two, with tha exception of a few small differences, he's tha spitting image of his father_" the old Toad Sage thought.

Pa and Ma had of course met Jiraiya's late student shortly after he made Jonin. Jiraiya had introduced the three in the hope that Minato would one day begin training as a Toad Sage and truly become Jiriaya's successor.

Sadly though that never happened since shortly after becoming Hokage, Konoha came under attack from the Kyuubi and Minato was force to sacrifice himself to protect Konoha.

At the same time Orochimaru and the Sandaime also stopped their fight when they saw Naruto kick the Shodai Hokage off Tsunade and into the Nidaime Hokage.

"_Naruto-kun…but how did he get by the barrier?_" the Sandaime thought in surprise.

"_It seems Kabuto failed_" Orochimaru thought with a small frown. "_No matter, in fact this makes things easier, after I've done with these three; I can take Naruto-kun myself._"

Seeing his former student was distracted with the arrival of Naruto, the Sandaime quickly took advantage of the situation and had Enma extend forward and hit the Snake Sennin in the stomach, sending the former Sannin crashing into one of the nearby trees.

Once Orochimaru had been dealt with, Sarutobi quickly leapt over to Naruto and Tsunade.

* * *

"What's fuck is going on? Who the hell is that brat?" said the red headed girl

"You need to calm down Tayuya and control your language" said the bulky teen. "As for that kid, I think that might be Senju Naruto, one of the potential vessels that Orochimaru-sama is after."

"I don't care who the hell he is, what I want to know is how the hell did he get in there?" said the white haired teen.

"Who knows, but I've got to admit, I like the kid's guts" remarked the four-armed Oto-nin with a small smirk.

* * *

"Is that Tsunade-sama son?" asked one of the ANBU shock.

"It can't be?" said the other ANBU in surprise

"It is, but how on earth was he able to bypass the barrier, when we couldn't?!" asked the ANBU Commander out loud.

* * *

"Naruto…? But, but how did you…what are you doing here?!" shouted a stunned Tsunade as she tried to stand up, but was stopped by the pain from her wounds.

Seeing this Naruto quickly went over to his mother and used **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystic Palm technique) to heal her wounds.

"Don't move Kaa-chan, let me heal you."

"Forget about me, tell why you're here…better yet tell me how you even got here in the first place?" Tsunade asked urgently.

"That's what we would like to know as well?" asked Jiraiya who appeared next to the two blonde Senju's along with the Sandaime.

As he continued to heal his mother's injured, Naruto glanced up at the Toad Sage and was surprise at his godfather's new appearance, given how he hadn't really took notice of it until now. Given how he had been so focused on saving his mother.

"Eh Ero-sennin, what happened to your face, better yet why do you have three heads" Naruto joked as he fought hard not to laugh a little.

"**_We're not head's, we're revered Toad Sages!_**" yelled the two elder toads angrily

"This is my Toad Sage mode you daff brat…! And when the hell are you going to stop calling me by that name and start treating me with some respect!"

"The moment you stop peaking in on girls when they are bathing" retorted Naruto with cheeky smirk, which grew when Ma slapped Jiraiya on the back of the head for having so little respect for women.

Pa on the other hand chuckled slightly after hearing Naruto's nickname for Jiraiya, since he had to admit, it suited his old student perfectly.

Soon enough though the mood took a more serious matter and everyone had a sombre look.

"Now then perhaps you can tell us Naruto-kun how did you get inside the barrier?" Sarutobi asked.

"I got in by having Katsuya's clone use the **Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Reverse Summoning Technique) to teleport me to the slugs home in the Shikkotsu Forest. From there she then used Kaa-chan link to summon us here" answered Naruto as finished healing his mother's leg and started on her arm. (5)

"Katsuya!" Tsunade said in surprise, after which she finally took notice of the small slug clone on Naruto's left shoulder.

"**_My apologies Tsunade-sama, Naruto-dono was quite insistent in coming here to help you_**" spoke the small Slug Clone.

At the same time Jiraiya, Sarutobi and the two Toad Sages had to silently compliment Naruto on coming up with such a clever way in bypassing the barrier.

"Kukukuku…Very clever Naruto-kun, you never cease to impress me" spoke Orochimaru who was now in front of the group and was joined by the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokage.

"Kaa-chan?" repeated the Shodai with a surprised look, before smiling, "Then that would make him my Great Grandson…! This is awesome, I have a Great Grandson!"

"So you had a son Tsunade?" spoke the Nidaime as he looked at Tsunade and then at Naruto. "It pleases me to know that our family's line still continues."

"He also has a pretty strong kick as well" the Shodai remarked with a smirk as he, "I can also tell from looking in his eyes that he has inherited my will, and that the Will of Fire burns strongly in him."

"I must say Naruto-kun, I'm rather surprised that you are here, I was certain that my people would have captured you by now."

"If you're referring to that traitor Kabuto-teme, he's a little busy with some friends of mine" Naruto spat angrily, before he started to smirk a little. "Also I think you should know that I've taken care of Gaara, so he won't be releasing Shukaku anytime soon."

Upon hearing this, a large frown appeared on Orochimaru face, since Gaara had been a major component to the destruction of Konoha.

Tsunade and the others on the other hand smiled at the news, as it gave them hope.

"_Well done my boy_" thought a smiling Sandaime, before he hunched over slightly in pain and held his side in pain from the broken ribs he received earlier from Orochimaru's kick. "_Curse my frail old body._"

Seeing the Sandaime hunching over, Tsunade quickly turned to Naruto, who had just finished healing her wounded arm.

"Naruto stay back and help Sarutobi-sensei, Jiraiya and I will hold back Orochimaru and the Hokage-sama's."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto quickly went over to his surrogate grandfather and helped him behind a large nearby tree, where he could heal him.

Under most circumstances Naruto would have argued with his mother, stating he wanted to help. But given how they were facing Orochimaru and the revived Shodai and Nidaime Hokages he knew that now was not the time to argue.

"Come on Jiji, I'll help you" said Naruto as he helped the old Hokage over to the tree.

"Thank you Naruto-kun and I'm sorry you have to carry me like this."

"Don't sweat it jiji."

Seeing Naruto taking his old sensei way, Orochimaru quickly ordered the Shodai and the Nidaime to attack and capture Naruto. But as the two Hokages raced towards the two, they were intercepted by Jiraiya and Tsunade. Who made sure that neither the deceased Hokages nor Orochimaru could get by them.

As the battle between the five Shinobi waged, Naruto was busy treating Sarutobi's internal injuries with the help of Katsuya's clone. Who had moved off Naruto and onto the Sandaime and supplied healing Chakra to the old man.

"You should not have come here Naruto-kun, this place is much too dangerous" said Sarutobi as he looked at the blonde boy.

"Tsk, like hell I couldn't, you guys are my family so there is no way I'm going to sit back and let anyone in my family be killed" replied Naruto as he focused on healing his surrogant grandfather and didn't bother to look up at the old Hokage.

Smiling kindly at the boy, in a way that only a grandfather could, the Sandaime was reminded of Shodai's earlier statement about how the Will of Fire burned strongly in Naruto.

"You're a good boy Naruto…just like your father" the Sandaime said as he panted Naruto gently on the head in a caring manner.

"**_Sarutobi, is this boy really Tsunade's son?!_**" Enma spoke, who was still in his staff form but opened one of his eyes to look at the two.

Knowing he could trust Enma, Sarutobi decided to tell his old friend the truth.

"Yes, Naruto is Tsunade's son…and he is also the Yondaime Hokages son."

"**_The Yondaime Hokage!_**" repeated Enma in shock, where his one visible eye widened in disbelief at the news, since it was surprising enough to hear that Tsunade had a child. But to hear that the Yondaime Hokage was the boy's father, it was more than the old Monkey could take.

Looking at Naruto again, the old monkey could indeed see the resemblance between the two.

"_Yes I see I can't believe that I didn't see the resemblance between the two of them sooner_" thought the Monkey king. With the exception of his nose, chin, ears, and his skin colour (which was lighter than the Yondaime), Naruto was almost an exact image of his father. The resemblance was highlighted even further with Naruto wearing the replica coat that his father wore.

"Here Jiji you should take one of these you will probably need it" said Naruto as he took out and handed the Sandaime a food pill.

Grateful for the pick-me-up Sarutobi quickly took the small pill and after a few seconds could feel Chakra filling his body.

While Naruto continued to heal his surrogate grandfather, his attention soon diverted to his mother who shouted, "Sensei, Naruto watch out!"

Looking past the tree they were hiding behind, Naruto saw the Shodai, who had somehow gotten by Tsunade and Jiraiya and was racing towards them.

Before either Naruto or the Sandaime could do anything about it, the Shodai appeared in front of them and hit Sarutobi away.

"My apologies my young descendant, but I have no choice in the matter" said the Shodai as he grabbed Naruto by the neck and lifted him up into the air.

But no sooner had he done this, "Naruto" reverted into a wooden log revealing that the younger Senju had replaced himself.

Realizing what Naruto had done, Hashirama quickly scanned the field for the spikey hair blonde.

Within moments the Konoha founder found his young descendant, who was only a couple of meters away from him and spat out several large balls of Water.

With little time to waste, the former Senju Clan head skilfully evaded all of Naruto's Water balls and then formed a single hand-seal and extended his arm forward. After which then he yelled "**Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu **(Wood Release: Great Forest Technique)!" where his arm changed into a large tree and fired multiple wooden spears at Naruto, in an attempt to capture him.

Seeing the wooden spears heading for him and knowing he couldn't avoid them all. Naruto preformed three quick hand-seals and yelled "**Mokuton: Mokujōheki!**" creating a large wooden dome around himself, protecting him from the wooden spears.

Surprised by this, Hashirama was barely able to avoid the several wooden tentacles that erupted from the roof tiles underneath him.

Shortly after the Shodai avoided the wooden tentacles, Naruto had his wooden barrier recede, where he then saw his ancestor heading straight for him.

Acting quickly, Naruto formed several more hand-seals and fired several wooden projectiles from his hands, which the Shodai deflected with the metal plates on his arms. After which he raced up to Naruto and he kneed his granddaughter's son hard in the stomach, sending the young boy crashing into a tree.

But before the Shodai could act on what he had done, Naruto used his **Banmuchi **(_Vine Whip_) technique to fire several vines from his arm.

Seeing the vines, the Shodai easily sidestepped them and then grabbed hold of the long vines as they went by him and used them to pull Naruto over to him, where he kicked him again, causing the boy to fall to the ground.

"Oh this is great, you can use Mokuton too?!" said the Shodai, with a surprise and excited look. Before turning serious again as he kneeled down to pick Naruto up. "In fact it seems that your Mokuton limit is even more advanced than my own. It's increditable that you have learned to use it so well at your age."

"_He might just be the one…and do what I could not_" the former Hokage thought.

Unwilling to give up, Naruto brought his fist up and tried to hit his great grandfather with a super-charged fist to the face. But before his fist could hit the former Hokage, the Shodai caught Naruto's wrist and placed it in an arm lock, preventing the young blonde from moving.

But just when the Shodai thought he had captured Naruto suddenly heard a familiar female voice yell, "Get away from him!"

Before the Shodai could even turn to the direction of the voice, he was sent flying by a supercharged fist, which sent him through two trees and right into the barrier, causing him to burst into flames.

Once the Shodai was sent flying, Naruto quickly found himself being helped up by his mother.

"Naruto are you okay?" asked a worried Tsunade as she quickly looked over her son for any serious injuries.

"I'm fine Kaa-chan" assured Naruto.

"Good, now where's Katsuya's clone? Have her reverse summoning you back to the Shikkotsu Forest."

"I can't…!" replied Naruto, "She was on Jiji when the Shodai kicked him away."

"_Damnit_" Tsunade thought angrily, since she didn't want her son to be here since it was too dangerous. "Fine then, go fine somewhere to hide and stay there until it is safe."

After hearing this Naruto naturally wanted to argue with his mother, since he hated the idea of hiding while his family were fighting for their lives. But after his brief skirmish with his great grandfather, he became even more obvious to him that he was out of league here and that he would only get in the way.

"Okay I will"

"Good boy" replied Tsunade with a smile before kissing her son on the forehead and then taking off to help Jiraiya and the Sandaime. Who had just re-joined the battle.

Making his way up to the top of one of the trees, Naruto watched from his hiding spot as his family fought against Orochimaru and the Nidaime.

Despite being outnumber the fallen Sannin and the former Hokage were more than able to hold their own. But as the fight dragged on the Shodai Hokage reappeared, causing the battle to return to a three on three battle. His mother faced Orochimaru, Jiraiya went up against the Shodai and the Sandaime fought the Nidaime.

As the battle continued, the Sandaime tried to catch his old sensei off-guard by using **Doryū Taiga** (Earth Flow River) technique to turn the tiles underneath the Nidaime into a river of mud. This then caused the former Hokage to lose his balance, allowing the Sandaime throw a single shuriken at the Nidaime and use his **Kage Bunshin Shuriken no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Shuriken technique) to turn one shuriken into a thousand shuriken.

At the same time in a remarkable feat of speed and skill the Sandaime used a Katon Ninjutsu and blew it into the spinning projectiles, covering them in flames, increasing attacking power.

Unable to do anything the Nidaime just watched as the flaming projectiles shredded his body and caused it to burst into flames. But as soon as this happened, the "Nidaime" reverted into Water, revealing that he had replaced himself with a Water Clone.

Realizing he had been tricked the Sandaime started to scan the field for his opponent, but before he could finish looking around he heard Katsuya Clone, (who was on his shoulder), shout, "**_Hokage-sama above you!_**"

Looking up, Sarutobi saw the Nidaime fall toward him where his arm covered in a large amount of Water, in the shape of a spinning drill. (A)

Not wanting to be hit, the Sandaime quickly leaped back, and narrowly avoiding the attack, which created a large hole in the roof and caused the Water that made up the attack to fall into it, flooding the ground below.

After avoiding the deadly Water attack, the Sandaime immediately formed a new set of hand-seals and exhaled a large stream of fire from his mount.

Unafraid of the approaching Fire attack, the Nidaime formed five quick hand-seals and said "**Jikūkan Ninjutsu: Tenkan** (Space/time Ninja Technique: Divert)!" (B). He then raised the palm of his right hand up, which now had the symbol for "in" on it, and absorbed the Fire stream, (much to shock off the Sandaime and most of the others who saw this). After which he then raised his left palm up, which had the symbol for "out" on it, and released the Fire, which flew straight for the Sandaime, who could do nothing to avoid or block it.

But before the fire attack could hit, a large wooden dome appeared around the Sandaime and protected him from the fire attack.

Surprised by this, the Nidaime look around and soon saw Naruto standing up on the top of a large tree overlooking them.

Standing next to Naruto was also a clone that was busy preforming hand-seals for some sort of Jutsu.

"It seems Tsunade's son has inherited my brother's Mokuton powers" the Nidaime Hokage remarked, with a hit of surprise in his voice, since he did not think anyone other than his brother could perform Mokuton.

Moments later, Naruto had the wooden dome retreat back into the ground, revealing the Sandaime.

"**_It seems we own that boy our lives_**" commented Enma.

"It would seem so" replied Sarutobi, while he kept a close eye on his late teacher, who was eyeing Naruto. "_I foolish forgot about the Nidaime Hokage-sama **Tenkan **technique._"

As a former student of the Nidaime Hokage, Sarutobi was well aware that not only was the former Hokage a master without equal in Suiton Ninjutsu, but also a master in Jikūkan Ninjutsu.

The only person ever to surpass him in skill in Jikūkan Ninjutsu was Naruto's father the Yondaime Hokage. Who used his knowledge to create his fable **Hiraishin no Jutsu** (Flying Thunder God Technique).

After cursing himself for his thoughtlessness, the Sandaime glanced up at Naruto, and like the Nidaime noticed that Naruto had created a Shadow clone, which was just finishing up preforming its hand-seals.

When the clone had finished its hand-seals, it started to gathered up the moisture from the surrounding air and plants, causing all the leaves and most of the top portion of the large tree to wither.

Once it had gathered enough Water, the Water formed up into a massive Dragon. At the same time the real Naruto converted his Chakra in his hands into Lightning and channelled it into the Water Dragon, and yelled "**Raisuiryūdan **(_Lightning Water Dragon_Bullet)!" as he and the clone sent the attack forward.

"Impressive" commented the Nidaime Hokage when he saw Naruto and his clone not only create a massive Water Dragon from the moisture in the air and the surrounding plants. But also enhanced it with Lightning "_That boy certainly has a lot of promise; it seems he has also inherited my talent for Suiton Ninjutsu. But still… he is a long way from my level._"

Clasping his hands into a single hand seal, the Nidaime then began to gather the moisture from the surrounding air and created his own Water Dragon, which collided with Naruto's.

"_No way…! He created his own Water Dragon with just a single hand-seal!_" Naruto thought in disbelief, which only grew when the Nidaime's Water Dragon actually started to force his back and head straight for him.

Realizing he needed to move, Naruto quickly jumped off the tree he had been standing on, but his clone was not so fortunate, where it was hit full force by the Nidaime's Water Dragon.

"_Unbelievable!_" thought Naruto as he landed on the ground. "_He was actually able to force back my own Water Dragon…even when I enhanced it with my Lightning Chakra._"

In that moment Naruto was beginning to fully understand why people hailed his great, great uncle as the greatest Water manipulator who ever lived.

Shortly after recovering from his shock over what had just happened, Naruto notice the Nidaime Hokage racing towards him at frightening speed.

But before the former Hokage could reach him, he was sent flying back a few meters by the Sandaime, who appeared on his right side and kicked him in the side of the head.

After kicking the Nidaime, the Sandaime landed in front of Naruto, preventing the younger brother of Senju Hashirama from getting to his descendant.

"Naruto-kun, although I am appreciative of you for saving my life earlier on, you should leave, this is no place for you, as you are nowhere near ready to face opponents such as these. Please find somewhere safe and stay hidden" said Sarutobi without even looking at the blonde.

"**_Please follow the Hokage-sama request Naruto-dono, you're not safe here_**" spoke the Katsuya Clone who decided to stay on the Sandaime and channel her healing Chakra to him when he needed it.

Frustrated over how he could do so little to help Naruto quickly moved away to a safer location.

As soon as Naruto had left, the Nidaime Hokage picked himself up, where he glanced at the retreating Naruto before turning to his former student.

"It seems my great niece has raised an interesting young boy, Saru?" the Nidaime Hokage remarked with an intrigued smirk, while using his old nickname for the Sandaime. "I never would've expected him to inherit not only my brother's Mokuton Bloodline limit, but also my talent for Suiton Ninjutsu."

"Naruto-kun represents the promise of this new upcoming generation and I have seen with my own eyes their great potential."

"I see… that is how it should be, the next generation should always be stronger than the last" the Nidaime replied before falling into a Taijutsu stance, and prepared to continue his battle with his former student.

After leaving the Sandaime to fight the Nidaime Hokage, Naruto made is way over to large tree, where he planned to use it as cover, as he watched the battle. But before he could reach it, a large object suddenly flew right by him and crashed into said tree.

As the dust from the crash slowly began to settle, Naruto could hear several voices talking.

"OOOwww, Goddamit the Shodai sure knows how to hit" said a familiar voice.

"**_I told ca to watch out for his right_**" said a female voice.

"I did!"

"**_I meant my right!_**"

"**_Ma! We have the same right!_**" said another voice.

When the dust finally settled Naruto could see that the "object" that had flew past him was none other than his godfather Jiraiya, in his Sage Mode.

"Hey Ero-sennin are you okay?" Naruto asked as he jumped over to the Toad Sage.

"Nothing that a good sponge bath from a certain female medic couldn't cure… Uff!" said the white haired Sannin with a pervy grin, before he received a hard kick to the leg, from a certain young blonde Senju. Who had annoyed look on his face and a large tick mark over his head.

"What was that for!?"

"That's for thinking of Kaa-chan in one of your perverted fantasy!" Naruto rounded angrily.

"Hey! Who says I was thinking of your mom" retorted Jiraiya, while at the same time thinking of Tsunade in a sexy nurse outfit.

"Because I know you…! And stop thinking of Kaa-chan!" Naruto yelled after seeing that Jiraiya still had a pervert look on his face, where he kicked the man hard in his other leg.

"Ow…! That's no way to treat your elders' brat… Ack!" yelled Jiraiya before he was slapped in the back of the head by Ma.

"**_This is no time for you ta be daydreaming Jiraiya-chan!_**" rounded the female Toad Sage.

"Tsk…I get no respect from anyone" mumbled the annoyed Jiraiya as he rubbed the back of his head and lifted himself up.

No sooner had he gotten back on his feet, the Shodai appeared in front of them.

"Get back brat, you'll only get hurt if you stay here" said Jiraiya as he moved Naruto behind him.

"Are you sure you can handle him by yourselves, Kaa-chan always said that Hashirama-jiisan was incredible strong.

"Tch, that's put it mildly, to be honest kid, the Shodai was the strongest Shinobi who ever lived since the original Kami no Shinobi…" said Jiraiya.

"_The original Kami no Shinobi?_" thought Naruto curiously since the only person he had even heard being called by that title was the Sandaime.

But before Naruto could even ask his godfather about that, Jiraiya continued on speaking.

"…In fact even in my Sage Mode, I don't think I can beat him, the best I can do for now is hold him off."

"**_Just be thankful, tha Orochimaru held of their true strenght, if he was using his full strenght tha Shodai could and destroy tha entire village and kill us all single handily_**" said Pa, since the old Toad knew how powerful the Shodai Hokage really was.

"I'm aware of that" said Jiraiya

"Let me help" Naruto said, who despite knowing he was outmatched, wanted to help, even if it was only to given support.

"**_Out of the question!_**" shouted Ma suddenly, "**_Youngin's like you should stay back where it's safe and let us handle things!_**"

"Sorry brat but I with Ma on this one, besides if I did let you help, your mother would kill me for sure."

After being denied by Jiraiya, Naruto tightened his fist in anger over not being able to do so little to help. But before he could respond, both his and the three Toad Sages attention was drawn back to the Shodai Hokage. Who had summoned a large scroll next to him.

"_This can't be good_" thought Jiraiya, where he watched the former Hokage open the scroll and revealed a large number of weapons.

Taking up a large sword, the Shodai raced forward to attack Jiraiya, who immediately drew a Kunai from his hip pouch and used it to block the sword and push Konoha founder away.

But no sooner had Jiraiya pushed him away, the Shodai unleashed a hail of Shuriken, which Pa sent flying back with tremendous speed by expelling a large gust of Wind from his mouth.

Seeing this, the Shodai quickly used his Mokuton Bloodline to create a large tree which blocked the incoming Shuriken. After which the two Shinobi continued to clash blades with one another.

Shortly after, the Shodai jumped away from Jiraiya and created several wooden tentacles from the titled roof and had them take hold of the other weapons he had summoned. He then had the wooden tentacles use the weapons to attack Jiraiya from all sides, putting the white haired Sannin completely on the defensive.

"_Whoa, I gotta learn to do that._" Naruto thought as he watched his ancestor use his Mokuton Bloodline limit in ways he never thought of.

Eventually after several minutes of blocking and dodging attacks, Jiraiya finally found an opening where he used it to form a **Chōōdama Rasengan**, which he used to destroy the wooden tentacles and create another massive hole in the rooftop and force everyone inside it to scatter after the explosion.

"_Awesome!_" thought Naruto, after seeing Jiraiya use the **Chōōdama Rasengan**. "_I gotta get Ero-sennin to teach me that technique._"

After the explosion, the two opposing sides regrouped with their respected members and faced off against one another again.

Upon joining up with Jiraiya and the Sandaime, Tsunade notice that her son was with them.

"Naruto, I told you to stay hidden, what are you doing here?"

"Sorry Kaa-chan, but it's not my fault, I just keep getting caught up in the fights."

Grunting Tsunade shook her head in annoyance since Naruto always had trouble following orders when he thought he could help.

"This fight can't last much longer, if it drags on any further we'll lose" said Jiraiya.

"Agreed, we need to do something that will turn things to how favour" spoke the Sandaime.

"If we can take Orochimaru out, the odds would be more in our favour, even though eliminating him won't cancel the **Edo Tensei** (Impure World Reincarnation)."

"Leave Orochimaru to me" spoke Tsunade suddenly.

"Are you certain Tsunade?" Sarutobi asked.

"I am, after want that Snake has done to my family, I won't let anyone else do it. Both you and Jiraiya each had your chance in finishing him…now it's mine. Besides I have come up with something just for him" said the Slug princess as she showed a Kunai she had hidden in her robes before placing it back inside.

Under normal circumstances Jiraiya would have tried to stop Tsunade from facing someone like Orochimaru alone. But after seeing the look in his former team-mates eyes, the Toad Sage knew that trying would be pointless, since Tsunade was fixed on Orochimaru and would not be satisfied until she got her ten pounds of flesh from Orochimaru.

"Okay hime, you can have him, Sensei and I will keep the Shodai and the Nidaime busy while you handle Orochimaru."

Nodding her thanks Tsunade turned to look at Naruto again, "Naruto you stay back and don't try to help…I mean it this time."

"Okay Kaa-chan, I will" said Naruto, despite knowing he would probably break that promise if she saw his mother or the others in trouble.

Nodding to this Tsunade and the others quickly jumped over the large hole that Jiraiya's attack created and engaged their designated opponents.

As planned, Jiraiya and the Sandaime separated the two former Hokages from Orochimaru, leaving Tsunade and the Snake Sannin alone to fight. Who quickly put the Snake Sennin on the defensive.

Throughout the entire fight Orochimaru had been surprised by how well Tsunade was fairing against not only him but also against grandfather and great uncle.

Given the number of years she had spent in self-imposed exile, and in raising her son Naruto. Orochimaru had been certain that his former team-mate's fighting skills would have dulled from lack of training and fighting. But instead Tsunade fighting skills seemed to be as sharp as ever. Although she was still far from her prime, she had proved to be a difficult opponent; in fact the former Sannin noticed that some of Tsunade's fighting skills had even improved.

But what Orochimaru didn't know was that Tsunade had not been slacking off in her training, as he originally believed. In fact, the female Sannin had not only been keeping up with her training, but had intensified it. So that she would remain in the best possible shape, allowing her to protect her son in the event that the Akatsuki or another Shinobi group/village came after him, after learning of his existence before he was official revealed to the world.

"Fufufufufu…I have to say Tsunade you surprise me, you are faring much better than anticipated. But still…it's pointless, since you will st-Guwaa !" said Orochimaru before being sent flying back by a strong kick to the face.

"You know what your problem is Orochimaru…? You talk too much, now GET UP! I'm not done with you yet, you're going to pay for what you have done to family. And believe me, by the time I'm done with you, you're going to wish you were dead" said Tsunade as she start to crack her knuckles again. "But before that you're going to release my grandfather and uncle from the **Edo Tenshin**, then you will undo the curse seal from Naruto, and only then will you have my permission to die."

"And what if I were to refuse to do so?" the pale skinned man asked, as he slowly stood up and wiped the blood from his lip from Tsunade's kick.

"Oh you will, once I'm finished with you Orochimaru" Tsunade replied in a cold tone, which made even the former White Snake of Konoha warily of her. Since as a medic, Tsunade knew practically everything about the human body. Specifically what points in the human body can hurt the most and how much pain the human body can take before dying.

If Tsunade had not been a medic, she would've made a first class interrogator, better than even the infamous Morino _Ibiki of Konoha. Given how she _could heal almost any injury without difficulty, allowing her do torture him, (or anyone for that matter), in the worst possible manner, for however long she wanted.

Not wanting to underestimate Tsunade anymore than he already had Orochimaru struck first and spat out his long tongue at the female Sannin.

Seeing this, Tsunade tried to jump away to avoid it, but Orochimaru's tongue proved to be much faster than she was and wrapped itself around her neck.

"Kukukuku, I'll finish you, by breaking that pretty little neck of yours" Orochimaru chuckled. "Perhaps I'll even take your head and mount it on my wall as a trophy after I destroy Konoha."

"_Damnit…it's strong_" Tsunade thought, as she tried to keep the tongue from chocking the life out of her. "_Not to mention I don't have much Chakra left after fighting for so long._"

Knowing she had do something, Tsunade forced her right arm underneath the tongue, allowing her loosen the tongue grip around her neck and freeing herself. After which she then grabbed hold of Orochimaru's tongue and pulled the former Sannin towards her.

"Get over her you bastard!" yelled the angry woman

"_It's not possible!_" thought Orochimaru before Tsunade dislocated his jaw and sent him flying with a single punch.

But before he could even hit the title roof, Tsunade pulled him back by his tongue and yelled "I'm not done with you yet!" After which she then threw him up into the air and jumped after him, where she attempted to use her **Tsūtenkyaku** to send the former Sannin crashing down through the roof.

But before the attack could hit, Orochimaru used his body shedding technique to escape Tsunade's kick at the last second. After which Orochimaru, who had landed up high on the branch of a nearby tree, used his **Sen'ei Tajashu** technique to launch several snakes from his right sleeve, and had them wrap around Tsunade's, holding her in mid-air and pinning her arms to her sides.

He then pulled the woman over towards him and spat out his long tongue again and had it transform into a large Snake, which was to bite her in the neck with its poison filled fangs.

Before the snake could reach her, Tsunade kicked it away with her foot and the broke free from her Snake binds, using her own natural strength. (6)

Once she had broken free of the Snakes, Tsunade quickly maneuverer herself in the air, so that her feet would land on the side of a nearby tree trunk, allowing her to propel herlsef forward, towards Orochimaru. Who could not move away in time and was punched right in the face by Tsunade, who used her monstrous strength again and sent her former comrade crashing through another nearby tree and onto the titled roof.

After tearing up the roof tiles, Orochimari slowly got back onto his feet, were it not for the _enhancement_ he had done to himself over the years, in his quest for immortality. The Snake Sennin was certain he would be dead if not crippled after that last hit.

Slowly the Snake Sennin lifted himself up back onto his feet, but no sooner had he done this, he found himself under attack from a hail of shuriken.

Acting quickly Orochimaru moved out of the crater he had been standing in and evaded the spinning projectiles.

But no sooner had his feet touched the tiles of the roof, he saw Tsunade appear above him and unleash a hail of Senbon needles down on him, covering his entire body, which quickly turned into mud, revealing that he had replaced himself with a Earth Clone.

Shortly after Orochimaru emerged out of tiled floor behind Tsunade and attempted to attack her when her back was turned. But before he could strike, Tsunade spun around and kicked the fallen Sannin in the chest sending him crashing into one of the nearby trees. She then took out two Kunai from her robes and threw them at him, pinning his hands to the trunk of the tree, and preventing him from moving.

After which Tsunade then channelled the majority of her remaining Chakra into her right hand and raced towards Orochimaru, with the intent of finishing the man off once and for all.

"THIS IS THE END OROCHIMARU!"

Realizing the situation he was in, Orochimaru acted quickly and spat out his long tongue at Tsunade again, which wrapped itself around the blonde woman's waste and threw her into one of the trees next to him.

Once Tsunade had been dealt with Orochimaru quickly freed himself from the Kunai and threw them away. After which he slowly walked over to Tsunade who was holding her injured shoulder and was panting heavily, indicating that she was just about at her limit.

"Kukukukuku…it seems you were right Tsunade, this is the end…the end for you" said Orochimaru, as he prepared to deal the final blow.

But just as Orochimaru was about to finish Tsunade off, a sharp burning pain was felt from his hands.

Hissing in pain, Orochimaru held his hands up to his face and could see that the wounds on his hands had not yet healed. He could also see that the veins on his arms were now bright red and visible.

Seeing this, the injured Tsunade smirked in triumphant.

Noticing the smirk on the blonde woman's face Orochimaru quickly realized that not only was Tsunade the cause of what was happening to him, but also realized how she had done it.

"Poison!" hissed Orochimaru angrily, realizing that Tsunade had coated the two Kunai she had thrown at him with some kid of poison. Now normally poisons wouldn't affect him very much thanks to all his _enhancements_. But that didn't mean that he was immune to all poisons, especially one created by Tsunade. Who was one of only two people in the entire Shinobi world, who he knew could create a poison that could affect him like this.

"You did this to me!"

"Of course" Tsunade replied with a smirk as she stood up. "It's a little something I whipped up just for you. Right now you're starting to have trouble moving your figures, and you feel like your hands and arms are on fire from the inside. The poison is a bit slow in spreading, but it takes affect very quickly. In a little while you lose all movability in your hands and then your arms, as the poison kills all the cells in your hands and arms, and prevents them making new ones. Afterwards the poison will travel throughout your body through your bloodstream and repeat the same process in the rest of your body, where you will be unable to move any part of your body and be in constant agonizing pain."

When Tsunade finished her explanation Orochimaru was left sheeting in anger over what she had done to him. But before he could say or do anything, the female Sannin punched the pale face man hard in the face, sending him flying backwards.

After being sent flying back, Orochimaru struggled to get back onto his feet, like Tsunade had explained. He was already having trouble moving his fingers and it would only be a matter of time before he lost his ability to use his hands, which already felt like they were on fire.

Slowly Tsunade made her way over Orochimaru and lifted him up high into the air by the collar of his top. "I'm only going to say this one more time Orochimaru, end the **Edo Tensei** and free the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages-sama's, and I _might_ heal you."

"I think not" replied Orochimaru where he slowly moved his finger to control the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, (which was on the ground not far from them), causing it to levitate. He then commanded the sword to fly towards Tsunade and stab her in the back, while she was focused on him.

After Orochimaru gave his command, the sword came in flying towards Tsunade. Who had thrown the former Sannin on the ground after he refused to undo the **Edo Tensei** and remained unaware of the blade speeding towards her.

Within seconds the sword pierced flesh and Orochimaru's face was covered in the blood of the sword's victim. But to the Snake Sennin's surprise, the person who had been stabbed by the blade was not Tsunade. She had been pushed away by the another person at the last second, saving her from being stabbed.

When Tsunade looked towards the person who had saved her, her eyes widen in recognition and in horror.

For there with the Kusanagi no Tsurugi pierced through his heart from the back was her only child, Naruto, who quickly fell to the ground.

"NARUTO!" screamed Tsunade when she saw her son fall to the ground with the sword through his back.

Hearing Tsunade's screams, Jiraiya, Sarutobi and the two Hokages halted their fighting and turned to the direction of Tsunade and saw the mortal wounded Naruto fall to the floor.

"Kid!" cried Jiraiya, before he took off to Tsunade and Naruto, using the smoke screen Pa had just created with a smoke bomb as cover to move away from the Shodai Hokage.

At the same time the Sandaime, who was battling the Nidaime Hokage slammed Enma into the former Hokage's stomach, sending him flying. After which the Sandaime raced toward Tsunade and Naruto and thought "_Naruto._"

-Enter Naruto OST Sadness and Sorrow-

As Naruto lay on the ground the young boy began to cough raggedly with blood coming out of his mouth and wound.

"Naruto!" cried a panicking Tsunade as she made her way over to her son and quickly pulled the long sword out of his body and used the **Shōsen Jutsu** (Mystical Palm Technique) to heal his wound.

"_No not again, please Kami not again…, not my son, not my Naru-chan?_" Tsunade thought as she started having flashbacks to when her brother Nawaki was killed and when her beloved Dan died as she tried to heal him.

"K…Ka…Kaa-chan…" mumbled Naruto as he looked up to his mother, who was busy trying to heal him.

"Don't talk, save your strength! Kaa-chan is going to heal you right up" Tsunade said quickly as she tried to heal the wound before Naruto bleed out.

"Ar…Are you alright?" the blonde boy asked.

"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself for once!" Tsunade shouted as tears start to slowly fall from her eyes. "You never listen to me; you away do something reckless or foolish, if you had just stayed out of this you wouldn't have been hurt so badly."

"Heh…I guess I messed up again" said Naruto with a painful smirk before he coughed up more blood.

"Hold on Naru-chan, please just hold on…don't die on me, don't leave me!" begged the weeping woman after seeing Naruto cough more blood, and was trying frantically to heal the young boy.

"_There, so much blood, why is there so much blood?!_" thought the hysteric Tsunade as she tried to stop the bleeding in time.

Seeing his mother crying Naruto, slowly raised his hand and wiped away the tears falling from his mother eyes, inadvertently covering her right cheek in his blood.

"I…I'm sorry…I…I didn't mean to…to make you cry…I…just wanted to help y-y-yo…" said Naruto but stopped suddenly, where his hand fell from her cheek and his eyes closed.

"NARUTO! NO!" cried Tsunade as she put all her remaining Chakra into her Mystical Palm.

At this point both Sarutobi and Jiraiya arrived at the scene.

"_No!_" thought Jiraiya, when he saw the weeping Tsunade desperately trying to heal Naruto, but before he could walk over or say anything he was stopped by the Sandaime. Who had a sorrowful look on his face and shook his head, indicating that it was already too late.

After fighting and surviving in all three Shinobi World Wars and countless other battles throughout the years, the Sandaime could almost feel death, and knew Naruto was gone.

"Please…please…PLEASE! Naru-chan wake up, please wake up for Kaa-chan" begged the weeping Tsunade as she continue try and heal Naruto, only to be stopped by Jiraiya.

"Tsunade…it's too late…he's gone."

"No! He isn't gone, he can't be, I won't let him" rounded Tsunade angrily as she tried to push Jiraiya away from her and continued to try and heal Naruto.

"Tsunade it's too late, he's dead…I'm sorry!" said Jiraiya more forcefully and pulled Tsunade to him, who struggled at first, but soon stopped and started to cry into Jiraiya's chest.

"No…please…Kami…please no…I can't lose him….I can't…He's all I have left!" cried Tsunade.

"I'm, I'm sorry Tsunade, I'm really am" said Jiraiya as he held the weeping woman to his chest, while he fought back his own tears. Seeing Naruto still lifeless body hurt him more than any injury he had ever suffered in his entire life, it was a wound to the heart, one that would never heal.

Seeing this, the two elder Toad Sages on Jiraiya's shoulder bowed their heads.

"**_I'm sorry Jiraiya-chan, I know how much he meant ta you_**" said Pa.

"**_Poor tadpole_**" said Ma as look over at Naruto sadly, and closed her eyes in sorrow, since she could only imagine Tsunade's pain and grief, as parents should not outlive their children.

"_Naruto_" thought the Sandaime as he looked down at the boy, (who was a grandson to him in all but blood), with a pained grief stricken look. "_I'm sorry, this…everything today is my fault …you should not have had to pay for my mistake._"

"**_Sarutobi, I'm sorry, I know how much you cared for the boy_**" spoke Enma, as she tried to console his friend in his grief.

"**_Naruto-dono_**" thought the Katsuya clone sadly, who like the Sandaime blamed herself for what happened to the blonde boy. For if she had refused to bring Naruto here, he would probably still be alive now.

After a minute or so, the Tsunade's grief stricken cries could be heard throughout the stadium.

"NNNAAARRRUUUTTTOOO!"

-End Naruto OST Sadness and Sorrow-

N/A.

Muhahahahaha, Aren't I am evil author to do this to all of you, especially on New Year's Day (which is what it is here now, so Happy New year everyone). Now as you can guess in the next Chapter I will be finally ending the Chunin and Invasion Arcs and dealing with the aftermath of the battle of Konoha.

Also as you can guess you will see Tsunade's reaction towards Naruto death, which I will tell you will not be pretty. For Tsunade's wrath will make the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha look like a joke in comparison, and she will stop at nothing to kill Orochimaru, no matter who gets in her way.

Now before any of you start hounding me to bring Naruto back and to hurry up with the next update. You will just have to wait, since if I told you want happened in the next Chapter, it would ruin the surprise, (and my fun). But I will tell you that the next Chapter will be up soon, as I am working on it now, so you won't have to wait for very long.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

Also as I mentioned before, please remember to vote on the polls on my profile page about what will be Naruto third summons, especially now, since the poll will close twenty-four hours after Chapter thirty-three has been uploaded.

**Author's Notes:**

(1). This is not a sign of romantic interest in either girl from Naruto, since a boy can use the "chan" suffixes as either a sign endearment with a girlfriend or simply as a sign of being friends.

(2). Remember Naruto doesn't want to kill unless he absolutely has to, or has no other choice, not only because of his personal belief but also because he is a medic.

(3). I'm not misspelling in Ma and Pa's speech; this is on purpose since that is how they talk.

(4). Given how Tobirama was the brother of the Hashirama, it is very likely that he was head of the Senju Clan after his brother's death.

(5). This is not official but given how Mount Myōboku is the home of the Toad summons and Ryūchi Cave is the home of the Snake summons. It is likely that the Shikkotsu Forest is the home for the Slug summons.

(6). Don't forget, even with her super human strength technique Tsunade has above average strength from her physical training, which has been stated in the manga.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Suiton: Daisuisen** (Water Style: Great Water Drill): A powerful B rank technique that the Nidaime Hokage developed when using his High Water cover his arm in a large amount of condensed Water and having it spin around at high rotation. The Nidaime Hokage is able to create a powerful spinning drill made out of Water, capable of drilling through a large boulder. Also when the attack hits, the Water spreads out into a tsunami that drenches the battlefield, making it extremely effective in changing the state of the battlefield.

(B). **Jikūkan Ninjutsu: Tenkan** (Space/time Ninja Technique: Divert): A unique Space and Time Ninjutsu that the Nidaime Hokage created and uses. After preforming the needed hand-seals, two symbols appear on the palm of the Nidaime Hokages's hands, on the right a symbol for "In" and on his left the symbol for "Out." When facing an attack that he cannot avoid, the Nidaime uses the technique to absorb the attack in his right hand and releases the technique in his left. The technique is extremely useful in avoiding dangerous techniques and in catching an enemy off-guard. The only real downside to the technique is that the Nidaime needs to remain perfectly still when he is absorbing the attack and cannot move. This leaves him vulnerable to an attack from another direction, which is why it is usually best that he uses the technique only when he facing a single enemy or has a partner to protect him from sneak attack.


	33. Chapter 33

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty-three: Hope**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Biju/Summon talk/Thinking Jutsu**_"

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

"_I'm, I'm sorry Tsunade, I'm really am" said Jiraiya as he held the weeping woman to his chest, while he fought back his own tears. Seeing Naruto still lifeless body hurt him more than any injury he had ever suffered in his entire life, it was a wound to the heart, one that would never heal._

_Seeing this, the two elder Toad Sages on Jiraiya's shoulder bowed their heads._

"_**I'm sorry Jiraiya-chan, I know how much he meant ta you**__" said Pa._

"_**Poor tadpole**__" said Ma as look over sadly at Naruto, and closed her eyes in sorrow, since she could only imagine Tsunade grief, as parents should not outlive their children._

"_Naruto" thought the Sandaime as he looked down at the boy, who was a grandson to him in all but blood, with a pained grief stricken look. "I'm sorry this…everything today is my fault …you should not have had to pay for my mistake."_

"_**Sarutobi, I'm sorry, I know how much you cared for the boy**__" spoke Enma, as she tried to console his friend in his grief._

"_**Naruto-dono**__" thought the Katsuya clone sadly, who like the Sandaime blamed herself for what happened to the blonde boy. For if she had refused to bring Naruto here, he would probably still be alive now._

_After a minute or so, the Tsunade's grief stricken cries could be heard throughout the stadium._

"_NNNAAARRRUUUTTTOOO!" _

-With Tsunade and the others-

After the death of Naruto, the battle inside the barrier took a brief pause, where the only sound that could be heard was the sound of a weeping Tsunade, mourning the loss of her only child.

Jiraiya did his best to console his heart broken team-mate as he held the weeping woman, while the Sandaime kneeled down next to Naruto and had him lay on his back.

"I'm sorry Naruto…it should have been me, not you" said the Sandaime sadly as he mourned the young boy, whose life was tragically cut short.

"Tsk, what a waste" Orochimaru thought with a frown when he looked at the now deceased boy.

After a few minutes a cruel sneer appeared on the man's face. "It seems that your necklace has once again claimed another victim. A shame though, he would have made an excellent vessel one day, but like all foolish children who dream of being Hokage he died needlessly."

Hearing this, both Jiraiya and the Sandaime glared angrily at the man, who couldn't even leave them be to mourn the loss of someone dear to them, without saying something cruel.

Even Tsunade stopped hear crying when she heard Orochimaru's word.

"It really is a shame though, he had so much potential, but like little Nawaki, he was far too reckless and naive…In fact like Nawaki he probably thought he was invincible with the way he would rush off into danger without any regard. Kukukuku…it really is quite amusing"

As Orochimaru continued to laugh, he was suddenly cut short by a powerful punch to the face from Tsunade, who appeared in front of him and shouted "SSHHUUTT UUPP!" The punch was so strong that it broke the former Sannin's nose and sent sprawling across the ground, before hitting a tree.

"Don't…Don't you ever…ever insult my son or my brother like that again!" yelled Tsunade angrily, whose face was still covered in dried tears and her eyes were puffy red from crying so.

At the same time Jiraiya and Sarutobi, who looked angrier than Orochimaru had ever seen them, flanked Tsunade as they prepared to back the blonde haired woman up.

"You BBiittcchhh" Orochimaru hissed angrily as he glared at the Senju mother and held his right sleeve up to his now broken nose.

"Kill them!" Orochimaru ordered when he saw the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages appear next to him.

"No!" said the Shodai Hokage suddenly, surprising everyone by his answer.

"What did you say?" Orochimaru said is shock at the Shodai refusing his order.

"He said no, there has been enough fighting and death for today" answered the Nidaime Hokage. After which smoke suddenly began to emanate from their bodies and cracks started to appear on both his and the Shodai's faces, where they turned pale white and their bodies slowly began to crumble to dust

"What's going on? I don't understand this shouldn't be happening" said Orochimaru in dumb confusion.

"Although you have learned how to use the **Edo Tensei** (Impure World Reincarnation), you still do not understand it fully. Human emotions are not so easily restrained and if a person is affected in an emotional way, such as seeing that boy sacrificing himself to save his mother and protect this village. Then we are able to free our souls from the bindings of the Jutsu and return to the afterlife" answered the Nidaime Hokage.

"Impossible!" said Orochimaru, whose eyes widen in disbelief.

"You have done well as Hokage Sarutobi" said the Nidaime as he turned to his former student and smiled, "The will of fire has clearly been passed on to the next generate, if that boy's actions are any indication. We can now rest easily knowing Konoha is in good hands."

"We caused you all a great deal of trouble and pain …" said the Shodai sadly before looking to his granddaughter, whose eyes were still red from crying. "…especially to you Tsunade and for that I am sorry. I only wish our freedom did not come at the cost of your son."

After bidding their farewells to the three Konoha Shinobi, the two former Hokages bodies crumpled into dust and their souls rose up into the air before disappearing.

-In the Centre of Konoha-

After Naruto left to go after Gaara and his siblings, Kabuto was left to deal with the Senju heir's "girlfriends" who were proving to be quit troublesome for the bespectacled Shinobi.

At first Kabuto thought he could easily defeat the three girls, given their mutual dislike of one another, which would prevent them from working together.

But to his surprise, the three girls somehow found common ground with one another and worked together to fight him.

Furthermore despite the fact they came from different villages and had never worked together with one another. The three girls proved to be an effective team, where Yugito would use her high speed and agility to fight Kabuto in close combat, with Mai's assisting, who also supported with mid-range attacks. Haku remained behind the two girls giving long range support, so to keep Kabuto on the defensive, along with medical aid in the event that Mai or Yugito were injured.

In the earlier part of the fight Kabuto had tried manoeuvre around the three Kunoichi and chase after Naruto. But that soon proved impossible thanks to Haku, who used her **Makyō Hyōshō** (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals) technique to create ice mirrors to block his path and force him back.

As the fight continued Kabuto became more irritated with the three girls, and how they were dealing him, since he had already wasted too much time with them.

"_This is taking too long, I never anticipated these three to prove so troubling. If I was battling them individually, I could easily deal with them, but since they're working together, their covering for each other weakness_" Kabuto thought with a frown. "_Furthermore they're only using delaying tactics, where their settling with just keeping me here instead of trying to defeat me. That make things even more difficult, since they know my real objective is to capture Naruto, and by not attacking they leave few openings for me to exploit._"

At the same time the three Kunoichi were all panting heavily, as Kabuto had proven to be an extremely difficult opponent, just as Naruto had said he would.

Each of them had several small cuts on their arms and legs and where covered in sweat from battling so long.

"_This is indeed troubling, Naruto-kun was not mistaken in how dangerous Kabuto-san is, he is easily at the level of a Jonin_" Haku thought. "_Even Zabuza-sama would have difficulty fighting him._"

During the fight Haku had used the Water from a nearby well to try and capture the Oto spy using her **Makyō Hyōshō** to create a dome of ice mirrors around him.

But before the dome could be complete, the grey haired teen had jumped out of it, since he knew how dangerous it would be for him if he got caught inside it, after watching Haku's battle with Samui.

"_Damnit, if only I could use Nibi's Chakra, I could finish this guy off quickly, but Nibi is still out after Naruto suppressed her_" Yugito thought angrily.

"Tsk, this guy is no pushover I give him that" Mai said in annoyed tone. "And that healing ability of his is really irritating."

"Agreed, also given how we haven't seen any sign of Sabaku no Gaara in his release Biju form. I believe it is safe to assume that Naruto-kun was able to reach him in time and stop him, which means we can stop out delaying tactics."

"Right, but to do that we will have to coordinate our attacks more and catch him off-guard" replied Mai, who although didn't like the idea of having to work with the two girls, knew she had no other choice.

"And how exactly do we do that?" Yugito asked, since they had already made several different coordinated attacks. But Kabuto evaded each and every one of their attacks.

"I have a plan" said Mai, with a small smirk, after which she began to tell the other two girls her plan.

Seeing the three girls whispering amongst themselves, Kabuto frowned in concern, since he knew it was unwise to let the three girl's converse amongst themselves. But before he could do anything, Mai took out several smoke bombs and threw them to the ground in front of her, creating a large cloud of smoke.

She then swung her fan to create a large gust of Wind that blew the smoke towards Kabuto which envelope them.

Blinding by the smoke, Kabuto raised both his arms in a defensive measure and focused for any sounds.

"_What are those three up to this time?_"

Kabuto of course soon got his answer, when he received a sharp kick to the side. After which he spent the next minute or two struggling to defend himself from his adversaries, who were attacking him from multiple different directions.

"_This isn't good; I'm at too much of a disadvantage like this, I need to get out of this smoke_" Kabuto thought.

Moments later Kabuto jumped out of the smoke, with Mai and Haku right behind him.

Turning to meet the girls, Kabuto took out and threw a Kunai at them, causing them to split up and attack the grey haired Shinobi from both sides at the same time.

Seeing this, Kabuto activated his Chakra Scalpels again and ducked under attack at the last seconds and then hit them both in the heart with his Chakra Scalpels.

But just when he thought he had killed the two Kunoichi, "Haku" and "Mai" exploded into Water, soaking Kabuto, and revealing they had been Water Clones.

At the same time, the smoke cloud final dissipated revealing that the three girls had not moved from their location.

Once the smoke was gone, Haku preformed a single one-handed hand seal, which caused the Water that covered Kabuto to freeze, preventing him from moving.

"_What the?_" Kabuto thought when he saw what was happening. But before he could act he saw Haku unleash a large hail of Senbon needles.

At the same time Yugito spat out a large stream of Fire, which covered the needles, while Mai swung he fan to create a large gust of Wind which increased not only the needles speed but enhanced the Fire around the needles.

Seeing the attack Kabuto could watch in horror as the flaming needles impaled his body, which shortly burst into flames.

"Heh, Gottcha!" said Mai with a triumphant smirk.

"Hmph not bad for an Ame-nin" commented Yugito, since she had to give the brown haired girl's credit, since her plan worked perfectly.

"That was an excellent plan Mai-san, I must admit I-Huh?!" said Haku before she saw Kabuto's burnt corpse turn to mud and felt something grab her legs.

When she and the others looked down, they saw a pair of glowing hands that had sprung out of the ground and were holding the ice users leg."

"_What the…?_" said Mai when she saw the hands, but before she or Yugito could act, the hands let go of Haku's legs, causing the girl to fall to the ground, as the tendons to her feet had been cut.

Moments after the hands retreated into the ground, Kabuto sprung out of the ground behind the two girls, who quickly spun around to meet him. But before they could attack, Kabuto kicked Yugito away, sending the Kumo Kunochi flying back a few meters. After which he then sidestepped a left punch from Mai and then placed one of his glowing hands on the girl's chest, right above her heart, causing her to spit out blood and fall to the ground clenching her chest in pain.

"_Heh, I missed_" thought Kabuto with a small smirk, since his intention had been to hit the girl right in the heart with his Chakra Scalpel. But because of her sudden movement, he had narrowly missed the spot he had been aiming for and instead it a vain which temporarily disrupted the blood flow to her heart.

After dealing with Mai, Kabuto then turned to Yugito, who was speeding towards him with her claw like nails.

Wasting no time, Kabuto skilfully evaded the blonde girl's slashes and then broke the girl's long claws with his Chakra Scalpels. After which he then placed the palm of his glowing hand on the girl's upper chest, disrupting her breath and causing her to buckle, allowing him sever the tendo on her right arm and both her legs, causing her to fall.

Seeing that he had finally disabled the three girls, a small triumphant t smirk appeared on his face as he fixed his glasses up.

"Well now, I must admit that was challenging, you three put up and impressive fight. I also must compliment you all on that perfectly executed combo you preformed at the end. Had I not created a clone of myself in the smoke earlier on, and used it to distract the three of you. I'm certain that you would have gotten me with that attack.

"Bastard!" growled Mai angrily as she held her chest in pain.

"Now, now there is no need for language like that Mai-chan" Kabuto said in a mocking tone as he smirked down at the girl.

"Sadly I'm afraid I cannot let any of you live for if I did, given your already impressive skill level. You would no doubt continue to improve and could cause Orochimaru-sama and myself a great deal of trouble later on. Given how you have already caused me to fail in my mission in preventing Naruto-kun from reaching Gaara."

But just after he said this, a sudden idea hit him, causing a cold cruel smirk to appear on his face, and causing the three girls to worry.

"Perhaps I will let one of you live, since I could use one of you as a hostage, when I go to capture Naruto-kun. For I have no doubt he would risk almost anything to save his _friends_."

"The question is which one of you I will use?" asked the young medic, as he looked at three young girls, who just stared back at him angrily and made sure not to show any fear.

But before Kabuto could come to a decision on whom he would spare and use as a hostage to capture Naruto. The grey haired youth was suddenly forced to jump away when he caught sight of an object speeding towards him out of the corner of his eyes.

Acting fast Kabuto quickly jumped back to avoid the objected, which cut his right cheek as he moved away and then embedded itself into a nearby stone wall.

When Kabuto took a closer look of the object, he saw that it was a short sword that had been covered in Lightning Chakra, increasing its cutting power and allowing it to embed itself into the stone wall.

"_That was too close_" Kabuto thought with a cold sweat, since if he had been a moment slower, the sword would have gone right through his head.

At that moment though, Kabuto noticed a person standing between him and the three young Kunoichi. This person was none other than Kumo's Hachibi no Jinchuriki (Eight-tails Jinchuriki) Killer Bee.

"Sensei!" said Yugito in surprise

"Not so fast you motherfucka fool! Picking on kids ain't never righ" spoke the rapping Jinchuriki as he drew two more short swords from his back and covered them in Lightning Chakra.

"_More trouble_" Kabuto thought in annoyance when he recognised Killer Bee. "_Damnit I don't stand a chance against someone like him, especially since I nearing the end of my Chakra. There's no other choice, I'll have to retreat._"

"Sensei you need to be careful, this guy is a medic-nin and is dangerous."

"That fine with me, I won't lose you see" answered the dark skinned man, before he and the girls saw Kabuto make a run for it.

"He's trying to escape!" cried Haku.

"I'm on him like white on right rice" said Killer Bee as he chased after Kabuto. But before either Shinobi could get very far, they suddenly stopped when they saw the **Shishienjin** (Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment) fall. Shortly after the barrier fell they saw half of the stadium rooftop be destroyed in a massive explosion."

"_Orochuimaru-sama!_" thought Kabuto with a mixture of surprise and concern, before realizing he needed to get to his master.

"My apologises Bee-sama, but I afraid I must take my leave, let us met again at another time" said Kabuto with an arrogant smirk before he started preforming hand seals.

"Hold it you…" said Killer Bee as he took a step forward, but by then it was too late, as Kabuto had already disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Damn Mothafucka, he turned and hauled ass" muttered the sunglass wearing Shinobi.

"_**Forget him Bee, you better get back to those three girls and make sure they're okay, after that we need to see what's happening at the stadium, as I have a bad feeling about it**_" the Hachibi said.

"Right!" replied Bee before he took off

* * *

At the sa+me time not far from where Mai, Haku and Yugito were battling Kabuto. Baki was busy fending for himself from the combined efforts of Yamato and Momochi Zabuza the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist).

In the beginning of the battle, it was just Yamato and him, where the Mokuton user proved to be a difficult opponent to go up against thanks to his Mokuton ability. But the tide soon turned completely against him when Zabuza joined the fray after he and Killer Bee had defeated all of Baki's men, including a platoon of Oto-nin who joined the fight shortly afterwards.

After dodging several wooden spikes that erupted from the ground, Baki barely managed to avoid a lethal slash from Zabuza's large sword, when the Demon of the Hidden Mist appeared next him.

"_Damnit this is getting out of hand_" thought Baki angrily, as he held his now bleeding shoulder and saw the bodies of his dead men, who had been killed Killer Bee and Zabuza without too much difficulty. It was only through a stroke of good luck that Killer Bee had gone after Kabuto and the girls, since if he had stayed with Yamato and Zabuza, the Suna Jonin knew, he would probably be dead by now.

Knowing he needed to make a retreat Baki tried to think of a way to escape, but just when his two opponents were about to attack. Their attention was suddenly turned into the direction of the stadium where they saw the **Shishienjin** fall. Shortly after that they saw half of the stadium rooftop be destroyed in a massive explosion.

"What the hell?!" said Zabuza said when he saw the explosion.

"Hokage-sama, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama!" thought a concerned Yamato.

Seeing this as his only chance to escape, Baki formed three quick hand-seals and lifted up both his hands and yelled "**Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu** (Wind Style: Air Current Wild Dance)**!**"

After Baki yelled this, a large blast of Wind erupted from his hands creating a large dust storm that blanketed the arena, blinding both Yamato and Zabuza.

"Shit!" thought Zabuza as he and Yamato were force to raise their arms to shield their eyes from the dust.

Once the dust had settled and the two could see, they saw that Baki had disappeared.

"_Tsk, he ran off, we were careless_" Zabuza remarked with a hint of annoyance over how he allowed himself to be distracted and let Baki get away.

"That no longer matters, we needed to get back to the stadium, the Hokage-sama and the other may be endanger" said Yamato before taking off with Zabuza following closely behind.

* * *

In another part of Konoha, Kushina and Katsuya were just wrapping up their battle with the giant Snakes, where Kushina had used her Chakra Chains to retrain the large reptile, allowing Katsuya to finish the creature off with her **Zesshi Nensan** (Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid).

But before the Slug Queen could fire her attack, she suddenly stopped and froze when she received some news from her small clone.

"Katsuya what's wrong? Finish the thing off!" yelled Kushina as she struggled to hold the massive Snake.

"_**It's Naruto-dono…**_" said the Slug Queen.

"Naruto?! Did something happen to him?"

"_**He is dead**_" the stunned female Slug said.

"Dead?!" cried Kushina in shock.

Seeing that both Katsuya and Kushina were distracted, the large Snake summon quickly broke free of its binds and the burrowed into the ground before either Kushina or Katsuya could do anything to stop it.

Shortly after the Snake escape, the two females, (who were still reeling from the shock that Naruto was dead), saw the **Shishienjin** fall. After which they saw half of the stadium rooftop be destroyed in a massive explosion.

"Damnit" cursed Kushina after seeing the explosion, "Come on Katsuya, let's go, we need to get the stadium now."

"Yes of course" replied the Slug Queen and she quickly made her way over the stadium.

-Inside the Barrier-

After seeing the former Hokage return to the afterlife, Orochimaru just stared at their ashes still not understanding what had happened.

"_This can't be happening_" thought the Snake Sennin, "_My plan was perfect."_

At the same time some of the dust on the two piles fell, showing the dead bodies of Tsuchi_Kin and_Abumi Zaku and revealing what Orochimaru had done.

"_He used his own subordinates as sacrifices to summon the Shodai and Nidaime Hokge-samas_" Jiraiya thought with a frown.

"_Orochimaru is there no end to your atrocities_" the Sandaime thought angrily after glancing over at the two dead Genin before glaring at his former student.

With the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages gone and his hands now worthless from Tsunade's poison. Orochimaru realized that any chance of victory had faded.

"Sakon! The mission has failed, release the barrier…we're retreating."

"Hai!" replied the four Shinobi before preforming the same hand-seal and shouting "Kai!" causing the barrier to disperse.

Once the barrier had been dispelled Orochiumaru' personal guard quickly jumped over to their master where Sakon and Jirobo took his arms.

But before they could move Tsunade suddenly shouted, "Don't you dare move an inch!"

At that moment the Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū (Hidden Sound Shinobi Four People) felt a wave of Killing Intent stronger than any they had ever felt before in their lives, coming from Tsunade.

The Killing Intent was so strong that it froze the four Shinobi in their place and made them feel as if their hearts had just been ripped out of the chests.

When the four Shinobi and their master turned to the Senju matriarch, they saw that she had her head lowered, where her hair covered her face slightly.

-Enter Naruto OST Anger-

After a moment or two Tsunade suddenly spoke, "Orochimaru…because of you I have lost the most precious thing in the world to me. The one good thing I did right with my life…the ONE thing that gave my life any meaning."

"…because of you…MY SON IS DEAD!" shouted the woman as she glared at the man responsible for her child's dead, where tears once again fell from her eyes and she wiped Naruto's blood from her cheek.

At the same time, the others also notice that the diamond mark on her forehead had opened up into a seal that extended down throughout her entire body.

"_Tsunade don't tell me…_" Jiraiya thought when he saw the markings on his team-mates face and realized that she had activated her **Byakugō no Jutsu **(Strength of a Hundred Technique), which was the more advance version of her **Sōzō Saisei** (Creation Rebirth).

"This I swear on Naruto's blood… I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!" roared the grief stricken Tsunade. She then slammed her fist onto the tiled roof and destroyed half of the stadium rooftop with a single punch, along with all the trees on it and blasted Jiraiya all the others away.

After destroying half of the stadium rooftop Tsunade looked up and saw Orochimaru and his guard flying in mid-air, where they had jumped into the air to avoid Tsunade's explosive attack.

"Shit! That fucking old hag has lost it" cried Tayuya as she shielded her face from the force of the blast.

"Move! None of you stand a chance against her…not when she is like this!" yelled Orochimaru, who knew that there would be no stopping Tsunade now. Quickly Orochimaru and his guard fell down into the street below to make their escape.

"YOU'RE NOTHING GETTING AWAY!" yelled Tsunade before she jumped after them.

"Tsunade Wait!" cried Jiraiya, but it was too late as the blonde haired woman had already jumped after Orochimaru and his guard.

"Jiraiya we needed to go after her and help" spoke the Sandaime who was holding Naruto's body, after they had been blown away by the force of Tsunade punch.

"Right!" nodded Jiraiya, but before he could leave, ANBU commander and his team arrived, who like Jiraiya and the Sandaime had been blow back by the force of Tsunade punch.

"Hokage-sama! Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine," replied Sarutobi as he laid Naruto down of the rooftop "You've done more than more enough today my boy."

"Hokage-sama is he…?" asked the ANBU Commander as he took the blonde boy from the old Kage.

"Yes" replied the Sandaime regretful where he closed his eyes in sorrow again.

"I understand" replied the Commander before he and his men took off after Tsunade with Jiraiya and the Sandaime

-With Tsunade-

After jumping down into the street below, Tsunade continue in her pursuit after Orochimaru, where she quickly closed the distance between them, as she moved with phenomenal speed.

As she moved through the streets, every time her feet touched the ground, she would create a small crater in the ground, indicating her unbridled fury.

"Shit, the Bitch is catching up with us!" cried Tayuya.

"I'll hold her off" said Jirobo as he activated the first level of his curse seal and created a massive Earth Wall in front of him to halt her advance.

Not slowly down even for a second, Tsunade used her enhance strength to punch right through the massive Earth Wall, and at the same time send Jirobo, (who was standing behind the Earth Wall), flying across the street and crashing to a nearby building.

"That useless fat fuck, he didn't even slow her down for a second!" shouted Tayuya angrily.

"Let me deal with her!" said Kidomaru, who quickly activated the first level of his curse seal. After which he formed a single hand-seal and spat out several globs of sticking web at Tsunade, hoping to halt or at least slow down the female Sannin's advance.

Within seconds of seeing the white sticky globs, Tsunade quickly formed the necessary hand-seals for Chakra Scalpels and used them to cut through the globs.

Seeing this, Kidomaru moved back in attempt to keep his distance from her and continued to fire move globs of sticky web, hoping to keep the vengeful Senju mother at bay.

But Tsunade dodged or cut through each and every one of his attacks and within seconds was right on top of him and hit him with a super charged kick to the side, sending the Oto-nin crashing through a stone wall.

"Those useless shitheads, now Kidomaru's out" yelled Tayuya as she turned and saw Tsunade close in on them.

"Tayuya take Orochimaru-sama, I'll handle her" said Sakon where he turned around and raced towards Tsunade.

"Ukon, I'm going to need your help brother" said Sakon as she glanced back at his other head.

"Right!" spoke the Ukon, who then separate himself from his brother.

Once they were separate the two brothers then activated their curse seal and attack Tsunade together. Who easily ducked under their two punches and grabbed both their face in her hands and slammed them both head first into the ground, causing small craters in the ground.

After dealing with Sakon and Ukon, the vengeful Tsunade closed in on Orochimaru and Tayuya. But before she could attack, the last giant Snake erupted out from the ground in front of her and blocked her path.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" roared Tsunade, as she gathered a huge amount of Chakra into her right fist and slammed it into the massive Snake's face.

The force of the blow was so powerful that it caused the Snake to explode and cover the surrounding area with the Snakes blood a guts, which disappeared shortly after in a puff of smoke.

"Fuck! Can't anyone stop that bitch" Tayuya yelled before stopping, "Orochimaru-sama, please go on a head, I take care of this bitch!"

After biting her thumb, Tayuya quickly performed a few quick hand-seals and yelled "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu** (Summoning Technique)!"

After preforming the Summoning technique a large cloud of smoke appeared around her, where once it dissipated, it revealed three massive Orges behind her.

The first wore a dark green full-body suit with its hair covers its entire head and face and wielded a giant studded metal club. The second was shirtless, which showed it muscular physique. It wore dark pants and had scars on its head and wore a blindfold, covering its eye sand thorn-like weapons tied to each arm. The third and final Orge had its upper body covered in bandages and didn't seem to have arms or wielded any weapons. It wore brown pants and held its head in an awkward position with several needles pinned on it.

Once she had summoned the creatures, Tayuya took out her flute from her pouch and activated the first level of her curse seal and used her flute to order them to attack.

Unconcerned by the three creatures the vengeful Tsunade continued to race forward, jumped into the air and performed a perfect falling axe kick down on the bandage covered Orge's head, creating a massive crater, which the creature was now lying in.

After dealing the first Orge, Tsunade turned to the other two, where one used its massive club to try and crush the female Sannin with one blow. But instead Tsunade caught the club with her one hand and grabbed hold of it and swung the Orge around into the third Orge, sending the two creatures crashing to a large nearby building.

Seeing Tsunade easily defeat her summons, Tayuya raced forward with her left fist raised and yelled "YOU FUCKING COW!"

But before her fist could even reach the elder woman, Tsunade backhanded the girl, like she was a fly and sent tumbling across the ground several meters away.

Once Tayuya and her summons were defeat, Tsunade then took off after Orochimaru, where within minutes caught up to her former friend, right when he was nearing the Outer wall.

Using her monstrous strength, Tsunade destroyed the ground underneath Orochimaru feet, (along with several nearby buildings), forcing the former Sannin to jump into the air. Making him an easy target for Tsunade who jumped into the air and kicked the Hebi Sennin in back and sending him hurtling into the outer wall when he made a massive dent in the wall.

Not the least bit finished the man Tsunade chased after him, with the intent of smashing the man until he was nothing more than a bloody stain on the ground.

Disorientated over what happened Orochimaru struggled to get back onto his feet where he Tsunade speeding towards him with fist raised.

With no time to waste, Orochimaru spat out his long tongue at Tsunade in the hope of capturing her with it again.

But this time the female Sannin was ready for him and she side-stepped the long tongue and grabbed hold of it and pulled the fallen Sannin towards her while yelling "YOU'RE DEAD!" After she then punched the man right in the face with a super charged punch to the face, sending flying back into the outer wall. But before he could hit it, Tsunade grabbed hold of his tongue again and pulled him back towards her. After which she unleashed a series of powerful punches on his entire body, causing massive damage to the man, before finally kicking into the stone wall of a nearby building.

- End Naruto OST Anger-

"Bguagh!" cried Orochimaru after he smashed into the wall. After taken so many tremendous and powerful hits, a normal Shinobi would have been dead. But Orochimaru was no ordinary Shinobi, thanks to all the experiments he had done to himself over the years, he was able to survive, but it was not without cost where the man was left in agonising pain. There wasn't a single part of his body that wasn't screaming in pain, where he was suffering from multiple internal injuries with most of his bones broken and his arms and legs twisted and turned in unnatural angles.

Seeing the state he was in, Orochimaru opened his mouth into an inhuman width, after which a new undamaged version of himself emerged from it. But to his anger he saw that his shedding technique had not healed him of Tsunade poison, in fact it only accelerated the poisons effects. His arms were now grey, and felt like they were on fire, while the veins on his arms were blood red, making them visible, and the wounds on his hands were a sickly yellow, making them look infected.

"_Curses what sort of poison did Tsunade use on me?_" Orochimaru thought angrily, but before he could think on the matter further he saw his former female team-mate racing towards him.

Knowing he was no match for her in his current state, Orochimaru tried to run away, but Tsunade quickly caught up to him and flipped over him, blocking his path. She then kicked him in the chest before he could move away and followed up with several other strong punches and kicks.

Trying his best to avoid any further damage Orochimaru spat out his tongue again, which turned into a Snake that spat out a long blade that pierced Tsunade's chest.

Thinking he had gotten Tsunade, the former Sannin smirked in triumph. But it was short lived, where it turned shock when he watched Tsunade pull the blade out of her chest and the wound healed almost instantly.

"_Impossible! What sort of Justu is she using_" thought the wide eyed Orochimaru, before pulled on the Snake tongue and pulled him over to her.

"This Orochimaru is you clavicle." she clenched her hand around the Snake Sennin's collar bone. "It is believed by many people to be one of the easiest bones to break in the human body."

With a sadistic smile plastered on her face, and a small amount of her famed strength, Tsunade snapped her former friend's clavicle, causing Orochimaru make a cross between a snarl and a cry in pain. But before he could recover he was yanked by the collar of his shirt again and sent into the air. She then channelled and enormous amount of Chakra into her leg and licked the Hebi Sennin right in the face.

The force of the kick was so great; it sent Orochimaru flying through the air and back into the outer wall, making a gigantic dent in the wall and nearly brought down the entire section of the wall down on top of the former Sannin.

After Orochimaru hit the wall the paled face man struggled to get back onto his feet, as he could barely move his body after the hit he took, which also nearly blew his head clear off his body. Not to mention he could no longer move his hands or arms, which felt like fire was coursing through his veins.

Before Orochimaru could even try to stand up, he saw a large shadow hovered over him. When he looked up he saw Tsunade standing over him with a look pure hatred and anger in her eyes, where she lift her fist up and channelled another enormous amount of Chakra into it.

"This is for Naruto" Tsunade said coldly.

Seeing the Chakra covering her fist, a look of fear appeared on Orochimaru's face, knowing that Tsunade had channelled enough power to her fist to kill him with one punch.

But before Tsunade could deliver the fatal blow, a figured suddenly jumped up in between the two of them and kicked the female Sannin away.

Skidding across the ground, Tsunade ignored the pain coming from her stomach after the kick and looked up towards Orochimaru and the person that that had saved him.

"Excellent timing Kabuto-kun" spoke Orochimaru in a painful voice, as Kabuto slowly helped him up.

Upon seeing Orochimaru's weaken state, the grey haired teen was naturally concerned for his master.

"_This is not good, Orochimaru-sama is badly injured, and I can't take him away from here with Tsunade –sama in front of us. Who will no doubt attack us the movement I try to move._"

At that moment unexpected assistance arrived in the form of the Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū. Who had all somehow recovered enough from their fights with Tsunade to come and help, although most of them still looked to be badly injured.

Accompany the Sound four were also with Tayuya's three Orge summons, who looked none for wear.

But just when things were looking unfavourable for Tsunade, the tables quickly turned again with the arrival of Jiraiya and the Sandaime. Who were also accompanied by, the Godaime Mizukage, the Yondaime Raikage, their respect bodyguards Darui and Ao, along with Kakashi, Zabuza, Killer Bee, Gai, Yamato, Asuma, Anko, Shizune, Kurenai, the three ANBU and Kushina. Who had also brought along the Slug Queen Katsuya.

As the two sides faced each other Tsunde's group quickly choose their opponents.

Orochimaru against Tsunade,

Kabuto against the Godaime Mizukage Mei, Shizune and Kushina.

Jirobo against the Sandaime Hokage, Asuma and Gai.

Tayuya against Anko, Kurenai Yamato.

Tayuya's three Ogres against the Yondaime Raikage A, Killer Bee and Jiraiya, (who was still in his Sage mode).

Kidomaru against Ao and the three ANBU.

Sakon against Kakashi, Zabuza and Darui.

After seeing who they were up against, Orochimaru of course had no delusion of what would happen. Given the number of enemies they were up against and who their enemies were, his side stood no chance of winning. They couldn't even last long enough to by him time to escape, since not only were they facing his former team-mates and Sensei, along with several notable Shinobi. They were also up against the Raikage and the Mizukage, which of course baffled the former Sannin, since he had been certain that the two Kages and their people would leave Konoha to fend for itself, once the battle started.

The situation was made even more difficult with the arrival of Tsunade's summons Katsuya, who easy wipe out him and his forces out with one blast of her acid.

Knowing he needed to do something, Orochimaru quickly signalled Kabuto over to him.

Realizing what his master was planning, Kabuto quickly bit his finger and moved over to Orochimaru and lifted his left sleeve to reveal his summoning tattoo. After which Kabuto then quickly rubbed his blood onto the tattoo and preformed the necessary hand-seals.

Seeing what they were up top Tsunade, Kushina, Shizune and the Mizukage moved into stop him. But by the time they reach them, Kabuto finished his hand set and slammed it onto the ground while yelling "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**!"

After Kabuto finished the Tsunade and the others were all force to jump back onto the rooftops of some nearby buildings, where they then saw a massive two headed Snake appear.

"Katsuya quickly!" shouted Tsunade.

"_**At once Tsunade-sama!**_" replied Katsuya before spitting a large blast of acid, which hit the large summons before it had a chance to attack and caused it to melt before puffing away.

Once the smoke from the giant Snake returning to its home died down, Tsunade and the others quickly scanned the field for any sign of Orochimaru and his people.

"Where are they?!" Tsunade yelled furious as she jump back to where they last saw Orochimaru and scanned the arena for any sign of them.

"Ao can you sense them?" the Mizukage asked as she turned to her guard.

Closing his eye the head of Kiri's Hunter-nin division closed his eyes a tried to sense for the Oto Shinobi. After a minute or so Ao opened his eyes and shook his head, "I'm sorry I can't somehow they're cloaking their chakra signatures and preventing me from finding them."

"NO!" shouted Tsunade angrily as she prepared to try and follow after Orochimaru, "I WON'T LET HIM GET AWAY…NOT AFTER WHAT HE DID!"

Before the Tsunade he even take a step away, someone suddenly grabbed her hand and stopped her in her tracks and said, "That's enough Tsunade."

When she turned, she saw that the person who stopped her was Jiraiya, who had an unusually serious long on his face.

"If you don't want to lose that arm Jiraiya, you'll let go of me this instant!" Tsunade spat angrily.

"No!" replied Jiraiya, who for once showed no fear in the face of Tsunade's anger.

"What?!"

"I said, no…enough for one day, there's no point in going after them, you'll never catch up to them in time. Besides can't you see your body is at its limit, your running on pure adrenalin right now. Even if you find them, you won't be in any shape to fight all of them; you'll just get yourself killed in the attempt."

"I DON'T CARE! AS LONG I TAKE HIM WITH ME!"

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT TSUNADE…!" yelled Jiraiya, which surprised most people, since this was the first time any of them had ever heard Jiraiya raise his voice to Tsunade. "The kid would never what you to talk like that."

"Don't dare bring up Naruto's name into this!" shouted Tsunade.

"Then stop acting so selfish!" rounded Jiraiya angrily, "Don't think for one second that you're the only one hurting here. I love that kid as if he was my own flesh and blood, but acting like this changes nothing! Do you really want to throw away your life like this, even after he gave up his own to save it."

After Jiraiya said this, most of the gathered Shinobi were left in shock when they heard that Naruto was dead.

But before any of them could recover, Jiraiya spoke again, "Tsunade, I promise you, we'll find Orochimaru and when we do, we'll make him pay for what he did, but not today."

"Jiraiya's right Tsunade" spoke the Sandaime calmly, as he tried to ease Tsunade's anger. "There has been enough fighting for today, now is not a time for vengeance, it a time for mourning."

Seeing that both Jiraiya and the Sandaime were against Tsunade just gashed her teeth in anger. Before pulling her arm from Jiraiya's grip and then letting out an angry roar of frustration as she slammed her fist into the outer wall, blowing apart the entire section of the wall creating massive gap in the wall, twenty meters wide.

When Tsunade destroy the walls the surrounding Shinobi shielded their faces from the shockwave created by the wall's destruction. They then watched as the debris from the wall fly through the air and scattered across the surrounding forest, destroying sever trees as they landed.

"_Incredible…Her strength is at a completely different level from mine!_" thought the Raikage as he shielded his face from the shockwave.

"_Whoa…scary_" thought Killer Bee.

"_What freighting power!_" thought the Mizukage in slight awe of Tsunade's strength.

"_I wouldn't want her as an enemy_" Zabuza thought to himself after seeing what Tsunade had done

After she destroyed the wall Tsunade let out another angry cry before yelling "I'LL FIND YOUR OROCHIMARU! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW FAR YOU RUN OR WHERE YOU HIDE! I'LL FIND YOU!"

After screaming out her frustration and anger, Tsunade finally fell to her knees, and broke down into tears again.

Separating themselves from Jiraiya, the two elder toad Sages jumped off Jiraiya's shoulders, allowing him to go over and comfort the weeping woman.

At first, Tsunade resisted Jiraiya's attempts, as she kept pushing him away. But eventually her resistance lessened and she finally allowed him to hold her as she wept into his chest.

As Tsunade wept, the surrounding around remained silent as they watched the heartbroken woman cry, many were even silently mourning the loss of Naruto who died far too soon.

Eventually though Jiraiya lifted Tsunade back onto her feet, where they and the rest of the group made their way back to the stadium.

-In the Kyubi's Cell-

Sitting in his cell, the Kyubi could see the world around him slowly collapsing, growing darker and darker.

"_**It's getting darker, and my strength is waning…don't tell me?**_" said the Kyubi, who realized what was happening. "_**That worthless human…! I told him not to get himself killed.**_"

Growling in anger, the Kyuubi could feel himself growing weaker and weaker by the minute.

"_**NO! I won't let this worthless brat be the end of me…! I REFUSE TO DDIIEE!**_" roared the giant fox as he used all its remaining strength to force his Chakra into Naruto's body. Within seconds the Kyubi's Chakra flooded Naruto's body and started to heal Naruto remaining wounds at a accelerated rate.

Once Nauro wounds were healed, the Kyubi then focused his remaining Chakra into Naruto's heart and used it all to try and start it up.

After a minute or two, the Kyubi suddenly heard a "thumb." Shortly after it was followed by another "thumb" and then another, eventually the Kyubi could hear a slow steady beat coming from Naruto's heart. It was weak, but it was steady, and she could see his world slowly beginning to reform.

"_**Tsk, Damn brat, nearly getting us both killed, all for that worthless mother of his**_" grumbled the fox tiredly as he had used up most of his remaining strength to heal Naruto's wounds and start his heart up again. But even with this the Kyubi knew that Naruto wasn't out of the woods yet, and need medical attention…and soon, since he had lost a lot of blood.

"_**I've done all I can now for you brat, it's up to you now to stay alive!**_" said the Kyubi out loud before closing his eyes to sleep and regain his strength.

-With Naruto-

"Where am I?" Naruto said to himself, a minute ago he was looking up at his mother. Who was desperately trying to heal him after Orochimaru's sword stabbed him and the next he found himself walking in a dark void-like place.

After walking for what seemed like hours, Naruto saw a small light ahead and walked towards it.

Eventually Naruto saw that the light was from a small camp fire which was burning brightly.

As he got closer he saw a man sitting in front of the fire, who turned to look at him when he heard Naruto walking towards him.

"Hello young man, would you like to come closer and warm yourself? There is more than enough to share" the man asked kindly.

"Eh, yea thanks" said Naruto who was unsure about the whole situation and sat down on a log in front of the fire, facing the man, who staring intently at the large fire.

As Naruto stared at the man, he could help but seem strangely familiar to the blonde. He had a kind-face and long silver-coloured hair that hung over his forehead protector, which had the symbol of Konoha on it. He had dark eyes along with deep lines underneath them, giving him a tired look. He wore a standard Konoha-nin uniform complete with a pair of gloves, flak jacket, bandages on his right arm, and the addition of distinctive short white sleeve which had red edges. He also carried a holster that he worn diagonally over his right shoulder, which seemed to hold a strange tanto sword.

"You are aware that it is rude to stare" the man said with looking up from the fire.

"Sorry" Naruto said as blushed from embarrassment. "You seem kind of familiar to me."

"Do I…? Well I guess that makes two of us, since you too seem familiar in some way" said the man with a kind smile.

"Eh would it be alright if I ask you something?"

"You may"

"Eh, Am I dead?

Raising his left eyebrow in amusement the man smiled again and said, "Yes I suppose you are dead."

"Then what is this place? It doesn't really seem much like heaven…Wait! Hold on a second, don't tell me I ended up in the other place?!" Naruto yelled and started to panic, and looked around for any small red Devils with pitch forks, who would come out to torture him.

Seeing the panic look on the blonde's face, the man laugh heartily, "You need not worry young man, you're not there, but as you said you're not heaven either."

Relieved that he wasn't in the other place, Naruto began to calm down, "So if I'm not in heaven or _there_ then where am I?"

"Hmm, that is a good question; I suppose you can call this a space in between worlds. A sort of half-way point between the world of the living and the next world, allowing a place for those who are not yet ready to move on to exist, and those who are on the verge of death but have not yet passed."

After hearing the man's explanation Naruto nodded, since it did make some sense.

"So I guess I'm here because I'm not ready to move yet?" Naruto said since he remembered the pain of being stabbed through the heart by Orochimaru's blade.

"Perhaps" the man replied with shrug, since he was unsure.

"Is that the same for you?"

"Yes, although I'm also waiting for something?"

"Waiting for what?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the faintest clue" the man said with a slight chuckle, as if laughing at his own ignorance. "All I know is that I'm not ready to move on and I need to wait."

"It must be lonely having to wait here by yourself?"

"It does at times, but from time to time I meet someone such as yourself who is not ready to move on either."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Time has little meaning here" the man replied, "Hours or days could pass here, while only seconds or years could pass in the living world."

After hearing this, Naruto just stared into the fire, since he still wasn't sure how to make all of this.

"It seems that I have forgotten my manners as I have yet to introduce myself" the man said with another kind smile before he stood up and offered his hand. "My name is Hatake Sakumo, it's very nice to meet you."

"Oh yea sorry, my name is…" said Naruto with a embarrass smile, as he took the man's hand, but as so as he did, his eyes widen is shock when the man's name sunk in.

"…H-H-Hat-Hatake S-S-Sakumo?"

"I believe that is my name" said Sakumo, who was still smiling.

Still in shock at who he was talking to, Naruto let go of the man's hand and took a step back, causing him to inadvertently trip over the log he had been sitting on and fall on to his back.

Before Sakumo could even ask if the Naruto was alright, the blonde quickly stood with his eyes opened wide and his right finger pointed at Sakumo.

"Y-Y-Your Hatake Sakumo, as in Konoha no Shiroi Kiba (Konoha's White Fang)!"

"Ah, yes that is me" Sakumo replied looking slightly embrassed, since he was a rather humble man, who didn't really like fame. "I suppose given your reaction that you have heard of me them."

"Heard of you?!" Naruto said in disbelief, "You're like a legend in Konoha."

This was of course true, when growing up Jiraiya and Tsunade had often told Naruto stories, not only about theirs and his father's adventures. But also of other well-known and revered Shinobi, Shinobi like Hatake Sakumo, whose fame and reputation was known and revered throughout the Shinobi world.

According to Jiraiya, Sakumo was hailed as a genius Shinobi without equal in his time, and was praised for his talents in the Shinobi arts, even by Naruto's father Minato.

It was said that the man's prowess on the battlefield was so great, it surpassed all three members of the Sannin and that the very idea of facing Sakumo brought fear into the hearts of his enemies.

"_No wonder he looked so familiar? He's Kakashi-sensei's father!_" Naruto thought, where he could clearly see the strong resemblance between the two.

After a few minutes Naruto eventually settled down and got over his shock at meeting the legendary Shinobi.

"Well now that he have calm down, perhaps you can tell your name?" said Sakumo, where he and Naruto sat back down.

"Eh yea right, my name is Senju Naruto."

After Naruto introduce himself, it was Sakumo's turn to be surprised.

"Senju you say? Then you must be related to Tsunade-sama?" Sakumo said, since she only living Senju he knew of when he was alive.

"Yea, she's my mother" replied Naruto, surprising the silver haired Shinobi once again.

"Your mother? Well that is very interesting" said the amused Sakumo.

"Yea she told me stories about you, where she said you were an amazing Shinobi. My prevy godfather Jiraiya even told me once that if you had lived longer you probably would've become the Yondaime Hokage instead of my father."

"Your father?"

"Yea Namikaze Minato"

Surprised again by this news of who Naruto's father was, the former Shinobi of Konoha smiled down at the boy. "Ah yes, now I see it, I knew of your father, he was a powerful and talented Shinobi, you look just like him…I can understand why the Sandaime Hokage-sama choose him to succeed him."

After a minute or two of silence Sakumo suddenly spoke again, "By chance would you know of my son Kakashi? He was a student of your father."

"Yea, I do, he's actually one of my sensei's."

"Is he well?

"Yeah he is, in fact he's one of Konoha's strongest Shinobi and is famed throughout the Shinobi world, just like you."

"I see, thank you Naruto-san, it eases me to know that my son is alive and doing well" said Sakumo with a small smile.

"My Kaa-chan also told me what happened to you, I don't think it was right how everyone treated you back then; if I had been in your shoes I would have done the exact same thing."

"You're very kind Naruto-san."

"You should know that most Shinobi hold you in high regard, and believe you we right in what you did. In fact Kakashi-sensei once told me that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than trash."

This of course made the man smile again, where he seemed happier than he did before Naruto met him. The two continued to talk like this for what seemed like hours, sharing different stories with each other.

When Naruto told Sakumo about how he could perform Mokuton, the former Konoha-nin was shocked, more so when he heard about how Naruto had defeated two _jinchūriki_ all on the same day singlehandedly.

After getting over his shock the former White fang of Konoha smiled at the blonde. "You're a very extraordinary young man Naruto-san."

"I could not agree more" spoke a new voice suddenly from the darkness, which sounded familiar to Naruto.

Hearing the new voice Sakumo and Naruto quickly turned in the direction of where the voice came from.

After turning the two Shinobi were surprised to see Senju Hashirama emerge from darkness and he was not alone. Accompanying him as well was his brother Senju Tobirama, and four other individuals.

The first person one was a tall elegant woman, with bright-red hair arranged in buns with hair pins in them and three clips in the front. She had large pupiless eyes and wore an elaborate, high-collared kimono with large obi tied around her waist. She also wore a dark shade of lipstick and had a diamond mark on her forehead, similar to the one his mother Tsunade and he had. She also wore tags with kanji written on them in her hair decals.

The second person was tall man about Hashirama's height; he had several similar facial features to Hashirama, meaning they had to be related in some way. He had dark hair, that was spiked up and tan skin (like Hashirama) and brown eyes. He wore an old style green Konoha flak jacket, with a long black sleeveless coat over it, which had green leaves decorating the edgings and standard blank Shinobi pants with a kunai holster strapped to his right leg. The man also wore standard combat style Shinobi sandals, with bandages wrapped around his ankles, upper biceps, and right leg, and wore fingerless gloves over the bandages around his hands and arms. (1)

The third person was another woman slightly shorter than the second man. She was extremely beautiful, with long blonde hair that fell just above her waist and pale blue eyes. She wore simply dark blue long sleeved robe that matched her shorts and a large grey obi around her waist to hold her robe together. Underneath her robes she wore a simple short sleeved fishnet shirt and wore a pair of open-toed sandals with high heels on her feet. (1)

The fourth and final person was a young boy with short light-brown hair, who looked to be about Naruto's age. He had green-grey eyes and distinct blushes on his cheeks and wore a dark teal poncho top and light green pants and a Konoha headband around his head.

"Hello again Naruto-kun" spoke the Shodai with a kind smile.

Upon seeing both his ancestors, Naruto instinctively went into a defensive stance.

Seeing this, the Shodai quickly raised his hand in a peaceful manner.

"Easy Naruto-kun, Easy there is no need for violence, my brother and I are free from the control of the **Edo Tensei**."

At first Naruto was hesitant to let down his guard, but given where they were, it did make sense that Orochimaru would no longer be in control of them.

"How are you two here?" Naruto asked before a look of concern appeared on his face, "Are Kaa-chan, Ero-sennin and Jiji okay?"

"After you sacrificed yourself to save your mother, we were able free ourselves the binds of the **Edo Tensei**" answered the Nidaime. "As for Saru and the others, they're fine, although your mother was greatly distraught by your dead."

Hearing this Naruto lowered his head, since he did not mean to cause his mother pain, he only wanted to protect her.

Seeing this, Hashirama went over and placed his hand gently on the boy's shoulder and smiled down at him, and told him that it would be alright. After which he then turned to Sakumo, who was standing away from the group.

"I apologise for intruding in on you like this, we did not expect Naruto-kun to be with anyone here."

"No apologies are needed Shodai-sama, Nidaime-sama, I am honoured by your presence" said Sakumo with a slight bow of respect to the two former Hokages and the other members of the group. "Also I believe that it would be best if I were to take my leave for a while and allow all of you to speak in private."

"You may stay if you wish, since this is your camp" said the Nidaime, who did not feel right by forcing the man to leave.

"Thank you, but no as I would only be intruding, I shall take a walk for a while and allow you to speak to Naruto-kun alone."

After the two Hokages apologised to him again, Sakumo turned to Naruto.

"It was very nice talking to you Naruto-san" said the silver haired Shinobi and gave the blonde boy a small smile and walked into the surrounding darkness and disappeared before Naruto could say anything.

After Sakumo left Naruto turned to the two former Hokages and their companions, who began to take different seats around the fire,

The Shodai sat on the log to Naruto's right, with the tall red headed woman sitting next to him. The other man and woman sat on the log directly opposite Naruto, with the fire in between them, while the Nidaime and the young boy sat down on the log on Naruto's left.

Seeing that everyone was now sitting, Naruto decided to follow suit and sat down on the log behind him, after which the Shodai spoke.

"Now then…" said the founder of Konoha with a joyful grin, "since we were unable to have a proper conversation when we first met. My brother and I thought now was the best time, since it is unlikely we will speak again like this for many years."

"Huh? Why's that, don't tell me I'm going be staying here?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Oh no, no, no, instead I believe that you will return to the world of the living very soon" replied the Shodai with a knowing look.

"Huh, but how?"

"I'm am not certain myself, it is just a feeling I have had ever since I first saw you."

"What do you mean?"

Before the Shodai could answers, the woman next to him placed her hand on his left arm.

"Hashirama-kun before you begin, perhaps you should introduce the rest of us, since I'm certain Naruto-kun is curious about us?"

"Oh yea sorry, I forgot" replied the former Hokage with a big goofy grin, before blushing from embarrassment and starching the back of his head, similar to what Naruto would do when he did something silly.

"Naruto-kun allow me to introduce you to my lovely wife, Mito, our son Itsuki, his wife Ise and their son Nawaki."

After hearing Naruto's eyes widen in shock, as these people were his family.

"Wait a second, your Mito-basan (Granny Mito)" Naruto said in surprise as he pointed at the red headed woman, who just smile and nodded.

"And you two are my grandparents?" continued the blonde boy as he pointed to the couple in front of him.

"Yep, that's us, nice to meet magosan (Grandson)" greeted Itsuki with a grin, (that was not unlike his father's and Naruto's), while his wife Ise just nodded and smiled.

"So that would then make you…" Naruto said as he slowly turned Nawaki.

"Yep, I'm your uncle, so you can call me Nawaki-ojisan" said Nawaki with a grin just like his father, Grandfather and Naruto's.

"Just great I have a shrimp for an uncle" muttered Naruto with a deadpanned look.

"Hey who are you calling a shrimp!" yelled Nawaki angrily as he stood up and walked over to Naruto, who stood up in turn.

"You, who else" Naruto said as he looked down at his _uncle_.

"Hey just because you're a bit taller, doesn't mean you get to call me that!" (2)

"Really and what should I call you then, how about pipsqueak or maybe runt?" Naruto said with a cheeky grin which infuriated shorter Senju.

"Alright that's it! Let's go Blondie, even if you are my nee-chan's kid, I'll kick your ass!" cried Nawaki.

"Bring it brat!" said Naruto ignoring the fact that he and Nawaki were the same age. But just when the two young Senju were about to go at one another, they were both clonked on the head.

After nursing the large bumps on their heads, the two boys looked up and saw Senju Ise standing over them, with her arms folded with a very irritated expression on her face, and a dark aura surrounding her, highlighting his menacing appearance, which terrified both boys.

"You will both sit down and be quite and listen to what Hashirama-sama has to say or do I have to teach you both some manners?"

"No, Kaa-chan/Obaa-san" said the two frightened boys quickly before taking their sets, while those around just smiled in amusement at the antics of the two boys.

As Naruto took his set, he watched his grandmother take her set next to his grandfather who was still smiling.

"_Man, I think I understand where Kaa-chan gets her scary side from?_" the blonde Senju thought as he glanced again at his grandmother. Since the pissed off look she had reminded him _way_ to much of his own mother when she was annoyed with him. They even had the same dark aura around them.

Once everything had settled down again Hashirama turned to Naruto. "Perhaps Naruto-kun you could tell us a bit about yourself and your life in Konoha, so that we can get to know one another. Since I know Mito-chan and everyone here is interested to know more about you."

"Okay" said Naruto, before he started to tell about his life in Konoha along with some of the things that happened before he came to Konoha. He even filled them in other things they were unaware of, such as the massacre of the Uchiha Clan (which Tobimara found rather fitting when he they were killed by one of their own).

Naruto then went to tell them on how his father was the Yondaime Hokage, which of course surprised Senju family. Although the Shodai was rather ecstatic by the news, and asked Naruto about his father, wanting to know what he was like and if he was a good Hokage.

Naruto naturally answered as best as he could, although couldn't help but be weird out by his ancestor's eccentric behavior.

After a while though Naruto, went on to explain how his father sealed the Kyubi into him, and how he had Mokuton and four nature affinities natural.

This of course shocked everyone in the group (minus Hashirama and Tobimara), realizing this meant for Naruto.

"No way, you inherited Hashirama-jijisan Mokuton Bloodline limit" Nawaki said with some envy after hearing the news.

"It's true, both Hashirama and I have seen him use it" said the Nidaime. "He's even has a talent for Suiton Ninjutsu not unlike me, where he created a Water Dragon from just moisture in the air and from the surrounding trees."

After hearing this Naruto could not help but smirk, since it made him happy to be praised by his great uncle. Who during his time as Hokage was credited of being the strongest Shinobi alive.

"It's impressive that you can do so much at so young an age, clearly Tsunade-chan and her team-mate Jiraiya have taught you well" said Itsuki with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Yea, Shizune-nee also taught me a lot too."

"Shizune-nee?" Nawaki asked in surprise, did nee-chan have another kid before you.

"Nah, Shizune-nee is kaa-chan's apprentice; she is also my godmother but is more like a big sister to me, since she helped Kaa-chan raise me. She also made sure that Ero-sennin never tried anything funny with me when Kaa-chan wasn't around" Naruto answered.

"Ero-sennin?" Nawaki asked, not understanding who Naruto meant.

"That my nickname for Uncle Jiraiya, since he a sage and a super pervert, which he likes to call himself."

At hearing Naruto's nickname for Jiraiya, all six Senju laughed at the name. Nawaki especially liked it and only wished he had thought of it. Since he had a bit of an issue with the white haired man after he learned that he had peeked on his sister when she was in the hot's spring.

After the laughter settled down, Naruto then went on to tell of his events in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) and then to the Chunin exam. But when he got to the part about meeting Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, Nawaki interrupted him.

"No way Orochimaru-sensei would never do something like that!"

"It's true" said Naruto with a large frown, "That bastard Orochimaru has done things that can never be forgiven."

"Indeed" said the Nidaime, who then went to explain that Orochimaru was the one who used the **Edo Tensei** to summon him and the Shodai . But also told them about his immortality Jutsu, which disgusted everyone, including Naruto, who had been unaware of this and now understood why Orochimaru wanted him and Sasuke.

When the Nidaime Hokage finished, Naruto even went on to explain what Orochimaru had done to Yamato and the other infants he kidnapped.

The news of course horrified and disgusted the group, especially the Shodai, who was both saddened and angered by the new, since it was his DNA Orochimaru used.

Once Naruto had finished, the group remained silent, Nawaki of course took the news the hardest since he had looked up to the man when he was alive.

"I can't believe Orcohimaru-sensei would do such horrible things like that" said Nawaki who lowered his head in distraught.

Seeing this, Ise went over to her son and held him close to her in the hope of confronting him.

"What happened to him to make him turn into such a horrible person?" Nawaki asked since although his former teacher looked creepy he had been and good and kind teacher to him and showed him a lot of cool things. He had even encouraged the young boy when he told him about his dream to become Hokage one day.

"Evil is not something born in a person Nawaki" said the Nidaime Hokage. "More than likely the events in his life and some of the choices he made after your passing caused him to turn out the way he is now."

After a few moments the Shodai decided to move the matter away from Orochimaru and asked Naruto to continue filling them in on the events of Konoha.

During Naruto recount, he informed them of the destruction of Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden by Whirling Tides), which of course saddened his great grandmother. But she cheered up when Naruto mentioned that Kushina was his sensei.

"Ah so little Kushina-chan is one of your sensei's" said Mito with a smile.

"You know Kushina-sensei?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yes, she arrived in Konoha shortly before my passing" answered Mito. "She came from the branch family of my Clan and was highly skilled at a young age in Fuinjutsu. She also possessed a unique Chakra which allowed her restrain and subdue Biju. It was because of this that she was sent to Konoha, since unlike the other villages we did not possess a jinchūriki and so needed people with unique abilities like her to defend Konoha from other village's jinchūriki. (3)

Nodding to this, Naruto then went to explain his battles different battles during the Chunin exam.

"My, you seem to be quite popular with the girls Naruto-kun" said Itsuki in a teasing tone, after hearing about the number of girls Naruto was friends with, causing his grandson to blush a bit.

"It's not like that!" denied the embarrass boy, "We're just friends."

"Have you kissed any of them?" asked a grinning Nawaki.

Naruto of course did not answer and looked down to the ground in an attempt to hide his blush.

Seeing the blush, Nawaki's grin grew even bigger, seeing this as a perfect chance to tease his nephew.

"Hah you did!" yelled the young Senju excitedly, "So which one was it?"

Naruto of course did not answer, but when he saw that everyone's eyes were on him, he knew they would not drop the subject until he answered.

"Mai-chan"

"You mean that girl from the Hattori Clan you defeated?" Nawaki asked.

"Yea, after I won our fight and healed her injuries, she pulled me down to her and kissed me and the asked me to marry her."

After hearing this, the entire group erupted in laughter, Nawaki who had been laughing so hard, actually fell of the log and onto the ground, but continued to laugh.

Even Mito and Ise could not help but giggle at the image of the young Hattori girl kissing Naruto in front of everyone and then asking him to marry her."

Naruto although just brought his hands to his face and moaned loudly since he had now become the laughing stock of his own Clan.

As the others continued to laugh, Itsuki spared his grandson a sympatric smile, since in many ways Naruto's meeting of Mai reminded him of his first meeting of his wife Isle. Who at the time was strong upcoming Kunoichi and often challenged him to fights in an attempt to defeat him and prove her strength to the village.

Over time their relationship developed and they slowly fell in love, although neither one of them were willing to admit it. At least not until after one of their sparing matches, Itsuki landed on top of her and inadvertently kissed her, which then resulted in a heavy make-out session between the two of them.

After a while though the laughter slowly died down, where a chuckling Tobirama turned to look at his elder brother. "It seems that the women of the Hattori Clan have not changed since our time brother, in fact if memory serves, a large number of them were practically throwing themselves at you."

"Really, you failed to mention that to me Hashirama-_kun?_" said Mito who turned to her husband and smiled.

Seeing the smile, the former Hokage became very nervous, since that smile terrified him more than anything else, both in the world of the living and in the afterlife.

To most people Mito's smile would seem like nothing more than a regular smile from a kind woman. But that was only because they did not know Mito as well as he did and were unaware of the evil the lurked behind that smile.

"Eh, well…you see… eh…the thing is" said the now sweating Hokage, who was desperately trying to think of a way out of this mess.

"Yes, Hashirama-kun…I'm listening?" said Mito with a terrifying crimson red aura surrounding her, which made her appearance even more sinister looking, making the male members of the group just as nervous.

Seeing the terrifying aura coming from his great grandmother, Naruto could not help but notice how similar it was to the same aura that his sensei Kushina gave out when she was pissed off. This of course made the blonde wonder if this was some kind of trait that all Uzumaki women shared. It would also explain why his mother gave off a similar kind of aura when she was mad as well.

After a while though Mito decided to drop the matter, causing her husband to sigh in relief and thank the Heavens.

But his relief was short lived as Mito then told him in a tone was that all too sweet, that they would talk about the matter later.

This of course, made the late Hokage gulp audibly and shiver in fear, and made him wonder if he would be better off being sealed inside the Shinigami's stomach for all of entirety.

Seeing Hashirama cower in the fear in the face of his wife's anger, the younger Senju brother smirked. Since despite common belief, Hashimaru could be brought to heel quite quickly by others, like Tobirama. He was also prone to sulking when reprimanded by others, like his wife.

But then again Mito was not someone who was to be underestimated, as during her prime, Mito was regarded as the strongest Kunoichi alive to the point where even Tobirama was fearful of angering her.

After breathing a small sigh of relief, the Shodai turned back to Naruto a smile at his great grandson. He had noted the similarity of Naruto's relationship with Mai when compared to his son and his wife's, since he had been the one who found them making out in the training area. Something that still brought a smile to his face given the embarrass looks the two had when he found them, and how they tried to untangle themselves from one another and fix the dishevelled clothing.

This of course made the Shdaoi smile even more, since male Senju had a knack for attracting women strong willed women, who could put them in their place when needed.

After a little while, Hashirama decided to move the conversation along and away from _past_ events and onto the matter to which he wanted to speak to Naruto.

"Tell me Naruto-kun, what do you know of our Clan history?"

"Eh, well I know that we were a famous Clan of Shinobi, and we were regarded by most as the strongest Clan at the time. The only Clan that could challenge us was the Uchiha Clan who were our biggest rivals back during the Shinobi Clan Wars. I also know that the Uzumaki Clan and us are distantly related, where we share a common ancestor."

"Hmm, I see, well then I guess I have much to tell you then" said Hashirama.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you see our conflict with the Uchiha Clan goes much deeper than simple rivalry. In fact one could call it a family feud."

"A family feud?" repeated Naruto not fully understanding his ancestor.

"Yes for you see like the Uzumaki and our Clan, we share a common ancestry to the Uchiha Clan."

"Wait are saying that Sasuke and I are related?"

"In a way, but distantly" said the Nidaime.

"So would that mean that the Hyuga Clan also related to us? Since I had heard that the Uchiha Clan Sharingan derived from the Hyuga Clan."

"Who told you that?" the Nidaime asked in surprise.

"It a story that has been mention around the village."

"Well whoever told you that is wrong" said Hashirama. "Although like our Clan and the Uzmaki Clan, the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans do share a common ancestry with one another. But neither the Uchiha Clan nor the Sharinagn sprung from the Hyuga Clan, also unlike Uzumaki and our Clan, they do not share a close relationship with one another."

"If I were to guess I would say someone from the Hyuga Clan made up that story and spread that story around, so to elevate their Clan's status after the Uchiha Clan were wiped out" Itsuki remarked.

"I wouldn't be surprise" muttered Naruto, since if Neji had been any indication; the Hyuga Clan probably had several rather arrogant members who would do something like that.

"If we share the same ancestry, then why has there been so much fighting between us and the Uchiha Clan" Naruto asked. Since if they shared a common heritage, they could find common ground and have good relations with one another.

"I'm afraid that reason goes back almost a thousand years ago, back to the time before Shinobi existed" answered Hashirama sadly.

"Hashirmara, this is no time for a history lesson, move on to matters that actually matter now" said the Nidaime in a no-nonsense tone. Finding that a history lesson of their Clan's beginning was not relevant to what was happening to Konoha.

After being reprimanded by his brother a dark cloud of depression hung over the Shodai Hokage, who began to sulk.

"Why you're always being so mean to me Tobimara?" mumbled Hashirmara, who was now acting like a child, who had just been scolded by his father.

"Because you're always acting like a little kid, especially when you start sulking when someone lectures you!" yelled the young of the Senju brothers angrily, since he was always irked by how childish his brother could be.

As this was happening, Naruto was left slacked-jawed by the way his ancestor behavior, who was now acting like a five year old, and allowed his "_younger_" brother push him around and scold him.

After hearing all the stories about his great grandfather, Naruto had expected a wise and powerful Shinobi, a natural leader brimming with confidence and held aura of authority that demanded respect.

But seeing how different reality and fantasy were, the young blonde found himself now questioning some of the other stories that he had been told about his great grandfather.

Eventually though Hashirmara was knocked out of his depression by a hard slap to the back of his head from his wife.

"Hashirmara! Act your age and stop embarrassing yourself" scolded the red headed woman before turning to Tobimara. "And you, stop being cruel to brother, you know full well that Hashirmara-kun's was never able resolve his bouts of depression. Besides Naruto-kun needs to hear this, he has a right to know about his linage and where he comes from. By learning about the origins of the Senju Clan, perhaps he can learn from the mistake that we been made in the past, preventing history from repeating itself."

At this the younger of the two Senju brothers just rolled his eyes at Mito's scolding.

Seeing this, Mito gave her brother-law one of her famed Death glares, (which could cow even her husband), daring the Nidaime Hokage to make a retort.

Upon meeting Mito's glare, the Nidaime, who was about to remark on how Mito was acting like a mother hen, flinched slightly, and wisely decided to keep the comparison to himself.

"Now then Hashirmara-kun please continue" said Mito with a kind smile to her husband, before turning to the Nidaime, "…if that is alright with you Tobimara-kun?" where she then gave the gray haired Shinobi another deadly glare, who again wisely remained silent, not wanting to anger the red headed woman any further and simply waved his hand, signally for them to continue.

By this time everything was settled, Naruto and the others all had large sweat drops at the back of their heads, not really believing what they had seen.

Naruto was of course the most unnerved of the others, and was beginning to get a better understanding of his family.

"_I take back what I said earlier, Kaa-chan clearly gets her scary side from Mito-baachan!_" the blonde boy thought with a slight shudder, since the way his great grandmother had handled the two former Hokage, remained of how his mother would handle Jiraiya or the Sandaime when she was pissed off.

He also began to wonder why his great grandmother never tried to become Hokage. Anyone who can cow the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, the two strongest Shinobi of their time, was clearly someone to be feared and respected.

After a few minutes Hashirmara finally got over his depression and started to tell his story again. "Ahem…! Well let's see, where was I…oh yes now I remember, you see during this dark time, nations fought each other constantly, where when one war ended another one would begin in an endless cycle of violence and hatred. At that time it seemed as if the world would tear itself apart from all the fighting, which was why it became known as the age of endless war. But then one day a man rose, a young monk in fact, who possessed a unique Bloodline limit called the Rinnegan."

"The Rinnegan?" repeated Naruto, "You mean a Doujustu like the Byakugan and the Sharingan."

"Yes, although the Rinnegan is much more powerful than Byakugan or the Sharingan. According to our legends it was said to have given the monk great power, allowing him to discover the truth of chakra, thus allowing him to bring forth all Ninjutsu."

"How did he do that?" Naruto asked not fully understanding.

"According to legend one of the gifts that the Rinnegan bestowed on the monk was the ability to master all five basic nature transformations that form the basis of Ninjutsu. In essence the Rinnegan gave him all five primary nature affinities."

"No way?!" said Naruto in shock.

"Yes, although that was only one of the abilities he gained, since according to legend it gave him several others abilities, but what they are remains unknown. It is said though that once he mastered the Rinnegan he went out into the world and tried to lead it into an era of peace instead of conflict. He travelled across the land, spreading his ideal and religion, the Ninshū (Shinobi Sect), which eventually came to be known as Ninjutsu. His great deeds and ultimate desire to bring peace to the war-torn world made him widely known as the Kono Yo no Kyūseishu, (The Saviour of this World). But he was primarily known as the Rikudō Sennin, and because he was the one who founded Ninjutsu and the Shinobi world. He also became known the Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi)…"

"_So that's _what Ero-sennin meant when he said the originally Kami no Shinobi!" Naruto thought. But before he could comment any what he had been told the Shodai continued with his story.

"But despite the Rikudō Sennin's god-like power, he was still mortal and could not achieve his ultimate goal in creating a lasting peace in a single lifetime…Knowing this, he chose to entrust his strength, dream and legacy to his two sons, who had each inherited a portion of his power. The eldest son, who had inherited the Sage's eyes along with his powerful chakra and spiritual energy, believed that power was the true key to peace. The younger son however, who had inherited the Sage's body, along with his powerful will and physical energy, believed that love was the true key to peace. It was because of these two conflicting beliefs, that the Sage was force to choose which of his two sons was to become his successor. On his deathbed, the Sage chose his younger son to be his successor. Overcome by bitterness and envy, the elder son attacked the younger, sparking a war between them and their families, which has been going on for over a thousand years."

"So the rivalry between our Clan and the Sasuke's Clan has been going on for over a thousand years. All because two brothers simply couldn't get along" said Naruto, who found the whole reason behind it beyond stupid.

"To put it bluntly yes" said the Nidaime, "But the conflict between our two families goes much deeper than a simple feud between brothers. It is a conflict of ideals, and ideals shape the type of world we live it."

"What do you mean?"

"As descendants of the younger son of the Rikudō Sennin, the Senju Clan inherited the Sage's younger son's belief that love was the key to peace. This ideal is where the ideal of the Will of Fire sprung from, which Konoha was founded upon and what the Shinobi of Konoha are taught to believe in. The Uchiha Clan however inherited the Sage's elder son's enmity over the Sage's decision to name his brother as his successor, fuelling their hatred for us, resulting in a curse of hatred."

"But that is all in the past now isn't it?" Naruto asked. "You were able to make peace with them and founded Konoha together. The Uchiha even fought alongside you during the Great Shinobi World Wars."

"That may be true, but grudges are not so easily let go of, especially those created during war or conflict, since not everyone is able to let go of their hatred" replied the Nidaime with a stern look. "This is especially true for those born into the Uchiha Clan, who are an impressible Clan, and are therefore cursed by it."

"Cursed?!" repeated Naruto not understanding what his ancestor meant.

"Most people believe that we the Senju Clan valued friendship and love over Jutsu, whilst the Uchiha placed valued Jutsu alone…" explained the Nidaime. "But in actuality, this is false…The Uchiha Clan were the ones who valued love and friendship above all else…So great was their value of these things that they deemed it necessary to seal them off…"

"What do you mean…?" asked Naruto, "I still don't get it?"

"When a member of the Uchiha Clan discovers these feelings…it's as if a torrent is unleashed within and it awakens something even greater than what we Senju know."

"Then why all the fighting?" asked Naruto, "If both our Clan treasured love and friendship, why were we enemies?"

"Ah…But that is where the problem lay my young descendant…Their feelings were in fact _too_ powerful…and if they were left unchecked…they would turn into something dark..."

Still not getting at what the Nidaime was say Naruto was about to comment again, but before he could, the Nidaime continued on.

"…For example if a member of the Uchiha Clan loses someone they love or who is dear to them, such as siblings, parents, lovers or close friends. Then their feelings will be twisted into something dark and turn into an indomitable hatred that will consume them and everyone around them, if not stopped. I have seen it happen countless times within the Uchiha Clan…and without fail; a symptom always follows it…"

"A Symptom?" repeated Naruto, who curiosity was no peaked, "What Symptom?"

"The anguish and despair that precedes the loss of those so close to a member of the Uchiha Clan is so great. That it causes their brains to release a special kind Chakra that affects their optic nerves…This symptom is called the Sharingan…the eye that reflects their feelings…and gives them a considerable boost in power…But as I before, these dark feelings eventually consume them and they fall into a deprived path, which eventually leads to their own ruin."

As Tobimara continued to talked, Naruto found himself enthralled by his ancestor's every word, since he was learning things he never even heard about. But at the same time his thoughts turned to a certain Uchiha that he knew, where things about him suddenly started to make sense.

"_No wonder Sasuke is so dark?_" Naruto thought, "_When he lost his Clan, his love for them turned into hate for the one who killed them._"

As Naruto thought about Sasuke, he could help but pity the young raven haired boy even more. But before he could put anymore thought on Sasuke, his attention turned back to the Nidiame who was speaking again.

"…The further down a member of the Uchiha Clan falls into this path of hatred… the more powerful their eyes become…and the harder it is to reason with them…as was the case with Uchiha Madara."

"That I am afraid is unfortunately true" Hashirmara said with a sad look. "There was a time where Madara and I shared a common dream, which was to bring peace and create a place where future generates could live peacefully. But after the loss of his young brother, Uchiha Izuna, who meant the world to him, Madara slowly began to change, into something dark."

"Wait! Didn't you guys hate one another?" a confused Naruto asked, since from what he had heard, his ancestor and Madara were bitter enemies. But from the way the Shodai was talking about him, it sounded more like they had been friends.

Smiling sadly at his young descendant, the famed Kami no Shinobi shook his head. "I'm afraid that is another misconception Naruto-kun, Madara and I were in fact once close friends."

Stunned by this revelation, Naruto's eyes widened in shock and stared at the former Hokage in disbelief.

"How…When?"

Sighing at this Hashirama stared at the fire for a few moments before answering Naruto's question.

"When I was young during the great Shinobi Clan War, I often left my Clan's compound to explore. During one of my trips, I came across a young Madara, we both new that we came from rival Clans, but we both knew that the only way we could survive the countless fight that was going on, was to become friends…Every few days Madara and I would meet up at the same place, to talk and train with one another. Later on I even shared my dream on creating Konoha with him, a place for people to live and children, like you Naruto-kun, could grow up to become strong shinobi. A place where shinobi would be assigned missions based on their skill set and not simply out of necessity for forces on a battlefield…It was a dream that both Madara and I agreed upon and wanted to achieve together."

"So what happened?" Naruto asked, "Why did you become enemies?"

"Sadly our families found out and we were force to end our friendship, becoming mortal enemies instead, constantly fighting with one another…" Hashirama answered with a sad look before continuing with the story. "As the years passed, both of us eventually became the elders of our respected Clans, where I made several attempts to convince him. But it was only after the death of his brother and one final battle with him, which resulted in my victory, was I able to convince him to make peace…Later we then founded Konoha on the very place where we use to meet when we were children. In fact it was Madara who came up with the name for our village."

"Serious?!" asked Naruto in surprise, who like most people believed that Hashirmara was the one came up with the name for their village, given how he was the one who created most of the village and the surrounding forest with Mokuton powers.

Smiling at Naruto's surprise, the Shodai nodded, "Yea, although I was the one who came up with the title of Hokage, and the idea to carve the faces of the Hokages onto the mountainside."

"Cool!" said Naruto, who always thought the idea of carving the faces of the Hokages onto the mountain was an awesome idea. "But the things I don't get is that if you guys eventually became friends again, why did Madara leave the village and challenge you?"

Sighing again sadly, Hashirama glance over at his brother, (who maintained a blank expression), before answering his great grandson's question.

"For a time it did seem like we could be friends again, but shortly after the village was built, and the time neared for a leader to be selected. I opted to have Madara become the Shodai Hokage, believing that he would be the best person for the job. But instead, the villagers and the Shinobi selected me as Hokage, causing Madara to leave, even after I told him I would have him named to become the Nidaime Hokage in the event of my death, believing that they would see him in a better light after some time."

"Then why did he leave?"

"Madara believed that the villagers and the Shinobi would never accept him as Hokage, if he were to become it. He also believed that when I died, the village would then slowly turn against his Clan. But when he tried to rally support from his Clan, they turned their backs on him. They had grown tired of fighting with us, and believed he only desired to rekindle the flames of war because of his hatred he could not let go of the past. Abandoned by his Clan, and disgusted with the village we built together Madara left and sought out the Kyubi, and subdued it using his Sharingan. He later returned to Konoha in order to challenge me, I of course tried to reason with him and begged him to stop the fight and stand. But he refused and after a lengthy and hard fought battle, which last all day and night, I killed him and capture the Kyubi."

When the Shodai finished a single tear fell down his cheek, since he had never wanted to kill Madara and considered him a brother in all but blood. But sadly, he could not get through to his former friend and was force to kill him to protect Konoha.

Shortly after he finished his story, Hashirama suddenly felt a person's hand gently place itself on his shoulder, in a comforting manner.

Turning, the Shodai saw that the person was his wife, who smiled sadly at him, as she knew how much Madara's death affected him, and hoped to at least ease his burden.

Smiling at his wife's attempts to comfort him, Hashirama nodded and panted her hand, telling her that he would be alright.

Seeing this, Naruto could not help but pity at his ancestor, knowing he could only imagine how hard it must have been for the former Hokage to kill his best friend.

But as he was staring sadly at his ancestor, he suddenly realized something that Hashirama had said, "Wait you captured the Kyuubi?!"

"Yes" answered Mito, "Originally I had planned to seal the Kyubi into myself, using one of my Clan's most powerful seals. But before I could perform the sealing, the Kyubi realized what we was doing and unleashed all its power in one massive explosion, destroying itself and the surrounding area, preventing us from capturing him. Later when the Kyubi reformed we planned to try and capture it again, since it was too powerful and dangerous to remain loose. Unfortunately Kumo got to the Kyubi first and tried to capture it for themselves, but failed in the attempt, where the Kyubi escaped. Before we could track it down again, the First Great Shinobi World War began and by the time it had ended, Konoha and the other villages were too weak to try. Especially since with Hashirama-kun gone, there was no-one alive with the power to control or subdue it and so we were force to leave it, where it eventually hid itself away."

"At least until it came and attack Konoha" muttered Naruto.

"Yes, that is something I find curious" commented the Nidaime, who decided to speak again. "I find it rather suspicious that the Kyubi would simply strike out of the blue on its own after remaining hidden for so long."

"Uncle are you saying that someone was controlling it?" Itsuki asked in surprise.

"Yes, although it is not impossible that the Kyubi attacked out of its own free will. I find it more likely that someone was controlling it."

"But who, Madara and Hashirama-sama were the only ones who were ever able to control the tailed beasts" said Ise.

"True, but that's not to say that someone out of the Uchiha Clan could have learned how to control it. Since like my brother's Mokuton Bloodline limit, the Sharingan has the power to control Biju, so it's possible someone had learned how to do it too."

"But why? The Uchiha were already living in Konoha and if it was destroyed they would be wiped out as well. So why would someone from their Clan want to destroy Konoha?" asked Nawaki.

"Yes, but perhaps an Uchiha outside the Clan attacked Konoha, its possible Madara had an heir, during the time he left Konoha to when he came back to the challenge Hashirama. It possible that he had an heir and that heir was the one controlling the Kyubi in revenge against Konoha and the Uchiha Clan."

"But it is also possible, that it wasn't an Uchiha, since there are other ways for someone to supress and control a Biju" said Mito.

"I suppose" murmured Tobirama, but didn't look convinced.

"Tobimara, why do you continue to spew such bigotry?" Hashirama asked sadly. "How many times did I tell you not to continue persecuting the Uchiha's!"

"And how many times must I tell to stop being so naïve…?" Tobimara retorted coldly as he glared at his older brother, who this time did not back down. "Besides you can't blame me for skewing things the way I did after what Madara pulled…? It was only a matter of time before they rebelled."

"Why do you despise the Uchiha Clan so much Tobimara?" Mito asked sternly, "…Surely it's not because of your Clans old feud?"

"Hardly…" scoffed the Nidaime, "I simply kept a wary eye on any Clan that threatened the peaceful existence of our village. I even kept a close eye on the Hyuga Clan."

"The Hyuga, but why?" Naruto asked.

"The Hyuga were a powerful Clan in their own right and in some aspect could rival either our Clan or the Uchiha Clan" answered the Nidaime. "They were always eager to improve their status in the village and become more powerful. I was wary of possible infighting within the Clan, caused by their tradition with the Cage Bird Seal, which could spread out into the village."

After hearing this, Naruto just nodded, since he great, great Uncle had been right about the Hyuga Clan and their infighting, given the events with Neji and the Branch family."

"The only reason I was so fixated on the Uchiha Clan was because they had a way of always attracting my attention…I was fearful of the possibility of another Madara returning, I knew that Madara's will was secretly shared by quite a few within his Clan, which was why I kept such a close guard on them."

"But not all the Uchiha were like that Uncle" Itsuki remarked. Like his father, Itsuki thought his Uncle was overly harsh on the Uchiha Clan, since he had been friends with some members of the Clan.

"I won't deny that there were those within the Uchiha Clan whose loyalty and commitment to the village was without question. They were ones who had overcome the Uchiha's curse and forsake their Clan for the greater wellbeing of the village. But it did not mean all of them had and there was a chance that some of them could one day turn against us one day. That was why I gave them the task of Military police, which was a duty they could excel at. I wanted to channel their power into something that could benefit the village."

Sighing once again Hashirama spoke, "The matter of the Uchiha Clan and whether or not the Kyubi was being controlled by an Uchiha or someone else, matters little now brother. The past and cannot be undone, so therefore there is nothing we can do about it, especially since we are no longer among the living world. Besides we are now moving away to main topic which was why I wanted to speak to Naruto-kun about and why I believe it is not his time yet.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I'm referring to an ancient prophecy that was told to me once."

"What prophecy?" Naruto asked.

"Long ago when I was not much older than you, I discovered my Mokuton Bloodline limit. At the time I had difficulty controlling it and using it, so I decided to leave our Clan and go on a training trip to learn how to control and use it better. For several months I travelled around training myself in different environments to learn to use my abilities better. My training was hard, and my progress was not coming along as quickly as I had hoped. But then one day when I was travelling across a narrow cliff side. The ground underneath me gave way and I fell into a raging river below, where it washed me away. When I came too, I found myself in a bed, and it then I learned that I had been found unconscious and half drowned."

"Who saved you?" Naruto asked.

"That I cannot say, for I was sworn to secrecy, and never to reveal it to anyone" answered the Shodai with a serious look, which told Naruto he would say no more.

After about a minute or so, Hashirama then continued with his story "Later when I recovered and explained my ability and why I ended in the river, they got rather excited and then brought me to their leader. Who then told me a prophecy that was that was foretold by one of their great elders. At first they thought I was the person who had been foretold in their prophecy. But shortly afterwards they discover I was not the one they had been waiting for, but they did believe I had a part to play. So they agreed to help me and with their and after several years of intensive training, I learned how to use my abilities to their full extent. Were it not for them, I would not be the Shinobi I became."

"So, if I were to go there, do you think they would help me the way they did you?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, in fact I have no doubt they will help, since I believe you are the one they are waiting for" answered the Shodai.

"Me? But what makes you think I the one in the prophecy, when it wasn't you?" Naruto asked, "What did the prophecy say?"

"I'm afraid I cannot say that either, since it is something you must hear from them?" replied the Shodai with a smirk.

"Jeeze is there anything you can tell me?" Naruto asked annoyance since he was little irritated with his forefather, who just grinned back at him and messed up his hair in a playful manner.

"There are just some things that you need to learn for yourself Naruto-kun, so that you can learn from them and become stronger. But I can promise you they will give you the guidance you need."

"But how can you be so certain I am that person?"

"Because I have faith in you Naruto-kun" the Shodai replied with an encouraging smile. "When you arrived inside the barrier, you showed many qualities that proved to me you we that person and I do not mean Mokuton or your other Shinobi skills."

Still not fully understanding his ancestor, Naruto was about to ask him something, but before he could say anything the Shodai spoke again.

"Inside the barrier you showed courage and fortitude when you came to help your mother and the others. Even though you knew you stood little chance against any of us, you still continued to fight on. You also showed compassion and caring when you helped heal Sarutobi's and your mother's wounds. But more importantly you showed love when you pushed Tsunade out of the path of Orochimaru's sword, knowing full well you would be hit. It was because of that sacrifice that we were able to free ourselves from the bounds of the **Edo Tensei**. You showed us today that the Will of Fire has been successfully passed down onto your generation and still burns strongly. You also showed us that you had inherited our will and that you carry the ideals of our Clan. That is why I believe you are the one spoken in the prophecy and that you will soon return to the living world, for you still have things to do."

After hearing this, Naruto remained silent and thought about everything his ancestor said, but before he could respond to his great grandfather, he heard the Nidaime Hokage talking to him, and turned to him.

"Naruto, if my brother is right and you do indeed return to the living world, I suggest that you keep a close eye on that Uchiha boy named Sasuke, who you mentioned."

"Tobimara, don't start that again!" Hashirmara cried angrily.

"Silence brother!" yelled the younger of the Senju brothers in an angry and commanding voice, showing exactly why he had been chosen as the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf).

"Naruto needs to be wary of the boy, especially if the loss of his Clan has affected him in the way I believe it did… where it would be only a matter of time before he turns dark…And Naruto has seen it, haven't you?" asked the former Hokage, who had seen how Naruto reacted when he told him of the curse of the Uchiha Clan.

When the Nidaime turned to him, Naruto couldn't help but whether slightly under his intense stare of the former Hokage and nodded.

"Yea, I've seen Sasuke's side" replied Naruto, remembering what Sasuke was like when he was under the influence of Orochimaru's curse seal. "…And yea he's a bit of a jerk at times, but that doesn't mean that he will turn dark, like Madara."

In response to Naruto's answer, the Nidaime just shook his head, since in many ways Naruto reminded Tobimara of his brother Hashirmara. Not only were both of them medics, who possessed Mokuton and were strong, talented Shinobi. But they were both idealist, who were too kind and naive when it came to certain people, especially Uchiha.

"That may be true Naruto, but as I said before, I have seen it happen too many times with the Uchiha, and there is a strong chance that he will go down the same path as Madara and turn against the village. If that does happen, it is likely that the two of you will have to fight."

"Not necessarily, if Naruto was to befriend him, get to know the boy, he could perhaps persuade him from go down that path" spoke Hashirmara, hoping for another possible alterative

"Like you did with Madara?" Tobimara replied rather harshly, which caused his brother to flinch.

"Tobimara!" rounded Mito angrily, believing that was uncalled for.

"I'm simply stating the truth" the Nidaime replied coldly, "Naruto can try deter the boy if he wants, but I fear he would only be wasting his time."

After saying this, Tobimara turned to his great, great nephew, who did not know to respond to his comments.

"Naruto you must understand, to be a true Shinobi of Konoha and to be a good Hokage one day, you must be willing to do things you don't want to...and do what is best for Konoha. Being Hokage is not an easy thing...As Hokage you are responsible for the safety of Konoha and everyone who lives in it...therefore you must think of the village first and yourself second."

When the Nidaime finished, Naruto numbly nodded his head, and although he understood what the Nidaime was trying to tell him. He still, he felt that what his ancestor was suggesting was rather cold, and did not like the idea of at least trying to help Sasuke.

Seeing that Naruto was having doubs, the Shodai spoke, "Regardless of what my brother says Naruto, do not give up on the boy. Even if he is right, if you do not at least try, you will regret it later."

Nodding to his great grandfathers word, Naruto was about to respond, but before he could say anything; he noticed that his body was glowing.

"What's happening to me?"

"Ah it seems your time here is finally up…" said the Shodai with a pleased look at being proven right. "You're returning to the living world."

"But wait, there are still things I need to ask you" said Naruto.

"I'm afraid there is no more time Naruto, go to our family library you will find scrolls that may be of use to you there. But if you truly wish to master you Mokuton powers and unlock it true potential, you must find the Valley of the Four Winds, there you will find the help you'll need."

"But how will I find it?" Naruto ask, since he had no clue where the valley was.

"Look for a book on Bonsai care, there you will find what you'll need to find the Valley" answered Hashirama.

"But what if I fail?" Naruto ask, since you could not help but doubt himself a little and did not want to let his family down."

"You will not fail Naruto-kun."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we believe in you" Hashirama replied with reassuring smile. "You're the last of our Clan Naruto-kun, and have not only inherited our gifts, but also embody or ideals. You're the Hope of our Clan."

"The Hope of the Senju Clan" said the Itsuki with a kind smile.

Encouraged his ancestor's words, Naruto smiled and nodded and told them he would not let them down.

"Take care Naruto-kun, live a long life and be happy" said Mito as she smiled kindly at her great grandson.

"Follow your heart Naruto, it will not let you down" said Ise who was also smiling at him.

"Say hey to Tsunade-nee for me" cried Nawai.

"Yes and please send her our love as well" added Itsuki as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

"I will" Naruto replied.

"Oh and Naruto, make sure you have plenty of _fun_" said Hashirama with a knowing smile. But before Naruto could even ask what his great uncle meant, he disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Hey Jijin, what did you mean when you said that? Nawaki asked, as he gave his grandfather a confused look.

"Oh, just a little something I set up when I was still Hokage" replied the former Hokage with another knowing smirk.

"Hashirama, you don't mean…?" groaned Tobimara, realizing what his brother was talking about and raised his right hand to his face in disbelief.

Before any of the others could even ask what the younger Senju brother meant, Sakumo suddenly reappeared out of the dark.

"It seems Naruto-kun left."

"Yes, he has returned, to the living world" answered Hashirama.

"Good" said the silver haired man, since he was glad Naruto had a second chance to live his life.

"Thank you again for allowing us to use your camp to talk to him and I apologise again for having you to leave it" said Hashirama.

Nodding to this, the former Konoha Shinobi assured the former Hokage that it was no trouble. But before he could say any more he suddenly felt a massive Killing Intent coming from the Hokage's wife. Who was now staring at her husband with the same sickly sweet smile she had earlier.

"Hashirama-kun please tell me you did not do what I think you did?" Mito asked, who like Tobimara, had just realised what her husband was on about.

"Eh…em…heheheh…well you see…em" said the now nervous Shodai Hokage, who was starting to sweat a little from his wife's stare.

"Can I get a little help here guys?" the late Hokage asked as he looked to his brother and the others. But found that they had suddenly disappeared, leaving him alone with a rather annoy Mito.

"_Traitors…what ever happen to family sticking together?_" the founder of Konoha thought, before he came face to face with a still smiling Mito. Who now had the same angry crimson red aura she had before, cracking her knuckle in a similar manner to her granddaughter.

At that moment the former Kami no Shinobi could have sworn he saw the image of a raging beast hover over his wife.

"I think it's about time we had that little _chat _I mentioned earlier, Hashirama-kun?" said Mito where her smile grew even more, making her appearance seem demonic to the former Hokage. Who was now cowering before the wrath of his furious wife, as he towered over him.

Moment later the Shodai Hokage's terrified screams could be heard throughout the void.

-In the Stadium-

-Enter Naruto OST Despair-

Above the Stadium on the now ruined rooftop, a large group of Shinobi, (mainly made up of Konoha Shinobi), were gathered over the body of one Senju Naruto.

Kneeling next to his still body was a weeping Tsunade, who once again broke into tears after seeing her son's body.

"My beautiful, beautiful baby boy" said a crying Tsunade as she rubbed her hand against Naruto's cheek in a tenderly manner. "You were too good…too pure for this cruel world."

Kneeling down next to his old team-mate, Jiraiya did his best to console the grieving mother, while at the same time fighting back his own tears. Knowing if he let them fall, he would break down himself.

Standing next to their old student, Ma and Pa watched sadly as Jiraiya did his best to comfort the heartbroken Tsunade. But despite Jiraiya efforts, they knew that no amount of comfort would ever fill the hole that was now in the Senju mother's heart.

Looking at Naruto's still form, Pa could only sigh sadly and thought "_In peace children bury their parents. But in war, parents bury their children._"

"_Why…? Why must the young always pay for the mistakes of their elders_" thought the Sandaime angrily as he blamed himself for what happened to his surrogate grandson. "_If I had not been such a blind sentimental old fool back then, none of this would have happened…! It should have been me who had died here, not Naruto._"

"_**Naruto-dono**_" said the Katsuya clone who had remained on the Sandaime's shoulder while her original body returned home.

"_**I' am sorry Sarutobi**_" said Enma, who had returned to his originally form and stood next to his old friend. "_**He would have made a fine Hokage one day, worthy of his father and forefathers.**_"

Standing near Tsunade and the others stood Shizune, who had also broken into tears after seeing her godson/surrogate little brother's body.

Seeing this Yamato went over her and placed a hand on her shoulder, where she then inexpertly turned and pushed herself onto the Wood user chest, and continued to cry.

Surprised and unsure of what to do, Yamato hesitantly brought his arm and gently patted her back, trying his best to comfort the grieving woman, who cried Naruto's name over and over, asking why?

"_Naruto!_" thought Kushina with a pained look, before lowering her head in shame and brought her hand over her chest, as she felt and sharp pain go through her heart at the loss of her first and only student.

This was the same kind of pain she had felt when she return to Konoha from a mission and learned that the Kyubi had attacked, and that the Yondaime Hokage had died stopping it.

It was the pain of regret and sorrow, since for a long time the Kushina had blamed herself for what happen during the Kyubi attack. Believing if she had been in Konoha when the Kyubi attacked, she could have stopped it using her special ability and her Fuinjutsu (Sealing techniques) and thereby prevent Minato from sacrificing himself.

But once again she had failed; she had failed in protecting her student, the son of her former love. A boy who had so much potential, and had so much to live for, had died tragically before his time, just like his father.

At the same time, a mournful Kakashi looked down at Naruto with sad eyes. Like Kushina, seeing Naruto like this reminded him of the death of his sensei the Yondaime Hokage. It also reminded him of the pain he felt when he learned of the Yondaime's death.

"_Just like the Yondaime Hokage-sama_" Kakashi thought sadly, when he looked down at Naruto's body and saw a smile on his face. Seeing this, the fame Konoha-nin could not help but blame himself for not stopping Naruto. "_I'm sorry Sensei; I failed to protect your son…your legacy_."

Standing near Kakashi were Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Gai and the three ANBU, who like the copy-nin, lowered their heads sadly at the young life that had ended far too soon.

Standing among the Konoha Shinobi, the Raikage, the Mizukage and their guards, stood silently as they watched Tsunade and the others mourn Naruto's death.

Watching Tsunade cry over her son, the Godaime Mizukage Mei could not help but be upset by what happened. Although she barely knew Naruto she could not help it, given how he had protected her from a Suna Shinobi's attack during the battle.

Even the hardened Yondaime Raikage A was somewhat saddened by the scene, although this removed a dangerous and potential threat to his village. The Raikage could not help but be slightly moved when he heard how the boy sacrificed himself to save his mother's life. Since if there was one thing A could respect and admire, it was courage and the willing to sacrificing yourself to save others.

Standing next to their respected leaders, Zabuza and Killer Bee also showed signs sorrow at the loss of Naruto, as both men had grown to like and respect the young blonde.

Both men also wondered how each of them would break the news of Naruto's death to their teams.

Zabuza of course knew Haku would take the news the worst, given how she had started to develop feeling for the young Senju.

On his team, Killer Bee knew that Yugito and Omoi would take the loss of Naruto the hardest. Since Omoi and Naruto got on quite well with one another, while Yugito and Naruto had developed a strong rivalry and friendship. Samui, he was unsure of since the blonde girl often kept things bottled up. He was also unsure of Karui, even though she and Naruto often fought; he knew she at least respected him.

-End Naruto OST Despair-

As the group continued to mourn, slowly a certain spikey haired blonde started to wake when he heard the sounds of crying.

As he gradually opened his eyes, Naruto saw his mother kneeling next to him on his right, with both her hands covering her face as she cried, while Jiraiya held her close to him and had his eyes closed.

He could also see the two elder toads standing next to Jiraiya with their heads lowered.

To his left Naruto saw the Sandaime with his eyes close and a pained expression on his face, while his summon Enma did his best to console him.

As Naruto looked around he saw than no-one had yet notice he was awake, since they either hand the head down and their eyes closed or where looking away.

Knowing that he needed to say something to be notice, Naruto turned to his mother and called out to her in a low croaking voice, as his throat was sore and dry.

Seeing that no-one had heard him, Naruto tried again, but a little louder this time.

But once again no-one heard him over Tsunade's crying, forcing him to cry out even louder and call her by something he would normal never call his mother.

"Hey…Baa-chan!"

After hearing this, Tsunade suddenly lowered her hands from her face and looked down at Naruto in disbelief, not believe who's voice she had heard.

Even Jiraiya turned in shock when he heard Naruto call out Tsunade.

"Hey, Kaa-chan, why are you all crying, you think I was dead or something?" said Naruto with a goofy looking grin.

"N-N-Naru-chan?" said a wide Tsunade, whose eyes were still red from crying so much.

"Hey!" greeted Naruto with a goofy grin.

"NARU-CHAN!" cried Tsunade before she grabbed hold of her son and pulled him to her and started to hug him as if her life depended on it and then started kissing him all over his face.

After getting over his shock that Naruto was still alive, Jiraiya immediately yelled "Kid!" and joined Tsunade in hugging Naruto before he started messing up Naruto's hair, laughing and crying at the same time.

"He's alive! He's alive!" cried Tsunade, as tears once again fell from her eyes as she continued to hug her son. But this time her tears were of joy.

At time moment a teary-eyed Shizine moved over and cried "Naruto!" before she enveloped the blonde boy in a strong hug, squashing him between his mother and her, where both women started kissing him.

"But your wound how?" said Tsunade, since Naruto had no plus and had a bleeding wound through the heart. But now when she rubbed away the blood on the wound on his chest and when Shizune looked on the one on his back, (where the sword went through), they were gone, completely healed.

"The Kyubi?" Jiraiya muttered quietly, since it was the only thing that made sense to him.

"Guess Hashirama-jiisan was right, guess it wasn't my time" said Naruto with a weak smile.

"What do you mean Naru-chan?"

"I met him, Hashirama-jiisan, Tobirama-ooojiisan and the others."

Not really understanding what her son was talking about, Tsunade simply smiled and kissed her son on the forehead and she hugged him and told him they would talk about it again.

_"____Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…__" _Tsunade said over and over in her head as she looked up to the sky and smiled as she had never been so thankful in her entire life. She didn't care if it was the Kyubi, her grandfather or Kami himself who gave her back her son, it didn't matter, the only thing that did was that she had her son again.

At this point a beaming the Sandaime moved around the two women so that he would be in front of Naruto and beamed down at the blonde.

"Hey, jiji, you okay?" asked Naruto when he saw his surrogate grandfather, who had two small tears falling down his wrinkled face.

"Naruto my boy I have never been better in my life, nor have I ever been so happy to see someone" replied the old man. Before he kneeled down and hugged the blonde boy and then moved back to look at him and smiled.

"Naruto, you are by far the most unpredictable you Shinobi I have ever come across in my entire life."

"_**Naruto-dono you do not know how happy it makes me to see you alive and well**_" said Katsuya.

"_But how the boy was dead?_" thought Enma as she tried to make sense of it all, before deciding to leave it be for now and let Sarutobi and the other enjoy the moment.

"_**Could tha Kyubi be involved?**_" Pa asked his wife quietly.

"_**I sus'pose, but does it really matter?**_" Ma asked with a smile.

"_**I guess not**_" the old Toad sage replied with a smirk.

"_That idiot, making us worry like that_" thought Kushina as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. _"...Just for that I make him run training drills until his legs fall off…once he back on his feet though._"

Seeing Kushina whipping away her tears, Yamato moved over to his former captain and placed his arm on her shoulder and smiled. "Shinobi's are not permitted to cry Kushina-senpai."

"Shut it, besides if you want to quote regulations perhaps you remind the Hokage-sama and the others?" replied the red head as she indicated to the Sandaime and the others.

"I suppose we can ignore it this time" said the man with another smile before he looked over at his student who was being held tightly by his mother.

"_You never cease to surprise me Naruto_" Kakashi thought with a smile, as he looked down at this student, (part-time at least), and then let out a reveal sigh.

Standing next to Kakashi, Asuma, Anko, Kureani, the ANBU and other Konoha Shinobi who had gathered were all now smiling at the reunited family.

Gai of course was the most vocal in his joy where shouted about how Naruto flames of youth were so strong that not even death could extinguish them.

"That kid…" muttered Zabuza with a small smirk behind his mask and shook his head, at how the blond literally came back from the dead.

"I thought his lights were out, but yo he's back, it's out of sight!" rhymed Bee is surprise before smiling.

"He certainly is an interesting Shinobi" spoke the Mizukage as she turned to the Raikage with amused smile, as she was glad to see that Naruto was alive.

Grunting in acknowledgement, the Raikage kept a blank expression, while he stared down at Naruto, where he could not help but wonder what sort of technique Naruto used to survive a stab to the heart.

After a while Tsunade final noticed how pale Naruto was and realized she needed to get him back to hospital to be treated for the loss of blood and any other injuries he may still.

With no time to waste, the female Sannin took off, followed closely by Shizune and Jiraiya, while the Sandaime gave out others to the other Konoha-nins.

Once they had been given their order the Sandaime turned to the Raikage and the Mizukage and asked them to come with him to his office to speak.

* * *

After only one week after the invasion, the village of the hidden leaf was already on its way to recovery.

Construction had already begun and the village of the Shinobi of the leaf was busy with activity, with everyone, civilian and Shinobi alike, helping one another to rebuild their homes.

The busiest part of the village was of course Konoha's hospital, which was filled with injured Shinobi.

After the invasion Konoha's medics worked tirelessly to treat all the wounded and save as many lives as possible.

Among the injured Shinobi was one Senju Naruto, who was currently still recovering from the invasion. Although thanks to the Kyuubi healing him, he had very few injuries left, he was left still very weak from the loss of blood and needed a transfusion. He also had to recover from the effects of the food pills, which left his body in a sorry state, where he could barely move a finger.

Thankfully though, that was the worst of it, as the young Senju proved to be quite resilient and was slowly on the mend thanks to the efforts of his mother.

After bringing Naruto to the hospital and treating him, Tsunade immediately took charge of the hospital and started organizing the medics and hospital staff in how they should treat the injured. Although every half hour the female Senju would go to her son's room to check on his vitals and make sure he was safe.

Later on she even ordered a squad of ANBU to guard Naruto's room, telling them that no-one was to be allowed in with the exception of the Hokage, Jiraiya, Shizune or herself. She even went on to threaten said ANBU with castration and disembowelment if so much as a hair on her son's head was harmed.

Needless to say, Naruto's room became one of the most secured rooms in all of Konoha.

A few days after they had driven the Oto and Suna forces out, word had reach Konoha that the Yondaime Kazekage was dead.

According to the reports Konoha had received, when the Kazekage did not return from Konoha. Suna sent out teams to search for their leader, where they soon found his body, along with the bodies of his bodyguard.

After examining the state of their bodies, it was learned that the Kazekage and his men had been dead for almost two months.

This meant that the Kazkeage had been dead before the Chunin exam had begun and that it had been a disguised Orochimaru who had been issuing orders.

With their military forces weakened, their jinchūriki captured and their leader dead along with their already weak economy. Suna quickly sued for peace, once they had realized they had been tricked and offered an official surrender to Konoha in the hope of avoiding a war they would surely lose.

Wanting to avoid any further bloodshed, the Sandaime accepted the Hidden Sand's surrender, resulting in a truce between the two villages. He was also already in the process of negotiation with the village, with the chance of re-establishing an alliance with their former ally.

This decision was of course met with heavy criticism from many people in the village and on the council, where many people felt that they should make Suna pay for their unprovoked attack. The most vocal of these was of course Danzo, who stated that despite being tricked, Suna still betrayed them willingly, hence could not be trusted.

After much talk, the Sandaime was eventually able to cool most people's anger over Suna betrayal, stating that this was not the time for revenge instead it was a time to rebuild and reorganise.

He then went on to say that attacking Suna would not bring back those who had lost their lives in the attack and would only result in more being lost.

Realizing that the Sandaime was right, most people calmed down, although many were still left bitter over what happened, especially those who had lost people they had cared about.

At the same time the Hokage was in the middle of talks with the Raikage and the Mizukage.

After personally thanking both leaders for their assistance in repelling the invading force, the Hokage asked both Kages to stay in the village. Hoping to open better dialects with the two villages and avoid another incident like the invasion.

Both Kages accepted the Hokage's offer, although the Raikage mainly only accepted because two of his Genin Karin and Samui had received several serious injuries, when they were defending the Lightning Daimyo, and needed time to recover before they could move.

During the talks the Raikage personally apologised for two of his Shinobi for trying to kidnap Hinata during the attack, who were stopped by the efforts of Neji and his team.

The Raikage assured the Hokage that he would personally see to it that both men were severely punished, not only for acting without orders, or even approval. But also for abandoning their post, since they had been assigned to guard the Lightning Daimyo.

After the Raikage apologised for his Shinobi's action, the Mizukage questioned the Sandaime over how Naruto had survived his wound, which was clearly fatal.

Knowing he couldn't reveal the truth about how Naruto really survived. The Sandaime told the two Kages a half lie by telling them about Tsunade's **Sōzō Saisei,** explaining what it did, and how she had placed the Yin seal on him when he was young.

Naturally after hearing about the Jutsu, the two Kages were shocked at the news that Tsunade created such an amazing technique. Proving once again why she was hailed as the greatest medic in the world.

When the Raikage asked why Tsunade had not done this sooner. The Sandaime explained that given Tsunade's emotional state over seeing her son stabbed, she was unable to think calmly or rationally.

Thankfully the two Kages had accepted the story without question and then moved on to other issues.

* * *

Currently walking through a dark tunnel, Naruto slowly made his way over to the large cage that held the Kyubi.

After making his way over to the cage door, Naruto stopped once he was only a feet away from it.

Shortly after, he saw the Kyubi's eyes open up, revealing its glowing red eyes.

"_**So you've returned**_" grunted the Kyubi when he saw Naruto.

"Huh, nice to see you too fur ball" muttered Naruto as he stared at giant fox who frowned at the name.

"_**Why have you come here?**_"

"I came here to say thanks"

"_**Thanks?**_" said the Kyubi with a small measure of surprise, where his eyes widen ever so slightly.

"Yea, from what my mom and the others told me, you forced your Chakra into my body and used it to heal my injuries and then restart my heart."

"_**Tsk, I only did it because if you died I would as well, and I am still unsure if I can reform myself after you die. Given how I lost half my power thanks to your wrenched father the Yondaime Hokage.**_"

"Yea, I figured as much, but I thought I would at least say it" said Naruto.

"_**I do not want your thanks, but if you're as grateful as you say, then pull this seal off and release me from this cage!**_"

"Not a chance!" said Naruto where he narrowed his eyes. "I may be grateful for you saving me, but that doesn't mean I'm foolish enough to do that!"

"_**Hmph, then what good is your gratitude**_" grunted the Kyubi.

"You really are overgrown jerk you know that?" said Naruto who got enough more annoyed when he saw the fox just scoff at his remark, not caring what Naruto thought of him.

Having enough of the fox's attitude, Naruto turned around and began to walk away from cage, but just after walking a few feet away, he stopped and looked back at the fox.

"You know something Kyubi, whether we like it or not, we're stuck with one another, so I suggest you learn to deflate that overgrown ego of yours a bit. Maybe then the two of us can come to an understanding. "

Scoffing at the idea, the Kyubi just closed his eyes and told Naruto to leave him be.

Having said his piece, Naruto turned back around and made his way back to the waking world.

After Naruto left, the Kyubi opened one of his eyes slightly and glanced where Naruto had just been a moment ago.

"_**Tsk, gratitude from a human, how revolting**_" scoffed the fox before closing his eye again and going back to sleep.

-Outside the Seal-

After finishing talking to the Kyubi, Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

His body still ached from the after effects of taking three food piles in a row, where he still had trouble moving. Even now, he struggled to lift himself up on the bed, where he felt as if someone was on top of him…at least until he learned that "THERE WAS" someone of top of him.

When the blonde boy opened his eyes, he saw one Hattori Mei leaning down and preparing to kiss him.

"Mei-chan!" cried a startled Naruto, when he saw the Ame Kunoichi on top of him.

After hearing Naruto speak, the young Kunochi stopped and opened her eyes.

"Oh good you're a wake, it wouldn't be any fun if you were asleep" said the young Kunoichi with predatory smile, which make the young blonde feel _very_ nervous.

"W-Wh-What are doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Can't a girl visit her injured fiancé when he is in the hospital" said Mai where she sat back up, so that she was sitting on his _lower_ end and flipped her ponytail up with her hand.

"No…eh…I mean if Kaa-chan finds out, she will…" said Naruto before Mai placed her right index finger on his lips, stopping him from talking.

"Don't worry about that old hag; I've been monitoring her movements for the past two days. She comes here every half hour and just made her schedule visit five minutes ago…That means you and I have the next twenty-five minutes _all_ to _ourselves_… giving us just enough time…" said Mai as she unbuttoned the top button of his hospital pyjama's.

"E-En-Enough time f-for what…?" Naruto asked nervously although he already had a fair idea what the girl was getting at. When she unbuttoned his second shirt button and saw a hunger look and smile on her face.

"H-How did you get by the ANBU that Kaa-chan stationed around my room?" Naruto asked quickly, hoping to distract the young girl with something else.

Sadly though, the question did little to distract her where she unbuttoned the third button, exposing Naruto's chest slightly.

"Oh Naruto-kun, now that would be telling…and a girl needs to keep a few secrets to herself…" said Mai in a playful tone and smirk, before she leaded down next to Naruto's right ear, where he could feel her hot breath against his neck, and whispered. "But I'll tell you if you make it _worth_ my while."

After saying this, the young girl giggled a little and then started to nibble on his ear, causing the blonde boy to turn cheery red.

"_Damnit, I can't move! I'm still too weak!_" a panicking Naruto thought, as he tried to think of something, but found it hard to focus, as Mai nibbled on his ear.

After a minute though, Mai stopped nibbling on the blonde boy's ear and lifted herself back up, where she then placed her right index finger on Naruto's exposed chest and began to move it around.

"You know Naruto-kun, I'm rather angry at you, given how you nearly got yourself killed…if you had died, I would have been very upset with you. But given how you didn't I willing to let it go…_this time_…but you are going to have to make it up to me."

"H-H-How?"

"Oh I think I can think of something…" Mai said with a hungry grin. "But before _that_, is it true what the rumours say…about you summoning the leaders of the Slug and Toad summons to defeat Sabbaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall) in his release form?"

"Y-Yea, why?"

"Oh just curious" replied Mai, who seemed pleased to know that the story was true, before she unfurled her ponytail, allowing her hair to fall down to her lower back.

"The Senju Blood, really does flow inside you Naruto-kun" said Mai as closed in her legs around Naruto's hips and placed both her hands on his expose chest. "Please share those wonderful genes with me."

"G-G-Genes?" asked a very, _very_ nervous Naruto, who could see the hunger gleam in Mai's eye grow.

"If our two bloodlines were to come together, we can give birth to an unstoppable family of Shinobi."

"H-H-Hold on Mai-chan, didn't you say you wanted to go on a date with me first?" the nervous Naruto said quickly hoping to stall the girl.

"True, but after hearing about everything you did in the invasion, I decided to _skip_ to the _main_ course. Since I find recklessness a real turn on."

"T-T-Turn on?" a now crimson red Naruto thought, not believing what he was hearing, where sudden inappropriate images began to appear inside his head.

"Yes, and we need to strike while the iron is hot, so let's start now, shall we…?" said Mai. Who then slowly leaned down to kiss Naruto, giving the blonde a more than generous view of her chest at the same time.

"C-Co-Come on Mai-chan, you can stop joking now" said Naruto, as he started to sweat and think, "_I'm not ready yet!_"

"Oh I'm very serious Naruto-kun" said Mai as she leaned closer. "So please be gentle with me…it's my first time."

"_I'm the one who should be saying that!_" screamed Naruto inside his head.

But just as Mai and Naruto's lips were a hair's breadth apart. The door to Naruto's room suddenly opened, where they then felt a powerful Killing Intent coming from the doorway.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY SON?!" roared a familiar female voice.

Upon hearing the voice, the two teens turned to the direction of the voice and saw a furious Tsunade standing in the doorway with flames of unholy rage burning around her form, giving her a demonic looking appearance.

"Kaa-chan!"

"Tsk, damn that old bag" muttered Mai and she pulled up from Naruto. "_And_ _I was so close?_"

As Tsunade moved closer to them, it was then that the two teens notice that the Slug Princess was not alone.

Accompanying her was Jiraiya, the Hokage, the Raikage, the Mizukage and their guards Darui and Ao.

Seeing the two young teens is such suggestible manner (Mai with her hair down while she straddled Naruto), the Sandaime quickly turned away with a small blush on his old face.

Jiraiya on the other hand, just grinned at his godson and gave him two thumbs up. Before he took out his book and pen and started scribing on his notepad, as the scene had just given him a new idea for a new book.

"Oh my…how daring" commented the now giggling Mizukage after she saw the two, while the Raikage, Ao and Darui just stared at the two with their eyebrows raised.

"I asked you a question…" Tsunade said slowly as she glared at the granddaughter of Hanzo and started to crack her knuckles in a _very_ dangerous manner. "What do you think you are doing to _my _son?"

Unafraid of the female Sannin, Mai just smirked and said, "Hmph, you're a medic aren't you…?"

"Haven't you heard of C…P…R?" Mai said in a slow and very sultry manner while smirking cheekily.

"_Ah! So that is what the young people of today are calling it?_" mused the Sandaime while still fighting back a blush.

"_CPR? Oh man, I'm definitely using that line in my new book_" Jiraiya thought as he frantically scribbled down what Mia had said. "_This girl is gold!_"

Looking down at his notes Jiraiya began to write "…_The attractive you nurse, lifted her short skimpy skirt over her patient, straddling the young spiky haired blonde man between her long lushes legs. She then let unfurled her long hair from hair bun, allowing it to fall all the way down to her perfectly shaped rear. She then unbuttoned the top three buttons from her uniform top, exposing her amble bosom slightly, allowing her patient to glimpse at her heavenly fruit. Once she was ready she then ripped opened her patient's shirt, exposing his naked chest, where she then leaned down and began to __treat his wounds with her healing tongue. After __**treating **__his wounds the young nurse then moved up and began to administer CPR…_"

"_Oh yes, this is brilliant…! It will be my greatest book yet, I'll call it Icha Icha Togi _(Make-Out Nurse)" Jiraiya thought as he giggled quietly to himself. "_I really need to hang out with the kid more, he's research GOLD!_"

It was then though, that the Toad Sage noticed that the raging flames around Tsunade had gotten even _bigger, _after hearing what Mai had said, and were now licking away at the ceiling.

Feeling the heat of the flames, Jiraiya and the others slowly moved back from the Slug Princess, knowing what was to come next.

"_I've got to admit that girl as some pair on her to say that to Tsunade_" Jiraiya thought as he glanced at Mai. Who remarkably showed no sign of fear of the elder woman's growing anger. "_And I don't just mean the pair on her chest._"

"CPR…heh, heh, heh" Tsunade chuckled darkly, which started to make Jiraiya and the others even more nervous before a murderous gleam appeared in her eyes and she lunged forward at granddaughter of Hanzo like a wild beast and yelled "I'LL KILL YOU! YOU LITTLE WENCH!"

Wasting no time Mai quickly flipped into the air, avoiding the Senju Matriarch lung and landed on the other side of Naruto bed, putting it between her and the furious Tsunade, who looked ready to tear the young girl apart.

"It seems I've worn out my welcome here Naruto-kun and will have to return to my village. But we'll see each other very soon…and we'll finish where we started" said Mai before she gave Naruto a seductive smirk and wink and disappeared in puff of smoke.

A split second later, a Kunai flew through the space that Mai's head had just been occupying a moment ago, and went right through the widow that was behind her.

"Damnit, I missed" Tsunade growled angrily before yelling "I SWEAR ONE OF THESE DAY'S, I'LL KILL THAT LITTLE HARLOT!"

"Calm yourself please Tsunade" spoke the Sandaime as he tried to calm his former student down.

"How the hell am I supposed to stay calm after seeing that little harpy tried and take advantage of my son? And how the hell did she even get in here?" rounded the Slug Princess.

"I think that's how" answered Jiraiya as he pointed to an open air duct on the ceiling in the corner of the room.

"_Damn little bitch is craftier than I thought_" grumbled Tsunade inside her head.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THOSE ANBU? I'LL HAVE THEIR HIDES!"

"Eh I think they skipped right after we realized that Hattori girl got by them" answered Jiraiya, who looked back out the doorway and saw that the ANBU were gone. He of course couldn't blame them for running, given what Tsunade swore she do to them if they let anyone by them.

Growling in anger, Tsunade made a mental note to hunt down the masked Shinobi and kick their asses.

After a few minutes Tsunade eventually began to calm down, although continued to silently mutter about harpies trying to steal her baby boy from her.

"It seems you're well on the mend Naurto-san" said the amused Mizukage. Who was still smirking over what they had interrupted.

"Eh yea," replied a blushing Naruto as quickly as he buttoned up his top.

"_Oh, I got to get the kid to give me the details later_" Jiraiya thought with a perverted grin, as he was so proud of his godson right now.

Wanting to change the subject, Naruto quickly asked the Sandaime why they were all here.

Welcoming the change of subject, the Sandaime quickly explained that tomorrow both the Mizukage and the Raikage would be leaving Konoha and returning to their respected village with their teams. But before leaving the Mizukage had stated a desire to see how he was doing.

"I'm pleased that you are doing well Naruto-san" said the Mizukage, "Haku-chan was quite worried after learning you had been injured in the battle."

"Are Haku-chan and the others okay?" Naruto asked.

"They're fine; they of course wanted to accompany us when they learned we were going to visit you. But Tsunade denied them, stating that she did not want to overwhelm you with so many visitors at once. But she did agree to allow them to visit later before we leave tomorrow.

Nodding in understanding Naruto continued to talk to the female Kage, during the conversation Naruto turned to the Raikage and asked if Yugito and the others were okay. The bulky Kage answered that they were all fine and recovering from injuries and had even requested to visit him before they left.

Thankfully the Raikage remained ignorant over the fact, that it was his brother and his team who drew them into the battle. Instead he still believed that Orochimaru had been attempting to destroy Konoha and weaken both Kumo and Kiri with one move. This then resulted in the three villages agreeing to work together in hunting Orochimaru down.

The Sandaime and the others had of course realized the truth themselves when they learned of the Raikage's reason for entering the battle on their side. Since they knew Orochimaru had only planned to destroy Konoha.

Knowing that if they revealed the truth it would only get Killer Bee and his team in trouble, the Sandaime and his former students decided to remain silent. Since this way they would have several allies in their fight against Orochimaru, putting even more pressure on the former Sannin and his organisation.

Naturally when the Raikage heard his brother request on letting his team visit Naruto, he became suspicious. But his adopted brother quickly explained that his team, particularly Yugito had developed a friendly rivalry with the Senju heir and simply wanted to pay their respect.

After hearing this, A agreed to the visit, since he understood that even Shinobi who were from rival villages could develop a healthy respect and rivalry with one another. He himself had one with Konoha's Yellow Flash Namikaze Minato, where despite being enemies, he greatly admired and respected the former Hokage for his speed and fighting skill.

Soon after the two Kages decided to leave, but before walking away, the Mizukage turned around. "Oh before I forget, I wanted to thank you properly for protecting me from that Suna Shinobi's attack during the battle."

Before Naruto could even tell the red headed woman that he did not need her thanks. The female Mizukage leaned over to him and kissed the blonde boy on his left cheek, causing him to turn bright red, where it almost seemed like steam he would blow out form his ears at any moment.

Naturally after seeing this, the eyes of everyone in the room widened in shock.

Tsunade even had to restrain herself from strangling the woman, since she was already in a bad mood over Mai. But even so, her irritation was obvious, given the large tick mark that appeared on her head after she saw the female Kage kiss her son.

"Take care Naruto-san, I'm certain we will meet each other again soon" said the Mizukage with a smile and waved before she leaving with a still stunned Ao.

Shortly after the Raikage got over his surprise at what he had seen and bided the two Sannin and the Hokage goodbye and left with his bodyguard Darui.

After the two Kages left, the three Konoha Shinobi turned to Naruto, who now had a dreamily look on his face and held the cheek the Mizukage kissed him on.

Seeing this Jiraiya just smirked and thought, "_Older, good looking and a powerful Kunoichi to booth…yep, the kid has definitely inherited his father's taste in women._" Although at the same time the white haired Sannin could not help but envy his godson luck when he was kissed by the red headed beauty.

Eventually though Naruto was knocked out of his day dream by his mother, who was even more irritable now and slapped him in the back of his head to wake him up.

"Now that you've stopped daydreaming you can tell us about your little about that outer body experience you had."

Rubbing his head, Naruto decided to accommodate his mother given the mood she was in, Naruto filled in his family how he met and talked to the Shodai and the others.

Naturally the three were sceptical with what Naruto told them, but after he described Tsunade's parents and Nawaki perfectly. They had no choice but to believe him, since Tsunade had never shown Naruto any pictures of her parents or brother.

When Naruto mentioned what the Shodai had told him about the relationship between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clans, all three members were shocked. Given how they were completely unaware of any of this; Tsunade was of course the most shocked, since she had believed she knew everything about their Clan history.

They were further surprised to hear about what the Shodai had told him about a group of people who had helped the former Hokage learn to use and control his Mokuton Bloodline limit.

They were also curious about the prophecy mentioned by the Shodai which seemed to involve Naruto, which in turn remained Jiraiya about child of the prophecy, told to him by the Great Toad Sage. This of course made the white haired man wonder if it the two prophecies were somehow linked to one another.

After a while though, after much talk, they decided to leave the matter for now and let Naruto rest. Jiraiya although stated that he would talk to the Toad Sages about it and ask if they knew anything about the valley of the four winds, given how none of them had even heard of the place.

A few hours after the incident with Mai and the Kages, Naruto was bombarded by a large group of vistors, which included the majority of the Konoha nine (exception of Sasuke, Sai), along with Killer Bee, Zabuza and their teams.

Accompany them as well were Yamato and Kushina who had been ordered by Tsunade to watch Naruto, given how the blonde's ANBU guard were still MIA.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Ino, who was carrying get well hamper filled with fruit, and quickly raced over to the blonde boy and hugged him tightly.

"I heard how you protected Sakura and me from Sabaku no Gaara, and then defeated him."

As Ino continued to hug her spiky haired hero tightly several girls started to form large ticks on the heads over the scene.

"Ahem," coughed an irritated Yugito, gaining everyone's attention, "If you don't mind could you let go of Naruto, as you seem to be holding him too tightly."

Looking up at the crush, Ino finally notice the discomforted look Naruto had, and remembered that the blonde boy was still recovering from his battles.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun" Ino said as she quickly got off the boy and placed the fruit basket on his beside cabinet.

"_**You tell her kitten, don't give her a chance to sink her claws into your man!**_" cheered the Nibi.

"_You will shut up Nibi… how many times do I have to tell you, that I don't think of Naruto that way?_"

"_**And how many times are you going to keep denying the truth that you have feelings for the boy?**_" asked the Monster Cat. "_**Please I could sense your irritation when you saw that girl hug him. Not to mention you called him Naruto-kun when you and those girls were fighting that other guy, and do I even have to have to bring up what happened between you and him at the end of your match?**_"

At the mention of the event between her at Naruto after their match, the blonde haired Kunouhi blushed from embarrassment, which thankfully was not notice by anyone.

"_You know damn well how that happened, and if I could have moved back then, I would've killed him!_"

"_**Well you didn't, and even though you won't admit it, even to yourself. I bet you enjoyed it a little, especially the part where he snuggled deeper into your chest and…**_" said the Nibi before her voice was drowned out by the mental screams of a red face Yugito. Who then pushed out the Nibi's conscious from her mind, not wanting to listen to her tenant's remarks anymore.

"You okay Yugito, you seem to be a bit red?" asked Karui, who notice how red she was looking.

"I'm fine…" Yugito replied quickly, "I'm just a little warm, that's all."

Hearing this Karui just shrugged it off, although both Samui and Omou raised their eyebrows slightly, unsure whether to believe their team-mate or not.

Once Ino had got off him, Naruto quickly assured the blonde girl that he was fine, after which he then received several bunches of flowers from an embarrassed Sakura and Hinata. (4)

This was followed up by several congratulations from the rest of Naruto friends, who were glad that their blonde friend was alive and well.

After thanking the girls for their gifts, the blonde was soon bombarded with a dozen questions from his friends, asking him if he was alright and what happened in his fight with Gaara along with what happened inside the barrier.

After assuring everyone that he was fine Naruto the preceded to retell the story of his fight with Gaara, knowing that none of them would let up until they heard the story himself.

For the next half hour, Naruto explained to them what happened in his battle with Gaara. When he had finished his story, his audience was left wide eyed, especially after hearing how Naruto summoned both Katuya and Gamabunta.

Some also even made a mental note to never piss Naruto off; given how badly the blonde beat Gaara. Others however wondered just how strong Naruto really was to do everything he did that day.

Once he had finished telling what happened between him and Gaara, Naruto moved on to what happened inside the barrier.

When the group heard about how Naruto was stabbed through the heart by Orochimaru's sword, they were of course shocked and asked the blonde how he was still alive.

Naruto of course quickly used the cover story that his mother had told him to use; stating that at the last moment before he lost consciousness he used the **Sōzō Saisei **to heal himself and explained to them how it worked.

Thankfully the group accepted the story without question; especially after Naruto showed them the diamond shaped seal on his forehead and explained how the Jutsu worked.

It was at this point though that Killer Bee revealed a large stereo that seemly brought with him and stated that in celebration of Naruto's victory and revival, he had created a new rap for him.

After hitting the play button, a steady rapping beat was heard from the large stereo, where Killer Bee began one of his "_stylish_" dances before he began to sing.

"Yo! Say! Ho! Know my name, know my fame, don't be lame! Eight tails, that's me, da rappin Killer Bee. First all off, I'm here to say, one Senju Naruto is a bad ass dude. His Mokuton is a major component, right from the top, he's a worthy opponent…oh yea!"

This of course continued for several minutes, where for the majority of the time, most of the people in the room had large sweat drops on the back of their head as they watched the man dance and rhyme…badly."

Naruto though like Kushina just laughed at Killer Bee's antics, while Omoi and Karui cheered their Sensei on…at least until Yugito had enough of her sensei's idiocy and bashed him on the head and stop the stereo, ending his rap.

Covering the large bump on his head Killer began to mumble about how a genius was never appreciated in his own time. Although then mention about maybe getting some TLC (Tender Loving Care) from a certain female medic.

Hearing this, Naruto suddenly remembered something, and called the rapping Kumo-nin over.

"Hey Bee-sensei can you come over here I want to tell you something."

"Sure what's up little dude?" asked the dark skinned man as he walked over Naruto. Who then punched him right in the face with an Chakra enhanced punch, sending Killer Bee flying right through the room wall, and crashing into the outside wall.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"

"Whoa looks likes the brat is recovering quicker than we thought" mutter an impressed Kushina as she peered out the new hole in the wall and saw Killer Bee lying on the floor.

"I told cha I'd reach time top, I'm already seeing stars" mumbled the male jinchūriki before he blanked out.

Seeing Yamato faced palmed himself knowing the trouble this would cause.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru as he shook his head.

"Tsk, and he give out about his mother being overprotective, he's as bad as her" Yugito thought as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Damn, Hey boy remind me never to say anything bad about Naruto's mom in front of him" Kiba said quietly to his canine partner, who barked in reply, indicating he would.

Seeing that everyone was now distracted with how Killer Bee was doing after Naruto sent him through the wall. Zabuza silently maneuvered himself next to Naruto, where he quickly gained the blonde's attention.

"Hey brat" said Zabuza in a low voice.

"Huh what's wrong Zabuza?" replied Naruto.

"What are you feelings regarding Haku?"

"Huh?"

"You heard me, what are your feelings regarding Haku?"

"She one of my closet friends and I care about her, if it wasn't for her, I probably would have been killed in the Forest of Death."

"Friends, huh?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Let me just give you a word of advice brat" said the Demon of the Hidden Mist and he lowered his face to Naruto and looked directly into his eyes. "Haku is a sweet and innocent kid. Who despite having gone through so much shit in her life the past few years has maintained a kind and caring hear. So should you ever hurt in her in any way…I'll gut you like a fish and mount your head on my wall."

Once Zabuza had finished, the Mist Swordsman, began to leak out a small amount of Killing Intent, just to make his point clear, where for a moment Naruto was certain he saw the face of a demon appear behind the man.

"So do we understand each other brat?" Zabuza asked giving Naruto a deadly glare, causing the blonde boy to gulp in fear and sweat a little before quickly nodding.

"Good" replied Zabuza, before heard someone speaking to them.

"Is everything alright Naruto-kun, Zabuza-sama?" asked Haku, who was walked over to the two.

"Yea, everything is fine, I was just giving the kid some tips on how to improve on his Suiton Ninjutsu…isn't that right brat?" said Zabuza as he gave Naruto a dark looking glance.

"Yes, that right" Naruto replied quickly, knowing that if he said otherwise, his life would be forfeited by the sword wielding Shinobi.

"I see replied Haku, who seemed pleased that her master and Naruto were getting along.

After a little more talking the large group slowly started to leave one by one, so to give Naruto rest more.

Before leaving Naruto called over Yugito, and handed her a scroll that he had gotten Shizune to pick up for him. He then told the blonde girl not to open it until she got back to Kumo.

Now normally if a foreign Shinobi told her to do that, Yugito would have given it straight back to the Shinobi, believing it to be some kind of booby-trap. But given how said Shinobi was Naruto, she decided to trust him and promised him she wouldn't open until she arrived home.

As Haku and her team were bidding their farewell to Naruto, the young ice user decided to do something very brash, knowing that it would probably be the last time she would see Naruto for a while.

Moving over to Naruto, Haku whispered in Naruto's right ear and said, "I'm glad you're safe Naruto-kun, please continue to stay safe."

After which she then kissed Naruto on his cheek, before moving away from him.

This action of course caused many of the boys, (especially Naruto), and some of the girls to blush at Haku's action. Although at the same time, some of the girls glared angrily at Haku, who was blushing a bit as she quickly moved out of the room. But before she left, Yugito and some of the girls were certain they saw Haku smirk, as if gloating at her own personal victory over them.

Seeing this Yugito could not help but feel slightly jealous over what Haku did, even though she did not understand why she was feeling this way.

At the same time Kushina, who remained in the corner of the room with Yamato smirked, knowing teasing material she had just gotten and would use on her student once he was fit for duty.

As a blushing Naruto tried to sort out what had just happened, he noticed Zabuza glaring at him slightly, where before leaving the room after Haku. He brought up his right thumb up to his throat and slide it across the other end.

Getting the meaning to what the Mist Swordsman was getting at Naruto gulped again and thought. "_Why do I get the feeling that my life has suddenly just gotten a lot more complicated._"

-Unknown Location-

Somewhere in a dark underground cave two lone shadowy figures stood together, where the only sound that could be heard was the slow dripping of water falling from stalactites.

After a few minutes seven more shadowy figures appeared, one after the other, where the only discernible feature that linked the nine figures together were the red clouds on their black cloaks, indicating that they were members of the Akatsuki.

"The last time we all met like this…was seven years ago when Orochimaru left the organisation" said one of the figures. "So what's the occasion?"

"An unforeseeable individual as appeared…one who could possibly interfere with our objective" answered the leader of the group.

"Who is it?" asked another member of the group, who was curious as to who could interfere with their plan.

"A young Konoha Genin, Senju Naruto" replied the leader.

"Who?" asked a different member.

"Where the hell have you been staying…? Under a rock?" mocked one member taller members of the group. "Senju Naruto is the son of Senju Tsunade-sama, the entire Shinobi world has been up in an up roar about him for the past three months."

"Fuck you, fish breath!" rounded the anger member. "Maybe I'll offer up to Jashin-sama as sacrifice to him, even though a blasphemer like you is unworthy of such an honour!"

"Heh, you're welcome to try Zombie boy" the same member replied.

"Enough!" spoke the leader loudly, causing the two members to halt their arguing.

"The boy is much more of a threat than any of you realize."

"How can a kid, let alone a mere Genin be a threat to our plan?" asked one of the shadowy figures.

"The boy is no ordinary Genin given his heritage alone" said another member of the group who was clearly female given the sound of her voice. "Not only does he possess the ability to use the same kind of superhuman strength his mother Tsunade-sama has. But he possesses an affinity for Suiton that rivals even his ancestor the Nidaime Hokage."

Naturally many of the other members of the Akatsuki were surprised by this. But before any of them could comment, their leader spoke again.

"But the more important issue is that he possesses Mokuton, the same power of his ancestor the Shodai Hokage. That is why he is a threat to our plan."

After hearing this the eyes of nearly everyone in the group widen slightly in surprise.

"How is that possible? Mokuton is a mutation the Shodai Hokage-sama alone had, it is not a true Bloodline limit" asked one of the Akatsuki members.

"It would seem that is no longer the case, although it should be noted that he is not the only person who possesses Mokuton. There is another in Konoha who is capable of using it, thanks to the experiments that were performed on him by Orochimaru, who attempted to recreate the Shodai Hokage-sama's power for himself. But from what we have learned, this person powers pales in comparison to the Shodai Hokage-sama, therefore his threat level is not as great as the boy."

"Why that's?" asked one of the members.

"Given how Tsunade-sama's son inherited his Mokuton powers from birth, it would make sense that he would be able to use the ability better, since he had it naturally" replied the female member.

"Indeed, although it should be noted that the boy has already proven himself, where he fought and defeated two of our targets" added the Akatsuki leader.

"Who?" asked one member.

"The jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku (One-Tailed Beast) Sababku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall), and the jinchūriki of the Nibi noBakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat) Nii Yugito."

After hearing this, the other Akatsuki members were once again surprised, although before any of them could comment, the Akatsuki leader turned to one of the members.

"Zetsu, please tell the other the events that you witness."

Nodding to this Zetsu then began to explain the events of the Chunin exam, as he had been order to sneak into the village and watch the event. After the Akatsuki learned that three of their targets would be all located in one place.

His orders were to spy on the Chunin exam and gather data on the fighting abilities of the three jinchūriki as well as try and gather information on the Kyubi jinchūriki. Whose identity still remained unknown to the Akatsuki.

After Zetsu finished retelling Naruto's battles with Yugito and Naruto, many of the members were left rather impressed with the young Senju heir.

"WWWooo that kid is pretty good; he sounds like the Senju Clan version of you Itachi" said one of the Akastuki members as he turned to the Uchiha and let out a low whistle, indicating that like the others, he was impressed with Naruto's skill

The former Uchiha heir of course did not reply to his partner comment and remained silent.

"Do you wish for one of us to eliminate the boy?" asked another member, who had a slightly hunched form.

"No, instead I wish for him to be captured?"

"Huh, But why?"

"Although the boy does pose a threat to our plan, at the same time he could prove to be a powerful asset in our goal in obtaining all nine jinchūriki, where with his help our task could be made much easier. He has also already proven that he is capable of suppressing the Chakra of Biju."

"That may be true, but from what Zetsu has told us, he is still a long way off from being able to be of any real use to us. He was barely able to suppress the Nibi's Chakra, and that was only a portion of its power. Also both Nibi and Shukaku are among the weakest of the Biju and their jinchūriki are among the youngest and most inexperienced of the nine jinchūriki. Unlike the more senior jinchūriki, they cannot control or use their Biju full powers, and it is unlikely he could suppress a fully realised jinchūriki like the Hachibi jinchūriki" said the hunch back member.

_"_Yea" said the hunch back member's partner, who only had one eye visible. "We don't need his help; we can capture the other jinchūriki ourselves."

"That may be true, but we are still several years away from moving forward with our plan and given the boy's rapid progress already. There is little doubt that his strength would continue to grow, especially with the correct training. Not to mention capturing him could aid us in our quest to locate and capture the Kyubi jinchūriki, especially if what Zetsu has told me is true."

"Then who will you send to capture the boy" asked the Hunch back member, while at the same time thinking. "___Perhaps once we have finished with the boy, I can turn his body into a puppet, as a Mokuton using puppet would make a true work of art…A masterpiece that would last through the ages_."

"I will send Itachi and Kisame to capture the Senju heir" the leader replied.

"But why? They are the furthest away from Konoha, it would take them at least a month to get there. Hidan and I are nearer and could capture him, I also have previous experience fighting a Mokuton user, given how I fought the Shodai Hokage-sama" said one of the Akatsuki members. Who was rather intrigued with meeting the heir of the founder of Konoha, not only because of his history with the former Senju leader. But also because he was certain that he could make a tidy profit out of the boy's corpse, once they were finished with him. Since he was certain many villages would pay a handsome price to have the body of a Mokuton user.

"No Kakuzu, you and Hidan are more useful in gathering and collecting bounties for our organisation. Also this mission requires more stealth and finesses, if you two were to go; things would escalate into an all-out battle with Konoha and we cannot afford to draw that much attention onto organisation yet. That is also why I will not send Sasori and Deidara…Itachi and Kisame are much more suited for this mission, where given Itachi's familiarity with Konoha's security and weaknesses. They can enter the village without alerting Konoha's forces and capture and leave with the boy before they are aware of what happened."

Nodding in understanding, the group remained silent and listened to what else their leader had planned once they had captured Naruto.

When he finished explaining the rest of his plan to the other members of the group, they slowly disappeared one by one, until only the leader and his partner were left.

Once the others had gone the leader and his partnered turned to the dark corner of the cave.

"Do you have any objections to what I have planned?" asked the leader as he looked towards the dark corner of the cave, and to the true leader of the Akatsuki. Who remained hidden in the shadows.

Like the other Akatsuki members astro forms, the figure was cloaked in darkness, where all one could make out was the red clouds on his black cloak and a singular eye, which held the Sharingan.

"I have no objections, in fact I am rather interested in the boy myself and would like to meet the descendant of my old rival Hashirama" replied the dark figure. "Also tell Itachi and Kisame to be cautious with him, the line of the Senju should never be underestimated."

"Understood…Madara-sama."

N/A.

Well that's it for another Chapter of Hope of the Senju Clan and the end of the Chunin and invasion arcs.

Now as you can guess the next Chapter will involve arrival of the Akatsuki in Konoha, which I know is something many of you are looking forward to. Also Gaara will make an appearance in the next Chapter, where he and Naruto will once again meet head to head (although in a less violent manner).

These of course are only a few of the things that will happen in the next Chapter, since a lot will happen.

Again hoped you all enjoyed it, especially Naruto resurrection and is conversation with his family.

Also please vote for the third summons poll on my profile page, since the polls will officially close twenty four hours after this Chapter has been posted. So if you haven't voted please do so and make your opinion known.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now as for my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

**Author's Note:**

(1). For Images of Naruto's Grandparents go to the Hope of the Senju Clan section of my profile for the links

(2). Naruto is five foot three in this point in the story and Nawaki is four foot six

(3). As most of you know, this story was created before it was revealed that Kushina once held the Kyuubi. By then it was too late to change so I decided to keep the story as it was, hence Mito did not seal the Kyuubi into her when the Shodai captured it.

(4). Sakura is only embarrassed over all the times she argued and yelled at Naruto, he still risked his life to protect her from Gaara.


	34. Chapter 34

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty-four: Akatsuki**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"_**Animal talk/Thinking Jutsu/Snarling**_"

In celebration of my Nations National Holiday, I have decided to upload this Chapter.

Hope everyone enjoys it and Happy St Patrick's Day!

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

___Once the others had gone the leader and his partnered turned to the dark corner of the cave._

_"__Do you have any objections to what I have planned?" asked the leader as he looked towards the dark corner, where another dark Shadowy form appeared._

___Like the other Akatsuki members astro forms, the figure was cloaked in darkness, where all one could make out was the red clouds on his black cloak and a singular eye, which held the Sharingan._

_"__I have no objections, in fact I am rather interested in the boy myself and would like to meet the descendant of my old rival Hashirama" replied the dark figure. "Also tell Itachi and Kisame to be cautious with him, the line of the Senju line should never be underestimated."_

_"__Understood…Madara-sama."_

-Konoha ANBU Headquarters-

Currently walking through the underground passages of Konoha's ANBU headquarters underneath the village, one Senju Naruto silently made his way down the dark hallways.

It had been two weeks since the invasion had ended, and after a long stay, Naruto was finally allowed to leave the hospital. But not before a thorough medical check by his mother, who wanted to make sure that he was in perfect health.

But despite passing all the examinations, Tsunade had ordered Naruto to not get into any strenuous activities, stating that he still needed to take it easy.

Remembering his mother's orders, the young Senju could only sigh, since after his near-death experience, his mother had become even more protective of him than before, something he didn't think was possible until now.

After finally leaving the hospital, Naruto expected to move back into the apartment he had been living in since he came to Konoha. But to his surprise he found he had been moved to a large house not far from the Hokage's mansion.

It was only later that he learned that this was to be his new family home, which the Sandaime had built specifically for when Tsunade returned to Konoha, since Naruto's apartment was too small for the entire family.

Originally the Sandaime had planned to let Naruto stay in his apartment. But after the invasion Tsunade insisted that Naruto was to stay with her in the new Senju family home, so that she could keep an eye on her son. (1)

Sighing again at his mother overprotectiveness, the blonde haired boy began to wonder if he would ever be allowed to leave the village again, without his mother hovering over him.

After a few minutes of walking Naruto finally arrived at his destination, which was the ANBU holding cells. In front of the doorways Naruto saw two masked ANBU flanking the doorway to the holding cells.

When Naruto reach them, an ANBU wearing a wolf-like mask, the ANBU looked down at him and spoke, "You are not cleared to be here, identify yourself."

"My name is Senju Naruto and I am here to see one of the prisoners here."

Upon learning who Naruto was, both ANBU stiffened slightly.

"Our apologies Naruto-dono, but I'm afraid you're still not permitted here" spoke the other ANBU who wore a badger shaped masked.

"You guys are aware of who my mother is?" asked Naruto, where he received a nod from the two ANBU. "And you're also aware that my mother is about to become the Godaime Hokage."

"We are aware of that Naruto-dono, but even so…" said the Wolf masked ANBU but before he could finish he was interrupted by Naruto.

"Come on guys, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have permission, How else do you think I got here?"

"That may be true, but still we cannot let you in without proper authorisation from the Hokage-sama" said the Badger masked ANBU.

"Fine then" sighed Naruto, "But you guys should know that Jiji is pretty busy right now going over the paperwork for being Hokage with my mom. So if you guys really want to waste time by following proper procedure and interrupt both Jiji and Kaa-chan while they're at work. Then you better be prepared for the consequence, since Kaa-chan is in a pretty bad mood right now over having to go over all that paperwork."

At the mention of a pissed off Tsunade, both ANBU silently gulped, since it has been a long standing unspoken rule among the ANBU never to get on Tsunade's bad side.

This rule came into effect about thirteen years ago, when Tsunade hospitalized two ANBU who unfortunately got in her way when she was in a bad mood. By the time she was done with them, the two ANBU were basically human pretzels, with their arms and legs all tied up in one nice big bow.

Even now a team of ANBU were currently in hiding from Tsunade. After the granddaughter of Hanzo was able to get by them and have her way with Naruto, or at least that what the rumours say among the ANBU.

After turning to one another and looking at each other, both ANBU silently reached an agreement and turned to Naruto.

"Very well Naruto-dono, you may enter but I will accompany you" said the Badge masked ANBU.

"Fine" replied Naruto, before the ANBU opened the door and he and the ANBU walked in.

As they entered the holding area Naruto could not help but silently congratulate himself on a perfectly played bluff.

Although he did feel little bad for lying to the two ANBU, since he didn't really have permission to be here and only knew about it from his Kushina. Who being the blabber mouth that she was, inadvertently mention some things about the ANBU over Ramen.

"_I guess being the son of the next Hokage does have its advantages_" Naruto thought as he and the ANBU down the long roll of cells that flanked them.

-Flashback Two Weeks Ago-

"ME HOKAGE?!" cried a surprised Tsunade who had just finished checking Naruto's vitals and was now talking to Sandaime, who had just entered Naruto's room a few minutes ago with Jiraiya.

"Yes" replied the Sandaime calmly as took his pipe from his mouth.

"Forget it" said Tsunade before turning back to Naruto to test his reflexes.

"Tsunade, please reconsider."

"I said no, I'm not interested, besides the village doesn't need me, it has you. So why are you even bothering me about it, I thought you said you stay on for at least another five years."

"I'm afraid things have changed Tsunade" replied the old Hokage as he took a nearby empty seat.

"What do you mean?" asked Tsunade asturning to her former teacher.

"After our battle, the Fire council was called into session where many of the fire Daimyo's advisors criticised some of my pervious decisions."

"Are they trying to force you out?" asked Tsunade.

"Not exactly, despite his advisors criticism the Fire Daimyo stated that he trusts my judgement. But he did mention that it might be time for me to look for a successor after someone remarked that my fighting ability was not what it used to be."

"Danzo" said Tsunade with a frown.

"Yes, Danzo argued that I am no longer capable of defending the village properly. He even stated that due to my diminished strength, had you and Jiraiya not been there to help me, I likely would have died in the battle."

"Tsk…He's probable trying to push you out so he could manoeuvre himself as your replacement."

"He was, in fact he even tried to nominate himself as my replacement."

"Heh! Danzo was never afraid to say want he wanted" Jiraiya remarked with a sneer.

"That's a load of bull, that guy is probable as old as you are jiji…!" said Naruto, who decided to voice his opinion, as he was aware of Danzo. "How does he expect to do any better?"

"Danzo was not only just criticising my age, he also criticised my way of running the village, stating that Konoha had become too lax during my rule. He also went on to say that it was because of my teachings that we did not see Suna's betrayal coming."

"That a load of horse shit" said Naruto, before he received a clip on the ear.

"Naruto, watch your mouth" scolded Tsunade before turning back to her sensei.

"But still you can't listen to him sensei; Danzo is only saying that stuff because he wants to make himself Hokage. The damage done to the village is Orochimaru's fault no-one else's."

"I am well aware of that Tsunade, but even so, some of the things Danzo said are true. I have gotten too old; our recent battle with Orochimaru has proven that, and that is why I believe it's time for me to retire. Given the damage done to the village and our forces, Konoha is vulnerable and no doubt some of the other villages will start probing our defences to see how weak we have become. If Konoha is to rebuild and survive, it needs a new leader who everyone acknowledges...it needs you Tsunade."

"Why me? There are plenty other Shinobi who are strong enough, better yet why not the pervert over here?" said Tsunade as she pointed to Jiraiya who was leaning against the widow.

"Me Hokage…hah!" laughed Jiraiya at the idea. "Sorry hime, but I'll probably go stir crazy after the first week. I'm no good behind a desk; I'm of better use to Konoha out in the field."

"What about Hatake, he's more than powerful enough or maybe even Kushina, hell she probably jump at the chance."

"Although Kakashi is a fine Shinobi, he is not suited for the position, like Jiraiya he would be of better use in the field on missions, than he would be as Hokage. As for Kushina, although she is one of our strongest and most valuable Kunoichi, she is still not you Tsunade."

"Pff…Well tough, since I'm still not interested" Tsunade replied stubbornly.

"Come on hime don't be like that, you're obviously the best choice, you're a natural leader given the way you've organised the Hospital staff after the invasion. You're also more than strong enough and popular enough with both the civilians and the Shinobi populace. Not to mention you have the lineage to back it up as well, which would almost guarantee you the position."

"Agreed, you already have many of the qualities that would make you a fine Hokage Tsunade, and you would be able to help rebuild the village. The Fire Daimyo himself said that he would support your candidacy as Godaime Hokage if you wanted it. When I mentioned possible successors to him at the end of the meeting" said the Sandaime where he continued.

"Also if you become Hokage you will be able to protect Naruto from certain groups inside the village who are already on the move."

"What do you mean?" asked Tsunade with a frown, although she already had an idea what the Sandaime was getting at.

"As you know, Naruto was already the target of many factions and groups both inside and outside the village. But now that Naruto has revealed that he has Mokuton, he has become an even bigger target, especially to certain influential families and Clans. Who will no doubt try to get close to Naruto or try to put political pressure on both you and him, since there is a possibility that Naruto could pass on his Mokuton Bloodline limit to his children."

"Does anyone standout?" Tsunade asked, since this was exactly what she was afraid would happen when Naruto revealed he could use Mokuton.

"The Hyuga Clan."

"Tsk figures" muttered Tsunade, ever since the end of the First Great Shinobi World War the Hyuga Clan had been slowly gaining influence in Konoha. When most of her Clan was wiped out in the First and Second Great Shinobi World Wars, the Hyuga Clan took advantage of the void left by the loss of her Clan to manoeuvre themselves in Konoha's government. They then used their influence and their fame from the previous wars to make them one of the leading Clans in the village, where only the Sarutobi or Uchiha's Clans could challenge them. But when the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, the Hyuga Clan took the mantle as the strongest Shinobi Clan in Konoha, increasing their influence and status further. But now that Naruto had returned and revealed he had Mokuton like her grandfather, he threated everything.

Even though her Clan was all but gone, the Senju name still held enormous influence in the village, more than the Hyuga could ever hope to claim.

Naruto also had the potential to not only revive the Senju Clan, but also make it even stronger than it ever was before. Since it was possible he could turn Mokuton into an actually Bloodline limit.

If this indeed happen, the Hyuga Clan would lose much of the influence and power they had gained, including their status as the strongest Clan in the village, after a couple of decades.

That was why the best possible solution to this problem was to form a union with Naruto before he rebuilt the Senju Clan; more specifically form a union through marriage. By doing this, not only would they secure their Clan's high status. They would also increase it, since the new Senju Clan would be built upon a member from their Clan.

"Damn bastard" muttered Tsunade.

"I'm afraid they may have already begun to move Tsunade, no doubt they will try to use Naruto-kun's friendship with Hiashi's daughter Hinata to try and arrange a marriage between the two of them."

"Wait are you saying that Hinata-chan is part of this?" Naruto asked since he refused to believe that Hinata only became his friend so that she could get close to him.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I doubt it, since young Hinata does not seem the type to do such things. Although I would not be surprised if the Hyuga Clan elders were pressuring the girl to get close to you."

"Can they do that?"

"I'm afraid so, although officially the Hyuga elders' act as advisors to the Hyuga Clan head" said the Sandaime. "…They can overrule his decision when the Hyuga Clan as a whole is affected, for example during the incident with the Kumo ambassador, Hinata's father Hiashi planned to sacrifice himself. But before he could, the Hyuga elders overruled him and had Neji's father Hizashi substitute him."

"In other words" said Jiraiya, "They'll try to pressure the girl to get closer to you."

"Tsk they can try" growled Tsunade, since she wouldn't stand for anyone trying to use her son for their own petty means.

"Do not underestimate the power and influence of the Hyuga Clan Tsunade, they can bring up a great deal of political pressure on you. That is another reason why I am asking you to be Hokage, since with you at the head of the village, their attempts to pressure you or Naruto will be made even more difficult. You will also be able to see and political movements that they or others may try against you and Naruto and stop them.

After hearing this Tsunade frowned again, as she thought everything over, although she didn't really want the job. Being Hokage would allow her to monitor her son's safety more and at the same time watch for any attempts made against them. Not to mention there was a chance that if she didn't, Danzo could force the Sandaime out. Given the strong resentment in the village against Suna for their recent attack, he could use his militaristic policies to gain support with the the Shinobi and the people and then position himself as Hokage.

That was of course something Tsunade could not afford to happen, since she did not want to even think what Danzo would plan to do with her son once he became Hokage.

"What do you think of it Naru-chan?" asked Tsunade as she turned to her son after a few minutes of heavy thinking.

"I'm okay with it" replied Naruto, "In fact I think you'd make a great Hokage Kaa-chan, it would also be pretty cool, since this way I can become Hokage right after you."

Smiling at this, Tsunade just nodded and turned to the Sandaime, "Fine I'll take the job."

-End Flashback—

As he and the ANBU walked down the long roll of cells that flanked them, Naruto could see that some of the cells were occupied with peopled dressed in prison clothing and wearing specially designed handcuffs, which prevented the person from using their Chakra.

Seeing the people, Naruto notice that most of them were very pale looking, indicating that they had not been out in the sun for a very long time.

This of course made the blonde boy wonder what the prisoners did to deserve to be down here. But before he could put anymore thought into what the prisoners had done, they arrived at a small steel door.

"This is the maximum security cell, he is being held inside" said the ANBU.

"Thanks, also if you would, could you stay out here I would like to talk to him alone."

"I believe that would be unwise, since this person is highly dangerous and…" said the ANBU but was stopped when Narutp interrupted him.

"I know exactly how dangerous he is, because in case you have forgotten, "_I_" was the one who defeated him."

"Ahem…eh yes of course" replied the slightly embarrassed ANBU, since that part had slipped his mind. "But still I believe it would be unwise for you to enter alone."

"Look even if he somehow breaks free, I can handle him with my Mokuton techniques and I can call for help."

"Very well" said the ANBU after a few minutes. "But I will remain here outside should anything happen."

"Fine" said Naruto before the ANBU opened the door and let him into the room.

After Naruto entered the room, the ANBU closed the door behind him.

The room was large, dully lit, with only a single light shining down from the ceiling onto a large cage in the middle of the room, where it held a single person inside.

This person was none other than Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall).

As Naruto walked closer, he could see Gaara was sitting on the floor without his gourd, covered in a special seal drawn up by Kushina, preventing him from accessing his Biju's Chakra.

He had shackles on both his legs, which were nailed to the floor preventing him from moving far as well as the same special handcuffs that Naruto saw the other prisoners wearing.

Once Naruto reached the cell, he saw a large scale seal surrounding the cell, which he guessed was a special barrier seal that kept Gaara from leaving the cell in the event he broke free from his restraints.

After Naruto reached the edge of the barrier around the cell, he took the seat directly in front of Suna boy, which was left for integrators when they were conducting interviews.

Hearing the sounds of someone entering the room, Gaara opened his eyes and frowned when he saw Naruto sitting down in the seat in front od him.

"Senju Naruto" said Gaara in a slow dull voice, "…Have you come to gloat?"

"Sorry no, that isn't my style."

"Then why have you come?"

"I came to talk"

"Talk?" asked Gaara, who although maintained the same blank expression, showed a slight sign of surprise

"Yea, talk."

"I have no wish to talk, let alone see you, so leave."

"Heh, sorry, but I've just freed my schedule for the next few hours, and I'm on medical leave, so you're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

Frowning at this, Gaara just glared coldly at the blonde boy, who just smirked back at him.

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto spoke again.

"In case you are interested, your brother and sister are fine and are being held in Konoha's correctional facility."

"I care little what happens to them" Gaara replied coldly.

"But they are your brother and sister, doesn't that meaning anything to you?"

"No" answered Gaara. "They are simple lumps of meat linked together, who just happen to share the same blood as I do."

"_What kind of messed up stuff happen to this guy, to think so little about his own brother and sister?_" Naruto thought with a frown, before continuing.

"You should know…your father the Yondaime Kazekage-sama is dead."

Upon hearing this, Gaara stared intently at Naruto, "Did he die during the battle?"

Thinking he might have gotten to the Sand wielding boy, Naruto answered.

"No, he was already long dead by then."

"How?" asked Gaara.

"He was killed about two months ago, shortly before the Chunin exam even started, by Orochimaru. Who then disguised himself as him, so that he could get your village to help in his attack on Konoha."

"I see" replied Gaara slowly, "…pity, I had hoped to have the pleasure of killing him myself one day."

"You wanted to kill your own father?" Naruto asked in shock, since he couldn't understand why anyone would want to kill their own father. "But why?"

At first Gaara did not answer and just stared at Naruto, but after a few minutes he spoke.

"Unlike you, I did not grow up in a nice environment; I was born to take life away. When I took my first breath in this world, I took the life of the woman who gave birth to me. I was born into this world, so that I could become the ultimate Shinobi… the perfect killer" Gaara said before continuing.

"After I was born, my father, the Yondaime Kazekage, had Shukaku sealed into me…from that very moment I was a monster."

After Gaara said this he looked right into Naruto eyes, with a cold empty look in his eyes, which worried the blonde boy.

"_So that's what happened to him, like me, his father sealed a Biju into him. But unlike mine, who did it to protect our village, his did it so that he could become a human weapon to be used_" Naruto thought. "_What kind of messed up village is Suna, to have a father do something like that…it's crazy!_"

Before Naruto could comment of what Gaara had told him, the Suna Genin spoke again.

"Once I was old enough, my father then taught me the secrets of my abilities, but not once did he ever show me love or showed that he care about me. He had me raised away from my siblings and from him, but despite that I still believed he cared for me and that I was loved, at least until _that_ incident.

"What incident?" Naruto asked who was almost afraid to ask.

"The incident, where when I was six, my father tried to have me assassinated" replied Gaara where he once again looked right into Naruto's eyes, with a slightly crazed look in them.

When Naruto heard this, the blonde boy's eyes widened in shock, as he couldn't believe any father, let alone any parent would order their own son's to be killed.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Naruto asked, still not believing what he had heard.

"A being that is too strong eventually becomes the embodiment of fear and since I was constantly harassed by my Biju, my mind was unstable. So when the idiots of my village finally noticed that my emotions were unpredictable they began to attack me" answered Gaara. "To my father the Kazekage, I was our village's trump card when needed. But at the same time, I was a monster…a threat to the village. So when I turned six, he and the Suna council classified me as a dangerous being and tried to have me eliminated."

"After I learned what my father had ordered, I began to ask myself what was my purpose, what was my reason for existing? It was then that I discovered my reason for existing in this world…

"What did you discover?" Naruto asked, almost wishing he hadn't.

"I discovered that I exist to kill everyone around me, everyone other than myself" answered Gaara. "After I learned that, I found relief inside the fear of being assassinated at any time and by killing my assassins I was able recognise my reason for living in this world. That is why I fight only for myself and live for only myself. For as far as I am concern the people in this world exist only for me to kill."

After hearing this Naruto just stared at the red headed boy with a look of complete horror and shock.

"_How can anyone, even think of living like that…? It's nuts!_" Naruto thought, not understanding how anyone could believe in such a wrap view on life.

"_So this is what happens to most jinchuriki?_" Naruto thought sadly, where he could not help but pity Gaara for his harsh and cruel life.

At the same time Naruto was also thankfully for having his mother, Shizune and Jiraiya to take care of him when he was growing up. Otherwise, he might have ended up like Gaara, especially if he lived in Konoha and people knew he was a jinchuriki and treated him in the same manner.

"_His father and village really did a number on him, if he actually believes in all this?_" Naruto thought before steeling his resolve. Since if he wanted to help Gaara, he needed to learn more about the Suna jinchuriki and try to understand him better.

"Wasn't there anyone, who you ever cared about…someone you loved?" Naruto asked.

At first Gaara did not answer, where he then held his head in pain at the mention of the word "love," but after a few minutes he settled and then answered Naruto.

"There was one…my Uncle, who took care of me and raised me, but like everyone else in my village. He secretly hated me, and when I was six he told me how he truly felt and tried to kill me. It was after that, that I learned the truth of this world and my existence."

After hearing this Naruto could not help but pity his fellow jinchuriki even more, since he could only imagine what Gaara went through. To be so alone, and be betrayed so many times by the people who should have loved and cared for him.

"Now that I have answered your questions, you will answer my questions. Why have you come here, and why are you so interested in my life?"

Hoping the keep Gaara talking, Naruto decided to answer "I want to try and understand you, I want to know how anyone can be filled with so much hate and loathing for everyone around them? Since it is the very least I can do, given how my family is partially responsible for what happened to you."

"What do you mean?" asked Gaara not fully understanding what the blonde was talking about.

"Before the Shinobi villages were formed, my ancestors the Shodai Hokage and his wife used their combined skills and powers to capture and seal away eight of the nine Biju. Later when the Shinobi villages were formed, they gave the Biju to the other nations, hoping to create a power balance and prevent a war from breaking out. The Biju that my ancestors gave your village was Shukaku, so in a way, my family is partly at fault for your cruel life."

After hearing this Gaara frowned and just stared at the blonde for a few minutes before speaking.

"I see, so are you here to ask for my forgiveness?"

"No, I'm here because I want to try and help you."

"Help me…?" asked Gaara with some measure of surprise before frowning again. "How pitiful…By just saying that, my desire to kill you grows, and mark my words Senju Naruto, I will. For this prison will not hold me forever and once I have freed myself, you shall be the very first person I will kill…and I will relish it."

Hearing this Naruto just sighed, since he knew getting through to Gaara would be a long uphill battle.

"You can try, but you'll fail, not just because of my Mokuton powers or because I'm strong, but because you're alone and regardless of what you think, being alone does not make you strong, in fact it makes you weak."

Annoyed by Naruto's reply, the Suna Genin frowned and stared coldly at Naruto.

After a minute or so Gaara finally gave up staring at Naruto and closed his eyes.

"Leave me, the sight of you has sickens me more than I can bare."

"I told you I have no intention of leaving yet" Naruto replied stubbornly.

"Go!" Gaara said in a harsh voice, where he then glared coldly at the spikey haired blonde. "You have said what you've come to say, now leave. You're only here to ease the guilt you feel for your ancestors' action, you do not care about me, nor can you ever understand me…now leave!"

Naruto of course wanted to argue and deny what the redhead had said, but he was partially right for Naruto's reason for being here. But it was only ONE of the reasons why he had come to see Gaara, and why he wanted to help him.

After about a minute or so of heavy staring, Naruto finally relented and let out a tired sigh, knowing that he wouldn't get any further with Gaara today.

"Fine, I leave, but I'll be back tomorrow" said Naruto, causing Gaara to frown again.

Once he lifted himself up off his seat, Naruto prepared to walk back to the door, but before he leaving. Naruto took out a small book from his inner coat pocket and threw inside the cage, where in landed on the ground right in front of Gaara.

"What is it?" the Suna jinchuriki asked, when he looked at the book, where the cover read "___The Tale__ of the Utterly ____Gutsy__ Shinobi_"

"It's a book; I thought you would be bored, since you're here by yourself with nothing to do or anyone to talk to."

"I do not want anything from you" Gaara replied coldly, where he left the book on the ground.

"That's your choice, but you should know, its actually a pretty good book and it was written by my Godfather."

Scoffing at it, Gaara just closed his eyes and ignored the blonde, who just sighed again and left the room.

After leaving Gaara, Naruto was accompanied out of the ANBU holding arena by Badger, where they then met up with Wolf.

But before Naruto could leave, Wolf suddenly spoke.

"Naruto-dono, I've just received word from the Sandaime Hokage-sama."

At the mention of his surrogate grandfather, Naruto froze.

"Oh really?" asked a nervous Naruto, as he started to sweat a little.

"Yes" answered Wolf, "He would like to "_talk_" to you and is waiting for you in his office as we speak.

Knowing the jig was up, Naruto let out a defeated sigh, where he then allowed Wolf to lead him out of the ANBU headquarters back to the Hokage's mansion.

* * *

After emerging from the underground base, Naruto and Wolf quickly made their way to the Hokage mansion and to his office.

Once they had arrived, Wolf knocked on the double doors of the Hokages office, where they then heard the Sandaime say "Enter."

Hearing the Hokage's voice, Wolf opened the door and allowed Naruto in, before following after him.

"Senju Naruto, as requested Hokage-sama."

"Thank you Wolf you may leave us" said the Sandaime as he waved the ANBU off, who nodded and closing the door behind himas he left.

"I suppose I don't need to explain to you why I called you hear Naruto-kun?" said the Sandaime with a slightly stern look.

"Eh, not really" replied Naruto with a guilty smile, "I guess I was hoping for too much that they would buy my bluff."

"I will admit it was a rather good bluff using the ANBU's fear of your mother to keep them from informing me. But sadly for you, there are some like Wolf who are not only loyal to me but still follow procedure regardless of consequence."

After the Sandaime said this, a nervous looking Naruto began to look around the office. "By any chance is Kaa-chan here?"

"No, she still at the hospital, since I thought it best to keep this little incident to ourselves" answered the Sandaime with a small amused smile.

After hearing this, Naruto let out a sigh of relief, since he could handle the Sandaime, but not his mother.

"So Naruto, perhaps you can tell me why you entered Sabaku no Gaara's holding cell, without permission?"

"I wanted to talk to him and I knew if I had gone to you, Kaa-chan would hear about it and she would try to stop me."

"And why do you want to talk to him?"

"Because I want to understand him, and help him."

"Help him, but why? The boy was determined to kill you when you fought him and from what Ibiki and the other interrogators have told me, he still is."

"He's not the first to try, look at Mai-chan and Haku-chan."

"True, but that boy is different Naruto."

"You mean because he is a jinchuriki?" Naruto asked with small frown.

"Ye-No…! No of course not?" the Sandaime said before raising his hand in denal, since he could see the anger slowly appearing on Naruto's face, and realized how his comment could be taken. "What I mean Naruto is that the boy is not mentally stable, and he probably does not what your help."

"I know, but I still feel that I should at least try?"

"Why?" asked the Sandaime, who could still not understand Naruro's reason for wanting to help.

"Because, I feel that I should, both of us are jinchuriki, but we lived completely different lives. Unlike him, I had people like Kaa-chan, Shizune-nee and Ero-sennin to look after me and care for me" said Naruto, who then went on to tell the Sandaime what Gaara a told him about his life in Suna.

When Naruto finished telling Gaara's story, even the Sandaime could not help but pity the young jinchuriki for what happened to him. But sadly he was not surprised by it, since he knew that this was not an uncommon practice in most Shinobi villages. With the exception of Kumo, most Shinobi villages that had jinchuriki, feared them, which often resulted in jinchuriki to be mistreated and hated by their own people.

"As much as it pains me to say this, not everyone can be saved Naruto-kun. Believe me, I know the feeling of wanting to save someone from their own darkness" Sarutobi said sadly as his mind lingered back to Orochimaru.

"Maybe, but I have to try!" replied Naruto. "I was luckier than him or most jinchuriki, I was able to live without being persecuted by the people around me. I lived outside Konoha and had people who loved and cared for me. If I had lived in Konoha and didn't have Kaa-chan or the others, and people knew that I was a jinchuriki. Chances are I would probably have been treated just as badly as Gaara was in his village and I might have turned out just like him."

"Naruto, you don't know that" the Sandaime argued.

"Don't I? Can you say with one hundred precent certainty jiji, that if people knew I held the Kyubi. They would treat me the same, especially after the Kyubi attack?"

At this remark, the Sandaime remained silent, which was all Naruto needed to confirm what he already believed.

The old Hokage of course knew it was pointless to argue with Naruto, since he knew what would have happened to Naruto if he had stayed in the village after the attack, and if people knew that the Kyubi was sealed within him.

Although he would be immune from harm, due to people's fear of Tsunade's wrath. It did not mean they would not scorn him and make him feel like an outcast, regardless of his heritage, due to their fear of the Kyubi.

This was of course one of the very reasons why he supported Tsunade's decision in leaving the village with Naruto. Since Sarutobi knew the affects an environment like that would have on a young boy when growing up, if people learned he carried the Kyubi within him.

"I also want to help him, since it's my responsibility" Naruto said, gaining the Sandaime's attention again.

"Your responsibility...? What do you mean my boy?"

"I mean, Gaara probably wouldn't have gone through want he did if it wasn't for my family, since it was Shodai who gave Suna Shakuku, resulting in Gaara becoming a jinchuriki."

"Naruto, that is not your family's fault, the Shodai gave Suna and their villages the other Biju, because he wanted to create a balance of power between the other Shinobi nations and maintain peace. How the others villages used them and threated their jinchuriki isn't your fault nor is it your responsibility.

"Well it didn't work, since war still broke out and besides, isn't it my responsibility? Like everyone in the village is saying now. I'm the Shodai's Hokage-sama's heir, meaning it my responsibilities to at least try to fix his mistakes" Naruto replied. But before the Sandaime could respond to his remark, Naruto continued.

"Look I'm, not saying that he was wrong in his idea in trying to keep peace. I just believe that the Shodai didn't realize the effect it would have, especially later on. If he had known what kind of suffering it would cause to those who became jinchuriki, I'm certain would have tried things differently."

After hearing this, the Sandaime closed his eyes and began to puff his pipe, showing he was in deep thought.

As he thought over everything Naruto had to said, he had to admit his surrogate Grandson made several valid points. But still he was naturally wary of Gaara and was unsure if Naruto could actually get through to the boy, since they were opposite in almost everything.

"Naruto what exactly makes you think you can even reach the boy?"

"By talking and listening to him since from what I have gathered, I don't think anyone has really ever tried to understand him, let alone talk to him. They've all been too scared of him to even try" answered Naruto.

"If I can just have a little more time with him, I know I can get to him" Naruto continued. "I can show him that not everyone in the world is out to get him, and that he doesn't need to be alone. I can show him that there can be a place for people like us, if he is just willing to open up."

When Naruto finished the Sandaime just closed his eyes and thought on it.

Now normally he wouldn't even consider something like this. But from watching Naruto these past few months and seeing the effect he had on certain people like Neji, Konohamaru, the fire Daimyo's granddaughter and others.

The Sandaime was also encouraged by Naurto's knack in turning his former enemies into allies, people like Momochi Zabuza, Yuki Haku, Hattori Mai, Killer Bee and his Genin team. Hence if anyone had a chance in getting through to the mad jinchuriki, it was Naruto.

As the Sandaime continued to ponder the matter further, he could not help but remember something the Shodai once told him, back when he was a young Genin.

"_All that is necessary for the triumph of ____evil__ is that ____good men do nothing__**.**_"

The Sandaime knew he could easily say no and do nothing and have Gaara remain alone in solitary until the eventual prisoner handover, which had been agreed upon after Konoha accepted Suna's surrender. But to do so would be a tragedy to an already sad life, since Sarutobi knew it would be only a matter of time before one of two things happen.

One was that Gaara finally went wild, resulting in either Suna's destruction or Gaara's death with the loss of many lives.

The other was that he and Naruto would eventually face one another again, only this time, one of them would kill the other. These possibilities were of course not something the Sandaime wanted. If there was a chance that they could be averted, he wanted to take it. If Naruto could somehow get through to Gaara. Not only would he have prevented a tragedy from happen. It was possible that Gaara could become a powerful ally to Naruto and help him against the Akatsuki, (who would also be after Gaara) and other groups.

After a minute or more of heavy thinking, the Sandaime finally decided to take a chance and roll the dice on Naruto, hoping that he was right.

Opening his eyes, the old Hokage looked directly into Naruto's eyes and spoke.

"Very well Naruto, I will allow you to continue to visit Gaara in his cell until he is released back to Suna. But there are some conditions, first you are not to enter the cell under any circumstances, nor are you allowed to release him from his chains or seals. Second an ANBU guard will be stationed at all times outside the room when you're visiting and thirdly. You're not permitted to walk around alone in any other part of the ANBU headquarters, am I understood."

I understand…and thanks jiji, I won't let you down."

Smiling and nodding at times, the Sandaime decided to move on to the other matter that he had called the spikey haired blonde here for.

"Good" replied the Sandaime before he hit the intercom on his desk, calling his secretary and telling her to "let them in."

Curious Naruto was about to ask what the Sandaime was talking about. But before he could, he heard the double doors behind him open and saw Kiba, his sister Hana and their mother Tsume, along with their canine partners enter the room.

Before Naruto could even greet them, Naruto was knocked to the ground by a brown blur, which preceded to luck his face.

"Hahahahaha…Come on Kurimaru…hahahhaha…are you going to do…hahahha...do this every time you see me…hahahhaha" laughed Naruto as the young half wolf continued to lick him.

"He's just happy to see you brat" replied Tsume as she smiled at the scene, "…poor pup has been moping around the compound ever since it heard you got hurt."

After a few minutes Kurimaru finally settled down and allowed Naruto to sit up, who was then helped up by Kiba who offered him a hand.

Since the invasion, Naruto and Kiba's relationship had improved a lot in the past few months, where the young Inuzuka was a lot friendlier to the blonde and criticised him less.

"So why are you guys here?" Naruto asked, once he was back on his feet.

"We're here to see you and to give you something or should I say Naku here has something to give you" a smiling Hana said, where she took a step back and allowed Naruto to see the young girl who was standing behind her.

When Naruto saw her, he immediately recognised the girl from one of his clone's memory, who saved the girl, her pup and Kurimaru from and Oto Shinobi.

Naku had brown eyes and short brown hair that fell as just below the back of her neck and wore a small head band around her head. Like all members of the Inuzuka Clan she had two read fang markings on each of her cheeks, with a third on her forehead.

She wore a simple white sleeveless top, with dress underneath and purple armbands around each of her arms. She also wore a simple looking necklace with a small green stone tied around it and a pair of oval shape earrings. (2)

"Hey Naku, how are you?" greeted Naruto, when he saw the girl, who was also accompanied by her pup, who barked in greeting, while also telling Naruto to remember her. This of course made Naruto smile, and quickly said hello to the young pup.

"I am fine thank you Naruto-san" replied Naku slightly nervously, where she then held out a small black box to Naruto. That she had been holding his her hands, "This is for you."

Curious about what was inside the box, Naruto took it from the nervous girl and opened, where he saw a handmade bracelet. The bracelet was simple, made out of beads and different coloured leather robe, with a large dogs tooth on top. (3)

"A bracelet?" said Naruto in surprise.

"Naruto my boy that is no ordinary bracelet" said the Sandaime when he saw the bracelet. "...That is a pack bracelet, a rare honour that is only given to certain members outside the Inuzuka Clan,."

"A Pack bracelet?" asked Naruto not understanding what his surrogate grandfather was talking about, since he had never heard of such a thing.

Seeing Naruto's confusion, Tsume decided to explain what the bracelet meant.

"A Pack bracelet is something that is only given to certain people outside our Clan and is not something that is given often. It is only given to those who have either done a great service to our Clan or risked their lives to save one of our own. This bracelet symbolise our friendship with you, where you're considered honorary members of our Clan."

"Wow, thanks Tsume-san" said a surprised Naruto, who didn't expect anything like this.

"Don't worry about it pup, it's the least I can do after you saved my niece" said the female Inuzuaki head, where she then placed her hand on top of Naku, who blushed from embarrassment.

"Your niece?!" cried Naruto in surprise, since he had been unaware that Naku was Tsume niece, which meant that she was Kiba's cousin.

"Yea, she's my kid brother's daughter, and she's been in my care ever since her parents died on a mission" Tsume said with a mournful expression, since she never got over the loss of her younger brother.

Shortly after, Tsume thoughts moved away from the loss of her brother when she heard Kurimaru braking, which reminded her of why else they were here.

"Oh before I forget, tell me pup, what would you think in having Kurimaru stay with you."

"Huh? You mean you want me to keep Kurimaru" Naruto said in shock, who was not the only one, since the Sandaime was also stunned by the news. Since never in the history of the Inuzuka Clan was one of their dogs given to someone outside their Clan. The Inuzuka Clan valued their dogs like they would any other member of their Clan. They were like a brother or sister to their partners and would never abandon them. And to allow someone to have one of their dogs was unheard of, yet by doing this, it indicated that they trusted Naruto without question.

"A-Are you sure?" Naruto asked, since he also knew what this meant.

"We're sure" answered Hana with a smile, "Inuzuka dogs only pick one person to partner up with in their entire lives. Kurimaru has clearly showed that he likes you, and I don't think he would be willing to partner up with anyone else."

After hearing this Naruto then turned to the small pup and asked him if he would like to stay with him.

In response the small half-wolf jump up into Naruto's arms and began to lick his face and bark loudly, while wagging his tail.

"Well I guess you got your answer pup" said Tsume smile.

"I guess" replied Naruto with a smile. "But would it be okay if I brought him to visit, in case he starts to miss the other dogs."

"Of course, you're always welcome at our place pup…and I'm sure Naku would enjoy seeing her "_hero_" as well."

"Tsume-obasan!" cried the now red girl, which caused most people to laugh, seeing that the girl had developed a crush on her blonde saviour.

Kiba and Naruto of course remain oblivious, believing that Naku was just embarrassed over Naruto saving her, and Tsume teasing her about it.

As the group continued to talk amongst themselves, the Sandaime could not help but smile over how history could repeat itself.

Long ago, just before Konoha was founded, a group of Inuzuka were ambushed by a large group of Shinobi from Kusa no Kuni (Grass Country).

During the first few minutes of the attack several members of the group, along with their canine partners were badly wounded. Leaving the rest to defend not only themselves, but also their wounded

But just when the group was about to be wiped out, Naruto's ancestor Hashirama appeared and singlehandedly defeated the enemy Shinobi.

Once the enemy was defeated, Hahashirama used his advance medical skills to treat the injured members, saving their lives.

Later, after learning what Hashirama had done, the Inuzuka Clan head of that time met with Senju Clan head and like with Naruto, presented him with the Pack bracelet, as a sign of gratitude. Not only for saving his Clan members lives, but also the life of his son, who had been with the group.

It was thanks to this incident that the Senju and Inuzuka Clans became strong friends, and when Konoha was first built. The Inuzuka were among the first Shinobi Clans to join Konoha.

With this new development, Sarutobi knew that Naruto had gained powerful allies, since the Inuzuka were a proud and fierce Clan of Shinobi. Who not only remembered their enemies, but also their friends, and were always loyal to them. This was a trait that had earned them much fame and respect, not only in Konoha, but in other Shinobi villages as well.

"Just make sure take good care of him, otherwise we'll come after you" said Kiba with a teasing smirk, knowing that Naruto would never hurt the young pup.

"Don't worry I will" replied Naruto with his own smile, as he scratch the back ear of his new friend. Although at the same time, Naruto also began to wonder how another friend of his was doing, with her new friend.

* * *

Currently walking through the village of the Hidden Cloud, one Nii Yugito was slowly making her way back home after accomplishing an escort mission.

As she neared her family home, the blonde girl could not help but feel quite pleased with herself, since it had been her first official solo mission as a Chunin.

After a few minutes Yugito arrived at her home, which was a small one story house that had belonged to her family.

When she opened the door she immediately took off her sandals and said "I'm home!"

Shortly after she said this, a small white blur made its way over to her.

When Yugito looked down, she saw a kitte rubbing and purring against her leg.

The kitten was small with white fur and dark brown eyes and a miniature headband around its neck with the symbol of Kumo on it.

"Hello girl, how are you today? Did Samui take good care of you while I was away?" asked Yugito in girly voice, as she lifted the small kitten up.

In response the small kitten meowed, indicating that it was fine, where is soon started purr when Yugito began to scratch behind its ear.

Hearing the kitten purr loudly, the blonde girl could not help but smile and remember when she first brought the kitten home.

-Enter Flashback Fortnight Ago-

Two days after returning to her village, a still recovering Yugito walked into her kitchen to get a glass of milk, as she made her way through her living room. She noticed a small scroll on the table, which she had left there after returning home and had forgotten about.

Seeing the scroll, Yugito quickly remembered the scroll as the one Naruto gave her before leaving Konoha and told her not open until she returned home.

Deciding to see what was inside it; the blonde girl picked up the scroll and opened it up.

After opening the scroll, she quickly recognised the summoning seal written inside the seal, which began to let out smoke.

Unsure what was about to appear, Yugito immediately dropped the scroll onto the floor and a small cloud of smoke appeared.

When the smoke dissipated, Yugito saw a familiar white kitten standing in front of her with a small white ribbon around it.

Upon seeing the kitten Yugito recognised it as the same one she and Naruto had saved. (4)

At the same time, the small kitten looked up at the blonde girl and meowed and purred against her leg, indicating she recognised Yugito as well.

After picking the small kitten up, Yugito noticed a small piece of paper stuck inside the small ribbon around the kitten's neck and took it out to read it.

"_Dear Yugito-chan, as I promised this kitten now has a good home._"

"_P.S. She doesn't have a name yet, since I thought you should be the one to name her._"

"_Tsk, sneaky as ever, I beat this was what he had planned from the very beginning_" Yugito thought with an amused smile, before she lifted the kitten up to her face and looked right into her eyes.

"Well girl I guess this is your new home, you okay with that?" Yugito asked, where the kitten meowed back indicating that it was.

"I guess you're going to need a name" Yugito said as she stared down at the white kitten.

After a minute or so of heavy thinking, Yugito suddenly came up with the perfect name for the kitten, (Author's Note: In her Mind).

"Okay girl, from this day onward your name will be Kumo, in honour of our village and because of your soft white fur…"

"… what do you think girl?" Yugito asked with a smile, where the kitten just meowed again, which Yugito took as okay from the small cat. After which she then brought the kitten over the kitchen and get her something to eat.

-End Flashback-

After thinking back to how she came to have Kumo, Yugito decided to relax a little by playing with Kumo and made her way over to the living room, where she kept some of Kumo's toys.

As she made her way over to the living, the blonde haired girl could not help but wonder what another certain blonde was doing now.

At the same time inside her seal, the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat) quietly chuckled to herself after she heard Yugito last thoughts.

"_**Fufufufu…I've got to hand it to that Senju boy, he knows how to win girls affection**_" the Nibi said to herself with a smile, knowing all the fun she would have with this.

* * *

One week after the events in the Hokages office, Naruto once again made his way down to Gaara's cell.

This had now become a daily routine, where every day for a few hours, Naruto would sit in front of Gaara and talk to the Sand wielding boy, or at least try to, given how he was the one who mainly did the talking.

After a week of trying to get Gaara to open up to him and seeing how little progress he was making, Naruto decided it was time to take a risk.

When he arrived at the room he saw Gaara staring at him with his usual blank stare.

"Back again, I see" said Gaara with dull tone.

"Yep"

"Why do you continue to come here? I had thought would've given up by now?"

"I'm just the stubborn type" replied the smirking Naruto before sitting down.

"I still do not understand why you continue to try, since someone like you could never understand someone like me. We both live in completely different worlds and have nothing in common."

"We may live in different worlds, but that doesn't mean we can't come to some sort of understanding, especially since we have more in common than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"This!" Naruto said as he pulled up his shirt to show his stomach and released some of his Chakra, causing the seal on his stomach to reveal.

"What is that?"

"A seal, which keeps a Biju similar to yours sealed inside me."

"You're a jinchūriki like me?" Gaara asked whose eyes widened in surprise, where Naruto just nodded in confirmation.

For minute Gaara just stared at Naruto, unsure of what to think, but shortly after his surprise turned to anger.

"You'll lie! I do not believe you, that seal does not prove that you are like me."

Realizing he would have to go a step further Naruto summoned a small portion of the Kyūbi's Chakra and had it cover his body.

When Gaara saw the red Chakra cover Naruto's body, the Suna jinchūriki eyes widened in shock again. But before he could say anything, Gaara held his head in pain and heard Shukaku's voice.

"_**Kyubi! Kill him, kill the bastard fox!**_"

As Gaara held his head in pain, he could feel the Sand demon trying to push through and take control, but was prevented by the seal that Kushina placed on Gaara's body.

After a few minutes Gaara began to settle and stared at Naruto.

"You are the jinchūriki for the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-tailed demon fox)"

"I am" replied Naruto who figured Gaara learned who he held from his Biju.

"Like I said Gaara, you and I may have lived different lives, but we have more in common than you might think. Not only are we both jinchūriki, but we are also both sons of Kages, since like your father my father was the Yondaime of my village."

Upon hearing this, a look of shock once again appeared on Gaara's face.

"You're are the son the of Yondaime Hokage?" Gaara asked in surprise, since like most Shinobi he was familiar with the famed Hokage, whose reputation was well known. In fact now that Gaara compared the two, he could see the strong resemblance between the two and could easily believe the two were father and son.

"Pretty much" answered Naruto. "But listen Gaara, I know I can never fully understand the kind of things you went through when growing up in your village. But I can understand what it is like to carry something inside you and be afraid of it and if you let me, maybe I can help."

"Why should I trust, regardless of the fact that we are both jinchūriki, we are from two separate villages and I tried to kill you."

"I told you before, you're not the first one to try and you certainly won't be the last. Besides that was then and this is now it doesn't mean we can't become friends now" replied the Senju heir.

"Friends?" repeated Gaara as he looked at Naruto like he was crazy.

"Yeah, you saw my matches with Mai-chan and Yugito-chan, like you when I first met them, they were my enemies. But afterwards we became friends, the same for Haku-chan, who I fought against on a mission but later became friends with."

"I do not need friends" Gaara replied with a hint of anger.

"Everyone needs at least one friend Gaara and you definitely need one, you may pretend to be a cold hearted monster. But the fact is you're a scared and lonely person, you're afraid to let people in, after the number of times you be betrayed by those around you."

"I fear nothing!" Gaara hissed angrily, as the red haired boy began to lose his composer.

"Really?" Naruto asked, "The fact that you surround yourself in your sand proves that, you use it not only to protect yourself from physical harm. But from emotional harm as well, you're afraid to trust people, so you use your sand and heartless demeanour to keep people at bay. But deep down you're just afraid and lonely, you cover yourself in your sand to try and fill the gap you feel inside yourself from being alone all the time. But it doesn't always have to be like that, no-one deserves to be alone all their life, I can help you, if you just give me the chance."

"And why should I trust?"

"Because I have just told you my two greatest secrets, you know who my father is and you know that I hold the Kyūbi no Yōko. So can you imagine the effect it would have if other people outside my village knew that along with everything else they now know about me?"

"Who would I tell, I am a prisoner here?"

"Not for too much longer, our villages are in the process or negotiations, in a little while you and your brother and sister will be returned to your village. So you can tell your entire village if you want to."

"If you knew this, why did you tell me?" a confused Gaara asked, since the Suna Genin knew the kind of affect this news would have if he told anyone from his village and if it was then leaked to other villages.

"Because I want you to trust me, I want to prove to you that not everyone will betray you and that you do not have to become a monster" Naruto replied. "Right now you know more about me than any of my friends and you have information that could cause half the entire Shinobi nations to come after me. So if that doesn't earn your trust, then I don't know what will."

After hearing this Gaara closed his eyes and remained silent and thought about everything Naruto said. After a few minutes the red haired boy spoke.

"Would you mind leaving, I would like to be alone, as I have much to think about."

"Sure" said Naruto, deciding to give Gaara his space.

As Naruto walked away, he suddenly and turned when he heard Gaara call out to him.

"Will you be returning tomorrow?"

"Yea if that is okay with you?"

"Yes, I believe by then I will be ready, for there are some things I would like to know about you."

"Sure I would be happy to tell you anything you want to know" said Naruto who then saw Gaara nod.

Not long after Naruto left the room, Gaara slowly reached over to the book that Senju heir gave him and began to read it.

* * *

The following week after Naruto revealed his full heritage and status as a jinchūriki to Gaara, things between him and the red haired boy began to move forward. In fact Naruto saw a strong steady improvement in the Suna Genin's demeanour, where Gaara actually conversed with Naruto and asked him things about his life.

Over the week the two jinchūriki continued to talk to one another about everything and anything. Naruto even brought in Kurimaru in an attempt help Gaara become less awkward around people or at the very least animals.

Naturally the young pup was a little nervous in walk through the bars and up to Gaara. But with Naruto's encouragement, the small half-wolf slowly moved over to Gaara. Who was also a little nervous and hesitantly petted the little pup.

Eventually though the two became more comfortable with one another, where Kurimaru even licked Gaara's face, causing the boy smile a little when felt the pup's tongue against his face.

As the week moved on, Gaara slwoly began to enjoy Naruto's company and having someone to talk to, he even enjoyed the book Naruto gave him, since for some strange reason if gave him hope.

By the end of the week Naruto learned that Gaara and his siblings would be sent back home.

Wanting to bid farewell to his new friend, Naruto met Gaara and his siblings at the gates of Konoha, who were being escorted to the Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) boarder by Kushina and two other Jonin.

"I guess this is goodbye… for now at least" said Naruto.

"Yes" replied Gaara, before he took out the book Naruto gave him and handed it to him. "Thank you for the book, I found it enjoyable."

"Keep it" Naruto replied as he handed the book back to Gaara and smiled. "Consider it a gift from a friend."

Surprised by this, Gaara took the book and smiled.

This of course shocked both Temari and Kankuro, since not only had Naruto referred to himself as their brother's friend. But their brother had smiled, which was something neither sibling had ever seen their younger brother do.

The closest thing they had ever seen to a smile on their brother's face was a bloodthirsty grin when he saw someone he wanted to kill.

But the difference from that smile to one he had now, was that there was no malice behind the smile, it was a genuine smile, something they never expected to see on their brother's face.

"Thank you" said Gaara before he hesitantly raised his hand to Naruto, who quickly took Gaara's hand and shook it before smiling.

"Not a problem."

Seeing this, both the two Sand siblings eyes widened in shock again, not believing what they were seeing, making them wonder if they were under some sort of Genjutsu, or if Konoha had done something to their brother during interrogation.

Kushina on the other hand just smiled, although like the two elder Suna sibling she was surprised by Gaara's sudden change in personality. But she quickly got over it and realized that Naruto had somehow gotten through to the boy, since she had heard from some of her friends in ANBU that Naruto had been visiting Gaara.

"_You never fail to surprise me Naruto_" a smiling Kushina thought, before signalling the two other Jonin and the three Sand Siblings to follow her, leaving the gate and Konoha.

* * *

It was a typical peaceful day in Konoha. The sun was shining and the village was abuzz with activity with both the civilians and the Shinobi busy repairing the village.

In just a month and a half the people had already made good progress in repairing the damage done to the village from the invasion.

Everyone was working hard to repair the damage done and restore their village to its former glory.

But one specific Shinobi was working hard for a completely different reason; this Shinobi was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, one of the last surviving members of the famed Uchiha Clan.

Unlike most of the other Shinobi in the village, who were busy either with missions or with repairing the village. Sasuke was busy training himself in his Clan private training ground.

For the past month, Sasuke had been pushing himself even harder than he had before in his training.

The reason for this was because Sasuke had become frustrated with his lack of strength when compared to certain other Shinobi he had met during the Chunin exam.

After several hours of intensive training, a sweating Sasuke, finally decided to take a break.

As he took in deep breaths, he stared angrily at the training post in front of him, where the faces of Haku, Mai, Yugito, Samui, Gaara appeared on the pole. But when he saw Naruto's face appeared, Sasuke lost his composure and threw the Kunai he had been holding in frustration and imbedded it deep into the post.

"_Damnit_" Sasuke thought angrily, "_Why… Why? Am I so weak?_"

This frustration had been building up for a while now, ever since the invasion ended. After seeing Naruto defeat Gaara, a person that not even "_he_" could defeat, Sasuke had become even more determined to get stronger. Especially when he compared himself to other such Shinobi like Gaara, Yugito and Naruto, whose strength clearly surpassed his own, despite the advancement he had made recently.

Even other certain Shinobi like Haku and Mai and possibly Samui possessed strength greater than his.

"_What the hell do I need to do?_" Sasuke thought angrily. "_At the rate I'm going I'll never be strong enough!_"

After a few more minutes of deep breaths, Sasuke began to calm down a little, where he then made his way over to a small water bottle underneath the shadow of the post.

After taking a few deep gulps of water, Sasuke placed the water down and suddenly thought "_I need to find Naruto, if I am ever to get stronger I need to find out where exactly I stand to him and the others._"

Once he had decided that he was going to find and challenge Naruto, Sasuke left the training ground and made his way around the village in an attempt to find the Senju heir.

After a couple of minutes Sasuke heard someone call out to him, when he turned he saw his team-mate Sakura smiling and waving as she ran over to him.

"Hey Sasuke-kun…I'm so happy to see you" the pink haired girl greeted, where she attempted to hug the raven haired boy, but missed when he sidestepped her.

"I don't have time to deal with you Sakura, I'm busy."

Unaffected by Sasuke's rather blunt and rude remark, Sakura almost immediately offered her help.

"What is it, maybe I can help?" the young girl asked, hoping to earn some praise from her crush.

"Not unless you've seen or know where Naruto is?" Sasuke replied as he began to turn away from the girl and move along.

"Actually I think I do?"

"Where?" asked Sasuke in an authoritative voice and snapped his head back to Sakura.

"Well I was talking to Ino a little while ago and she told me she saw Naruto leaving the hospital earlier and heading to training ground two.

After hearing this, Sasuke quickly took off in the direcftion of the training ground, without even thanking the girl, who called out to him, but was ignored.

* * *

Currently in training ground two, Naruto was busy with his own training, since after recovering from his injuries he felt like he needed to get back into fighting form as soon as possible.

But as he was training he suddenly felt an odd feeling, as if he was being watched, despite the fact he saw no-one and sensed no other presences nearby.

Not sure if he was being watched or not, Naruto gathered his Chakra and used his **Chakura no Parusu **(Chakra Pulse) technique to find out if he was.

After using the technique, Naruto learned that he was indeed being watched by two people, who were hiding inside the nearby forestry, and from judging their Chakra levels. He could tell that they were both very strong.

From what Naruto could tell, the first one had Chakra levels comparable to Kakashi, while the other had an enormous amount of Chakra, more than even his mother or Jiraiya. The only person Naruto could think of, who could possibly match the person's Chakra level was Killer Bee.

Unsure of who the two individual were, Naruto raised his guard up and yelled "I know you there, so there's no point in you hiding, come out now…"_both_" of you."

Surprised by how Naruto knew that they were watching, the two Shinobi decided to comply with Naruto's order and appeared in the open field in front of the young blonde.

No sooner had the two figures appeared, Naruto instantly regretted calling the two Shinobi out and wished he had made a run for it. Especially when he saw the black cloaks with the red cloud designs.

"Well isn't this a surprise, looks like our information has a few holes in it" spoke the large figure in an amused voice. "We weren't told that he was a sensor-type as well."

"Indeed" replied the smaller figure, "…But that only proves that we should not underestimate the boy."

Realizing the situation he was in Naruto quickly channelled some of his Chakra into his chain neck-lace and called for help, knowing he stood no chance against the people in front of him. (5)

-In the Hokage's office-

Currently sitting in the Hokage's office, Tsunade was busy going over the different forms and classified folders that she would need to know about before she official became Hokage.

"Here's another set Tsunade-sama" said Shizune as she carried another large load of folders and forms."

Seeing this, the female blonde just groaned in annoyance and glared at her teacher who was sitting in front of her. "God dammit how the hell did you talk to me into this job again?"

"Now, Now Tsunade, you know why, so don't complain, no-one said being Hokage was going to be easy" replied the Sandaime with a small smirk.

"Hmph, if you ask me I think you just made me Hokage so you could get out of doing all this paperwork" the annoyed Tsunade said.

The Sandaime of course did not respond and just smirked, which made Tsunade think that she wasn't far off from the truth.

"Heh, well this is exactly why I didn't want the job" spoke a familiar voice, where when Tsunade turned she saw Jiraiya, who appeared through an open window behind her.

"Tsk, as if I didn't have enough trouble" grumbled the irritable Tsunade.

"Aw hime, you say the meanest things" said Jiraiya as he feigned hurt at Tsunade's words.

Shaking her head, Tsunade turned her back to the Toad Sage and was about to start back reading when the double door opened again with Shizune carrying yet another load of folders in her hands, along with Kurimaru and Tonton who were pulling a small cart full of papers as well.

"Shizune are you trying to bury me in all this work?!" Tsunade cried in disbelief when she saw all the work. "You've even gotten the Tonton and the damn dog to help you!"

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sensei but you are required to read all these" Shizune replied with a cheeky smile as he placed the small tower of paper on the Hokage's desk.

"And don't be mean to poor Kurimaru, he just wants to help" the dark haired woman cooed as she kneeled down to the small pup a petted him.

Shizune had of course fallen instantly in love with the small pup when Naruto brought him home, where she would often coo over how cute the half-wolf cub was.

Both she and Tsunade had of course been shocked when they had heard that the Tsume had allowed Naruto to keep Kurimaru, since they knew how much the Inuzuka Clan valued their dogs.

At first Tsunade had been a little sceptical, but soon warmed up to the pup when he caught Jiraiya using the Hokage's crystal ball to spy on some girls in the hot's spring, and bit him in the rear.

Needless the say, after that incident, Kurimaru official became part of the family.

Tonton had been a bit resistant to the young pup when she first met it, believing that they were trying to replace her with it. But after some assurances that no-one could ever replace her from Naruto and Shizune. The female pig quickly warmed up to Kurimaru and took it upon herself to act as Kurimaru's senpai and give the young pup some guidance on how things worked in the Senju family and how to behave.

It was of course a funny sight when Tsunade and the others saw Tonton oinking out orders to the pup, as if she was its teacher.

As the Sandaime and the others chuckled at Tsunade annoyance over the amount of paperwork she was doing, the female Senju suddenly felt the ring on her hand heat up.

At the same time Jiraiya and Shizune also felt the rings on their hands head up, indicating that Naruto was trouble.

"What's wrong?" asked the Sandaime suddenly when he saw the concern looks on Tsunade and the others faces.

"Naru-chan is in trouble…!" said Tsunade, but before she could say anymore, Wolf suddenly appeared in the room.

"Report!" ordered the Sandaime when he saw the ANBU appear in the room.

"Hokage-sama, a few hours ago my squad and I notice a pair of suspicious individuals appear in the village and began to monitor their movements. But shortly ago we lost sight of them and cannot find them anywhere.

"Do you know what they look like, are they from any of the other villages?" the Sandaime asked, fearing that one of the other Shinobi villages were making a move on Naruto already.

"We were unable to identify them as they were able to hide their faces, all we do know is that are wearing conical straw hats and dark chin-high cloaks with red clouds decorating them.

At the mention of the cloaks, Tsunade and the others faces all turned chalk white and thought the exact same thing.

"_Akatsuki!_"

Quickly getting over her shock, Tsunade immediately took charge of the situation.

"Wolf! I want you to gather every available ANBU you can get and have them join up with us as soon as possible!"

"Hai!" replied the ANBU before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Once the ANBU had left Tsunade immediately turned to her former apprentice.

"Shizune I want you to gather as many Jonin as you can find and have them meet with us!"

"Hai Tsunade-sama" the dark haired woman replied before racing out of the room at top speed.

After Shizune had gone, Tsunade then turned to Jiraiya, but before she could say anything the Toad Sage spoke.

"No need to say anything hime, let's just go!"

Nodding to this the two were about to take off when they were stopped by their former teacher. Who took off his Hokage robes and revealed his battle armour and stated he was coming to help as well.

Accepting the help, the two Sannin and their former teacher quickly jumped out the window and headed straight for Naruto's location at top speed, all the while thinking, "_Hold on Naru-chan/Brat/Naruto, we're coming._"

-With Naruto-

"Hmph, he's not exactly what I expected" spoke the taller of the two Shinobi, who then took off his straw had, revealing his blue shark-like face. "…he's a lot punier than I imagine, it hard to believe a brat like him defeated two jinchūriki."

"Do not underestimate him Kisame, although he is young, he has proven himself to be a capable opponent" spoke the other Akatsuki member. Who also took off his straw hat, revealing his raven hair and face, which Naruto recognised from a picture he had seen of him before.

"Yea okay" replied blue skinned man with a shark-like grin.

"Senju Naruto…" spoke the raven haired youth, "If you would, please come with us peacefully,"

"Sorry no can do" Naruto replied as fell into a fighting stance, "I have no intention of surrendering myself...especially to the Akatsuki."

After saying this, Naruto saw both men's eyes widen very slightly in surprise.

"You know of us?" asked the raven haired Shinobi with hint curiosity.

"Yea, I've heard of you," replied Naruto as he stared at the shorter Shinobi, "Your Uchiha Itachi S-class nuke-nin,and former captain of Konoha's ANBU division, wanted for the massacre of your Clan."

"And you…" continued Naruto as he turned to the still grinning man. "Are Hoshigaki Kisame, better known as the Kirigakure no Kaijin (Monster of the Hidden Mist), and former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), just like Zabuza. You're S-class nuke-nin wanted for plotting to overthrow the Mizu Daimyō and for being involved in number of assassinations that include another country's Daimyō."

"I also know that as members of the Akatsuki, which is an organisation made up of nine S-class nuke-nins, that you're after the nine Biju which reside in the nine jinchūriki."

When Naruto finished both men's eyes widen slightly again, as they had not expected Naruto to know so much about them, let alone their organisation and their objective.

Naruto of course knew a bit about the Akatsuki, since before he left for Konoha. His mother and Jiraiya told him about the nuke-nin group on the chance that he might encounter members of the group when they weren't with him.

Naruto also knew about Kisame and Itachi since when growing up, Jiraiya gave Naruto his own personal Bingo book, which had information a various different Shinobi who could come after him.

"Well, well, aren't we the smart one" said Kisame whose grin got even bigger "Although you should know that punk Zabuza is nothing compared to me."

"It would seem that you are well informed, Naruto-san" commented Itachi as he stared intently at young blonde. "Perhaps you would tell us where you gained your information?"

"Sorry, no can do, a good Shinobi should away have a couple of secrets" Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Heh, cheeky little brat" Kisame remarked with another grin, where he then pulled out a massive sword which was covered in bandages. "But you should know that one way or the other you will answer our questions."

"Kisame remember our orders, we are to take him alive, with as little harm as possible. Otherwise he will be of no use to us" Itachi said calmly, as she saw the bloodthirsty look on his partners face. "Also we must interrogate him and find out the source of his information."

"Don't worry Itachi, I'm only going ruff him up a little" replied the tall man. "Besides I want to see if this kid is worth all the hype."

At this Itachi said nothing and just stared at Naruto again with a blank look.

Taking this as a sign of approval, Kisame prepared to charge forward, but before he could do anything, Naruto suddenly shouted "Wait!"

"Before we begin, I want you to confirm something."

"What is it that you wish to confirm?" Itachi asked calmly.

Knowing that he stood no chance what's so ever against the two S-class nuke-nins, Naruto decide to try and keep them talking and buy some time, knowing that his mother and the others were on their way.

"Obviously you're after jinchūriki for their Biju, so would I be correct in assuming that you want me because of my Mokuton Bloodline limit? Given how it allows me to suppress and control a Biju."

"Yes you would be correct; your Mokuton powers would be highly beneficial to our organisation's goal in obtaining our targets…" Itachi answered.

Upon hearing this, Naruto let out a small sigh of relief, since when he first saw the two Akatsuki members, he had been fearful that they had somehow learned that he held the Kyubi inside him.

But before he could respond to Itachi's answer, the young Uchiha spoke again.

"You're also key to our objective in gaining the Kyubi."

At the mention of the Kyubi, Naruto suddenly flinched slight, "_Shit, do they know?!_"

Seeing Naruto flinch at the mention of the Kyubi, the young Uchiha prodigy frowned slightly, as if something bothered him.

"What do you mean gaining the Kyubi? It was destroyed by the Yondaime Hokage-sama" a now worried Naruto said, feigning ignorance about the Kyubi.

Before Itachi could respond to this, Kisame intervened.

"Heh, wrong…Biju's are creatures comprised entirely by Chakra; they cannot be destroyed by normal means, only sealed away. The Yondaime Hokage-sama more than likely sealed it away into someone, which is the other reason why we want you, since we can use you as a hostage where Konoha would have to offer up the Kyubi jinchūriki to get you back."

"_Huh, so that's their plan!_" Naruto thought while sighing slightly in relief again, but quickly masked it and smirked.

"Well you'll be out of luck, there's no way that Konoha will hand over the Kyubi jinchūriki to you, just to get me back."

"You undervalue your importance Naruto-san" said Itachi. "We are well aware that your mother Tsunade-sama is about to become Konoha's Godaime Hokage-sama, and will no doubt do anything to get you back."

"A mother will do anything to get back her child" Kisame said with an evil looking grin.

Angered by this Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared at the two. "I doubt you would actually trade me, like Itachi said earlier, you want to use me for my Mokuton. More than likely you'll double-cross my mother and the others"

"Heh, right again brat" Kisame remarked with another large grin.

Frowning, Naruto decided to keep the two talking, since the longer they talk the more time he gave for help to come.

"Fine, I get that you want to use me as a hostage to get the Kyubi jinchūriki, but there is one other thing that I don't get?"

"And what is that?" Itachi asked.

"Why do you even need me, when they have you" Naruto replied as he looked at Itachi. "Obviously having me makes your plans for capturing the other jinchūriki easier, but the problem with that plan is that I'm still inexperience and haven't fully developed my Mokuton abilities. During my battle with Yugito-chan I was barely able to suppress her Biju's Chakra and that was only a fraction of its power, and I don't know how to control them either. So I wouldn't be of much use to you until I mastered my Bloodline limit, especially against more powerful jinchūriki like Killer Bee. You on the other hand have fully mastered your Sharingan, if what the rumours I've heard about you are true, and the Sharingan is the only other Bloodline limit that has the power to suppress and control Biju."

"If I were to guess…" continued Naruto. "I would have to say that you want me because there is something limiting you from doing this, a lack of strength or skill perhaps…? Or more likely a physical handicap, like low Chakra reserves…or even an illness?"

As Itachi listened to the blonde's theory, the young Uchiha kept his face void of any expression and calmly stared at the Senju heir, telling Naruto nothing of his thoughts.

Seeing that he wouldn't get anything out of Itachi, Naruto decided to continue, hoping to buy more time.

"Whatever reason that limits your ability in controlling and suppressing Biju by yourself. I'm guessing that you guys are hoping that by having the two of us working together and using our two Bloodline limits in conjunction, we can make up for our individual weakness and suppress any Biju's power, making it easier for you guys to capture the jinchūriki, am I right?"

"_He's quite astute_" Itachi remarked to himself, as he was impressed with how accurately Naruto had figured out their reason for wanting him.

As the young blonde had guessed, due to his illness, Itachi's abilities were limited, where it would be extremely taxing for him to supress a Biju's power by himself, since it took a great deal of mental strength and Chakra to do so. But if he were to combine his efforts with Naruto's Mokuton abilities, it would considerably lessen the toll in the task and make capturing the jinchūriki much easier. That was one of the main reasons why the Akastuki wanted Naruto, where their plan was to capture and then later have Itachi control him with his Sharingan. After which they would then train the boy in using his Bloodline limit better until the Akatsuki were fully ready to capture all the jinchūriki.

"Well am I right or not?" Naruto asked, hoping to keep the two talking.

"I'm afraid whether you're right or wrong matters little Naruto-san, as the time for talking as come to an end" replied Itachi. "Your delaying tactics are pointless as help will not arrive."

"_Shit he figured me out!_" Naruto thought angrily as he prepared himself.

No sooner had he done this, Kisame raced towards the blonde boy and swung his massive sword at him, forcing Naruto to duck under the swing and then roll to Kisame's left side.

Following Naruto's movements, Kisame immediately turned around and swung his massive sword at the blonde.

At the same time Naruto formed a single hand seal and made a clone of himself, where the clone then threw him away toward a large tree behind them, right before it was destroyed by Kisame's sword.

As Naruto flew through the air, the blonde flipped himself over, so that his feet would hit the trunk of the tree first. He then used the tree to propel himself towards Kisame and channelled a large amount of strength into his right fist.

Seeing this Kisame quickly brought up his massive sword up and blocked the powerful punch, where he skidded back a few feet, before coming to a stop, where he then pushed Naruto back. Who immediately flipped himself in the air so that he would land back on his feet, a few meters away from the former Kiri swordsman.

"_No, freaking way!_" a wide eyed Naruto thought in shock. "_I hit him full force, he should have been sent flying by my punch and his sword should have been shattered …how the hell did he block it?!_"

"Heeee, that was a nice punch their brat" Kisame said with a large grin. "Guess the reports of you having the same crazy strength as your mother were true, my arms are actually feeling a little numb.

"In fact it seems that Samehada likes you Chakra" continued Kisame where the top portion of the sword burst out of its bandages, revealing scales instead of blades.

"_So that's how he blocked my punch, his sword can absorb Chakra_" Naruto thought after seeing the sword, while also thinking "_What kind of sword is that thing?_" when he saw that instead of a blade, the sword had scales.

Realizing that he was his superhuman strength was worthless against Kisame, Naruto decided to change tactics where he released the **Shishi Omomizuke Shīru** (Four Limbs Weighting Seals) on his arms and legs and drew his Katana.

Once he was ready Naruto disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind Kisame and attempted to slash him.

But no sooner had he reappeared behind the former Kiri swordsman, Kisame spun around and blocked the slash with his sword.

"You have some decent speed kid, but it's still not good enough!" said Kisame who pushed the blonde boy back and the moved forward and tried to slash him again.

Acting fast, Naruto quickly jumped back to avoid the horizontal slash, but was unable to evade it fully, where the large sword shaved his arm, tearing through the sleeve of his new coat and causing his shoulder to bleed.

"_He as good reactions_" Itachi remarked silently, since if Kisame slash had hit it would have done serious injury to his arm.

"Damnit!" Naruto hissed in pain as he held his bleed shoulder to bleed.

"Heh, as you can see my sword isn't like most, instead of cutting my opponents it shreds them and absorbs their Chakra at the same time, making fighting that much more fun" said Kisame with another sadistic grin.

"Bastard!" growled Naruto as he glared at the grinning nuke-nin. "_I thought that if I could use my high speed to get close to him, I could keep him from using the massive sword of his. But he's too goddamn fast and swings that massive sword around like its nothing._"

Realizing he needed to change tactics again, Naruto formed a single one handed hand-seal and created several shadow clones of himself.

After creating the clones, Naruto had them circle around Kisame, who was unafraid of the clones and signalled them to come at him.

Needing no other invitation, the clones attacked from multiple different directions, hoping to overwhelm the Akatsuki member with their superior numbers.

Smirking at the pitiful attempts by Naruto and his clones, Kisame raised his oversized sword to deal with clones.

After a brief skirmish that lasted barely twenty seconds, Kisame had dealt with most of the clones with little effort. But just as he destroyed the last clone, the real Naruto appeared underneath Kisame and attempted another horizontal slash across the blue skin man's stomach.

Acting fast, Kisame quickly jumped back to avoid the sword slash, but misjudged Naruto's attack, where the blonde switch his Katana from his right hand to his left at the last seconds.

Although Kisame was able to avoid any injury from the slash, he did receive a large horizontal cut across his cloak and clothing, revealing his stomach slightly.

"_That was __**Mizu no Atsuen**_ (Rolling Water)" Itachi thought, who recognised the sword technique. (5)

"Whoa, not bad kid, you nearly got me there" said a slightly impressed Kisame as he landed a few meters away from Naruto. "This might actually be a little fun."

"I told you not to underestimate him Kisame" said Itachi in an emotionless tone. "If you're not careful your overconfidence will be your undoing."

"Heh, don't worry Itachi I won't" Kisame replied, who grinned again and readied his Katana. "Besides, things have just gotten more interesting now and I might actually have a little fun with him."

Before Itachi could respond to this, the three Shinobi suddenly felt a new presence appear several meters behind Itachi.

Without even looking back, Itachi already knew who this person was.

"It's been a long time…Sasuke."

"Uchiha…Itachi" Sasuke said slowly, as he glared angrily at the elder Uchiha with his Sharingan activated.

"The Sharingan…And he looks a lot like you Itachi, who is he?" Kisame asked who glanced back at the younger Uchiha and had an intrigued look.

"My younger brother" Itachi replied without even looking at either Sasuke or Kisame.

"_Brother?!_" thought Naruto in shock, although he had notice the strong similarity between Sasuke and Itachi. He had never figured that they were brothers, since he had believed that the strong resemblance between the two was because they came from the same Clan.

"_So it was Sasuke own brother who wiped out their family and Clan. Geezes no wonder Sasuke is so messed up_" Naruto thought, as he now understood the young Uchiha a little better now.

"Oh…so you didn't kill everyone in your Clan after all" Kisame remarked

"Uchiha Itachi, today is the day you will pay for your crimes!" Sasuke said angrily as he glared at his elder brother, who slowly turned to face him. "Just as you told me on that night, I've hated you, detested you…and lived solely for the day when I would kill you!"

After saying this, Sasuke then brought up his left hand and activated his **Chidori **(One thousand Birds), which Itachi immediately recognised from his time in ANBU when he saw Kakashi use it.

"NOW DDIIEE!" roared Sasuke as he charged at his brother with startling speed and tore up the ground with the excess energy from his **Chidori.**

As he neared Itachi, Sasuke brought up his Lightning covered hand, intending to pierce Itachi's chest with it. But just before Sasuke's attack could hit him, Itachi effortlessly grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and pushed the attack aside, causing the Lightning to fly harmlessly into the air.

"_Now freaking way!_" thought a wide eye Naruto, "_He just deflected Sasuke's **Chidori** like it was nothing…just how strong is this guy_."

After deflecting Sasuke's attack, Itachi continued to hold onto his brother's wrist, where the Lightning surrounding Sasuke's hand slowly died down.

As this was happening the two brothers stared directly into each other's eyes, while Itachi's eyes were calm and void of any emotions, Sasukes eyes were filled with hatred and anger.

"Damn you!" growled Sasuke as he glared at his older brother and brought his right fist up.

But before he could do anything Itachi broke his wrist with one quick motion, causing Sasuke to scream out in pain and fall to his knees as he held his now broken wrist.

"Damnit!" cursed Naruto, where he then tried to run over to help Sasuke.

"Too slow!" yelled Kisame who moved in front of Naruto, blocking his path and then forcing the blonde back when he swung his sword at Naruto.

After being forced back by Kisame Naruto prepared to make another go at getting by Kisame and helping Sasuke. But before he could do anything he suddenly heard Sasuke yell "Don't interfere!"

Looking to Sasuke, Naruto saw the young raven haired boy slowly standing up, "This is my fight! And I am the only one who is going to kill him."

"_Damnit Sasuke don't be an idiot, can't you see we're outmatched here?_" Naruto thought angrily, as he couldn't believe how stubborn Sasuke was being.

"Stay down, I have no interest in you right now" said Itachi coldly. "The only one I have any interest in his Senju Naruto, who's strength is clearly above yours."

"SHUT UP!" yelled a furious Sasuke who was angered by his brother's words and threw his right fist at Itachi. Who quickly side stepped the punch and then kicked Sasuke in his right side, sending the younger Uchiha flying across the field and into a nearby tree.

"Sasuke!" cried Naruto, when he saw the crashing into the tree and was about to try and go over to him.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" yelled Sasuke, he slowly got up again and used the tree behind him as support. "I told you not to interfere, he's mine and mine alone, no-one else is allowed to kill him!"

Once he was back on his feet, Sasuke raced towards his brother and attempted to hit him with his right fist.

But again, Itachi easily defeated Sasuke, by slapping away his fist and then sending him flying into the same tree again with a strong punch to the face.

After crashing into the tree, Sasuke struggled to get back onto his feet again.

"_Sasuke stay down, you can't beat him, he's too strong…you can't even form any hand-seals with your wrist broken like that!_" Naruto thought as he stared at the injured Uchiha. Who was slowly getting back onto his feet again.

"I'm not done yet!" spoke Sasuke he made his way back onto his feet. "This is my battle and my battle alone

"Very well then" said Itachi as he slowly walked over to his injured brother.

Having seen enough of this Naruto prepared to perform a justu.

But before he could even form a hand-seal Kisame appeared in front of him and swung his sword down on him, forcing the Senju heir back even further away from the two Uchiha brothers.

"Ah, Ah, Ah, you heard your friend; this is their fight, so no interfering."

Once Itachi had reached him, Sasuke made another attempt to attack Itachi, but was once again easily defeated by a strong punch to the stomach, which caused Sasuke to spit out some blood. After which Itachi preceded to beat Sasuke mercilessly with a serious of kicks and punches

As this was happening, all Sasuke could only think "_Nothing, has changed…the difference between us hasn't shrunk in the slightest. What have I've been doing until now, what the hell am I doing wrong?_"

"_Heh, Itachi going easy on him_" Kisame thought with a smirk as he glanced at the two Uchiha again, all the while keeping his other eye on Naruto. Who was becoming more and more frustrated and angry over not being able to do anything to help Sasuke.

When Itachi had finally finished pummelling Sasuke, he picked his brother up and slammed him against the trunk of the tree so that they would be at eye level.

"You're still weak Sasuke, and do you know why you're still weak?" Itachi asked before he leaned in on his brother and whispered. "It's because you still lack hatred."

After saying this, Itachi then looked right into his brother's eyes activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and used **Tsukuyomi** (Moon Reader) to force Sasuke to relive the massacre of their Clan over and over again for what seemed like days to him.

After only a few seconds to everyone else, Sasuke screamed out in horror before finally losing consciousness.

Hearing this Kisame just smiled, since as far as he was concern it was music to his ears, "_You sure are a cruel one Itachi, doing that to your own little brother of all people._"

"You damn bastards!" yelled a now furious Naruto who channelled a large amount of Chakra into his fist and slammed it into the ground, pulverizing it into minute pieces by the excess shock of the punch."

"_Shit that brat, really is like a miniature monster_" Kisame thought as he leapt into the air to avoid being caught in the destruction.

With Kisame now out of the way, Naruto quickly raced toward the elder Uchiha at frightening speed with his sword thrust forward in a stabbing motion.

"**Tachioyogi** (Treading Water)" commented Itachi, recognising the sword technique from his ANBU days under Kushina.

Like with Sasuke and his **Chidori**, Itachi waited until Naruto was about to stab him and then effortlessly sidestepped the sword thrust. He then grabbed Naruto's left wrist and kicked the blonde's feet from under him and then spun him around and threw him into the same tree as Sasuke.

Screaming in pain, Naruto slouched over and held his now injured left side, but before he could try to move, Itachi kicked him in his stomach and sent him crashing into another tree nearby.

After crashing into the tree, Naruto slowly looked up and saw Kisame appear next to Itachi.

"_Crap, there's no way I can beat these guys by myself, let alone hold them off long enough for Kaa-chan and the others to arrive. I've got no choice, I need to make a run for it, that way I can at least buy some more time and at the same time get Itachi away from Sasuke, since they're after me, not him._"

"Hmph, that wasn't so hard, although I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed, I had hoped he would have put up a little more of a fight" Kisame remarked after he re-joined Itachi.

"Let us not waste anyone time than he already have…" replied Itachi.

But no sooner had he said this, Naruto threw several smoke pellets, that he had discreetly taken out while Itachi and Kisame were talking with one another, and threw them at the two missing-nins.

Acting fast Kisame quickly brought up his bandage sword, believing they were projectiles.

But no sooner had he done this the pellets exploded and covered the surrounding area in smoke.

Shortly after the smoke dissipated, Kisame and Itachi discovered that both Naruto and Sasuke were gone.

"Their gone!" said Kisame.

"It would seem so" Itachi replied.

"Do you know where they went?" Kisame asked, since Itachi still had his Sharingan activated.

"Yes" replied the elder Uchiha, "It would seem that Naruto-san created a clone of himself and had it take my brother away, while he went a different direction."

"So he ran off?"

"More likely he using himself as bait, given how he knows we're after him. He also probably sent his clone, not only to take my brother to safety but to also find help."

"Well then, I guess we should hurry" replied Kisame with an amused tone, who was actually looking forward to the _"__hunt_".

Itachi of course did not reply and together the two Akatsuki members took after the blonde boy.

* * *

Shortly after going after Naruto, Itachi and Kisame caught up with the blonde boy in a small clearing.

"Heh, looks like this is where it ends brat" said Kisame after he and Itachi caught up.

At this Naruto just smirked and said, "Your right" just before he exploded into a puff of smoke revealing he had been a clone. The next thing the two Akatsuki members knew, they found themselves unable to move, when they looked around they saw several seal tags, which were hidden under a Genjustu.

Upon seeing the seal tags, Itachi quickly realized that Naruto had caught them in **Kekkai Kotei Fūin** (Four-Corner Immobilization Seal).

At the same time Itachi also noticed several exploding notes underneath him, which had also been hidden under the same Genjustu as the seal tags.

Before he or Kisame could do anything to escape the trap, the exploding notes activated and the two nuke-nins were enveloped in a large explosion.

"_Did I get them?_" Naruto thought to himself as he hid in a nearby tree and waited for the smoke to dissipate.

As the smoke faded away, Naruto saw the bodies of the two Akatsuki members lying in a small shallow crater.

Remembering his battle with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and how the Snake Sannin had tricked him, Naruto remained suspicious and stayed hidden in the tree.

Naruto's instincts of course proved to be right on the money, as moments after the smoke from the explosion dissipated, "Itachi" and "Kisame" faded away, revealing that they had been illusions.

"_Shit Genjutsu, I knew it!_" Naruto thought, but before he could do anything a Kunai with an exploding note tied to it flew past his right ear and imbedded itself to the trunk behind him.

Acting fast, Naruto quickly jumped out of the tree and into the clearing, right before the note exploded and destroyed the tree.

After Naruto landed on the one the ground the real Kisame and Itachi appeared in front of him, a few meters away.

"_Fuck, I should have known they wouldn't fall for a trick like that_" Naruto thought angrily as he eyed his opponent carefully while at the same time wondering when help would arrive.

As the two Shinobi stared down at Naruto, Kisame prepared to move forward but was stopped by Itachi, who held out his arm in front of the former Kiri Shinobi.

"Wait Kisame, I will handle this…alone."

Surprised by this, the swordsman turned to his partner.

"This isn't like you Itachi, why the sudden interest?" Kisame asked, since it was unusual for Itachi to get involved like this. Who would normally stay and watch from side-lines and let his partner take on their opponent/s by himself.

"I wish to test the boy's calibre myself" replied Itachi without taking his eyes off Naruto. "Before Konoha was founded, and during the great Shinobi Clan wars, the Senju Clan was the only Clan who possessed the power and skill to oppose mine. I want to see for myself the boy's ability."

"Heh, well if you're so interest, why not?" replied Kisame, who smirked since he thought it would be interesting to watch.

As Itachi slowly walked towards, Naruto did not know if he had lucked out or if things had gotten worse, as he had heard that Itachi was good.

"Come Senju Naruto, show me if you're indeed worthy of being the heir of your Clan."

Knowing he had no choice in the matter, Naruto drew his Katana, once Itachi was close enough he moved forward to attack an attempted a series of high speed sword slashes. But each time, Itachi would calmly avoid his slashes by a small margin, without any effort, as if the blonde was moving slow.

"Is this all you're capable of?"

Becoming frustrated with how easily Itachi was avoiding all his attacks, Naruto decided to try something else.

He then used his **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water) technique to switch his katana from his right hand to his left at high speed, behind his back.

Unfortunately, the elder Uchiha saw the attack coming and jumped back, evading the slash.

Undeterred Naruto moved forward and swung his katana in a diagonal slash and used his **Mizu no Atsuen** technique and switched his sword from his left hand to his right in mid swing, hoping to catch Itachi off-guard. But again the raven haired teen saw what Naruto was doing with his Sharingan and easily evaded his slash by jumping back.

After successively evading the sword slash and landing several meters away from Naruto, who had also jump back, increasing the distance between the two of them. Itachi performed a series of high speed hand-seals and thought "_**Gōkakyū no Jutsu**_ (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)!" before spitting out a massive ball of fire.

With no time to waste, Naruto quickly channelled his Chakra into his Katana and converted it into Wind. He then swung his sword in a downward slash and yelled "**Surasshu-fū** (Wind Slash)!" creating a crescent shape blade of Wind, which sliced right through the massive Fireball, causing it to dissipate.

Before Naruto could even capitalize on his advantage, he was immediately put on the defensive again by Itachi. Who after evading the deadly Wind attack counter with his **Hōsenka no Jutsu **(Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) and shot out a volley of small fires.

Surprised by how quickly Itachi counterattacked and by the speed of his Ninjutsu, Naruto knew he couldn't avoid all the fireballs, given how he only had seconds to act.

With no time to waste, Naruto prepared to perform the only technique he knew that could successfully block the fireballs in time.

As the Fireballs drew closer, Naruto turned his blade sideways, and began to channel his Wind Chakra into the blade. He then proceeded to spin around at high speed in a clockwise direction, creating a large swirling dome of Wind around himself, and blocked the attack.

No sooner had Naruto used his **Kaze no Bōseki **(Spinning Wind) technique to block Itachi's Fireballs. A large blade of Wind erupted from the spinning Wind dome, and expanded outward, nearly severing both Itachi and Kisame from their lower halves. Who only managed to avoid the Wind blade by jumping up into the air.

After releasing the Wind blade, a now dizzy Naruto began to slow down.

"_UUUhhh mmaann, not again, I think I'm going to hurl_" Naruto thought, who was now standing in a small crater created by his Jutsu, and tried to steady himself.

At the same time Itachi and Kisame landed back on the ground and stared at Naruto with a mixture of surprise and fasciation. Before glancing around at the trees around them, where many of them had fallen after Naruto's Wind blade had cut through them.

"That must be the Wind Jutsu we heard about?" Kisame remarked. "…The one that he supposedly created and based on the Hyuga Clan's **Kaiten** (Revolving Heaven)."

"It would seem so…" replied Itachi who raised his left eyebrow with intrigued. "A remarkable technique, especially if what we've been told is true."

After a minute or so, Naruto finally steadied himself, but no sooner had the world stop spinning for Naruto. He found himself under attack from Itachi, who appeared in front of him and punched him in the stomach, and followed it up with a forward kick to the face that sent Naruto flying back.

Recovering quickly Naruto flipped himself back onto his feet, where he then saw Itachi moving towards him.

Acting fast Naruto tossed his Katana up into the air and then kicked the base of the hilt with his foot, sending the blade speeding towards Itachi. Who easily sidestepped the flying blade and continued towards Naruto, while the Katana stabbed itself into the trunk of a large tree.

Seeing that Itachi dodged his Katana, Naruto tried to punch Itachi with his right fist, only to have his arm caught by the elder Uchiha before being swung around and sent crashing into one of the fallen trees.

Intending to finish Naruto, a set of Shuriken suddenly appeared out of Itachi's right sleeve, who then threw the projectiles right at the blonde boy.

But just as the shuriken hit the Senju heir, "_Naruto_" reverted into a wooden log, revealing that he had replaced himself at the last second.

Realizing what Naruto at done, Itachi scanned the area for the blonde, where hail of Kuani erupted from the surrounding trees and converged on the Uchiha prodigy at high speed.

But just before they could hit him, Itachi disappeared within a blink of an eye and reappeared in mid-air.

As Itachi hung in mid-air, two more Kunai appeared out of one of the trees and flew straight for him. But before they could hit him, Itachi took out two of his own Kuani and threw them, hitting the flying projectiles with pinpoint precession and deflecting them.

After blocking the Kunai and landing back on the ground, Itachi immediately found himself under attack by another hail of Kunai, but again avoided them by flipping backwards.

After Itachi had avoided all the Kunai, had learned the locations of all his attackers in the trees.

Before any of them could even throw anymore of their projectiles, Itachi jumped into their air again and preformed a mid-air flip, where two more sets of Kunai appeared in his hands, which he then threw. After which he then took out two more Kuani and threw that at another pair of Kunai that he had thrown and sent them flying towards them, hitting the kunai dead on and deflected them, causing them to go in a different direction.

By the time Itachi had finished, all eight clones that Naruto had created and hidden in the trees were destroyed at almost exactly at the same time by Itachi's Kunai, which hit them all in the middle of their forehead, with frightening precision. (Image Itachi kunai training in Sasuke's flashback in episode 129 of the orginaly Naruto series)

Hiding behind a nearby tree trunk, Naruto watched with disbelief as Itachi destroyed all his closes a single move.

"_MMaann, I gotta learn to do that_" the blonde thought who could not help but be in awe of his opponent's skill. But before he could comment further, Naruto was forced to move when he heard the whistling sound of Shuriken flying through the air.

Acting on instinct, Naruto quickly jumped to his left and narrowly avoided the deadly Shuriken which imbedded themselves into the tree.

No sooner had he escaped the Shuriken attack, Itachi appeared in front of him.

Knowing he needed to do something, Naruto formed a single hand-seal, creating several earth clones and had them attack Itachi, hoping they would buy him enough time to attempt another Jutsu.

When the clones attacked, Itachi easily dispatched them in the space of only a few seconds with a series of well placed Taijutsu moves, but by the time he had destroyed the last clone, Naruto had finished his hand-seals and disappeared right before Itachi's eyes.

The next thing the Uchiha knew, a tree sprung out behind him, where it branches wrapped themselves around him, preventing him from moving. After which Naruto emerged from the trunk with a Kunai in hand and prepared to stab the elder teen.

"_**Magen: Jubaku Satsu**_ (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)…_impressive_" Itachi thought, who was intrigued that Naruto could use such an advance Genjutsu.

But before Naruto could deal the finishing blow, the elder Shinobi used his Sharingan to see through the Genjutsu. He then used the **Kyō Tenchi-ten **(Mirror Heaven and Earth Change) technique on Naruto, resulting in the blonde being caught in his own illusion.

"_What the…?_" Naruto thought when he found himself caught in his own tree bind illusion and Itachi standing in front of him.

With only seconds to act, Naruto quickly cut himself with his own Kunai, causing enough pain to allow him to break free from the Genjutsu, and narrowly ducked under a punch from Itachi and rolled around behind him. But before he could try anything, Itachi preformed a reverse kick to Naruto, which Naruto barely blocked by raising his arms, but was still sent flying back into tree.

"_Idiot!_" Naruto thought angrily after he hit the tree. "_Damnit, I forgot that Sharingan could see right through Genjutsu_."

After recovering from crashing into the tree Naruto looked up as saw Itachi slowly walking towards him.

"That was very good Naruto-san, you have excellent reactions, but sadly such jutsu like the **Jubaku Satsu** are pointless against me."

"Well then try this!" cried Naruto where he performed three quick hand-seals and slammed his hands onto the ground before yelling "**Mokuton: Mōkushōku** (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)"

After yelling this six long wooden tentacles emerged from the round and flew straight towards Itachi.

Unafraid of the approaching wooden tentacles, Itachi calming jumped back and formed several high-speed hand-seals and spat out a gigantic ball of fire.

Within second the Fireball hit the wooden tentacles and exploded, destroying the wooden tentacles and created a small crater between the two Shinobi. But before the smoke from the explosion could die down, Naruto fired several wooden spikes from his hands which hit Itachi right in the chest.

Just when Naruto thought he had got the elder Uchiha, "Itachi" exploded into a murder of crows, revealing that he used **Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu** (Crow Clone Technique) to replace himself.

Once Naruto realized that he had hit the wrong Itachi, he began to search for the elder teen, but before he could even defend himself. The real Itachi appeared directly behind him in a mist-like fashion and kicked the blonde boy in the back, sending him flying forward.

As he flew throw the air Naruto flipped himself around and used his **Banmuchi** (Vine Whip) technique to create several vines, which appeared out his right arm and flew towards Itachi. Who actually looked slightly surprised when he saw the vines erupt from Naruto's arm.

Acting fast, Itachi sidestepped the vines and cut them with a Kunai, which appeared out of his sleeves and into his right hand.

After Itachi avoided and cut his vines, Naruto struck again, where the moment his feet touched the ground. He formed several hand-seals and yelled "**Konoha Kamisori **(Razor Leaves)!" causing hundreds of leaves from the surrounding trees to break off their branches and fly straight for Itachi, like a massive wave of spinning shuriken.

Surprised again by Naruto's technique Itachi formed a single hand-seal and exhaled a massive stream of fire, which incinerated the chakra enhanced leaves within seconds and flew towards Naruto.

Seeing the flames Naruto countered by using his **Mokujōheki** (Wood Locking Wall) technique, creating a wooden dome that protected him from the Fire technique.

Shortly after the flames from Itachi's attack died down, Naruto had his wooden dome retreat back into the ground, where he then saw Kisame standing next to Itachi.

"_Just great out of the frying pan and into the fire_" Naruto thought, as he tried to figure out what he should do next, now that Kisame was with Itachi again.

"Heh, looks like the kid is better than we thought?" Kisame remarked, since he had been watching the fighting and like Itachi was surprised that Naruto could use plant-like techniques.

"Indeed" replied Itachi, "It would seem that his Mokuton Bloodline limit is more advanced than even the Shodai Hokage-sama."

"Looks like the leader was right when he ordered us to take him" said Kisame.

"_Leader?_" Naruto thought in surprise.

"Yes" replied the former Uchiha heir before looking directly at Naruto's eyes.

"You've show remarkable skill for someone your age Naruto-san" spoke Itachi. "I dare say your skill rivaled if not surpassed even my own when I was your age. But the time for games has now ended and I will offer you one more chance to surrender peacefully"

"Thanks but no thanks, surrender isn't in my vocabulary" answered Naruto as he prepared to fight.

"_Heh, I like this kid's guts_" Kisame thought, who then grinned at Naruto.

"Very well then, you had your chance" replied Itachi.

Not wanting to give Itachi anymore of an advantage than he already had, Naruto made the first move and created a clone of himself. After which he then formed several hand-seals and thought "_**Suiton: Mizurappa **_(Water Style: Violent Water Wave)!" and spat out a massive stream of water, while the clone converted the Chakra in its hand into Lightning, electrifying the water.

With little time to spare, both Kisame and Itachi jumped away to avoid the electrified wave of water and covered the ground in a thin layer of water.

After jumping away from water attack, Itachi landed on branch of a nearby tree, looking over Naruto. Who stared right back at the Uchiha, and looked directly into his eyes.

After a moment or two of staring, Naruto made the first move and preformed several hand-seals, and spat out three large balls of water from his mouth.

Seeing the approaching balls of water, Itachi avoided the attack with little effort and then appeared right in front of Naruto. Who narrowly ducked under a forward punch from Itachi where his clone appeared on the former Konoha-nin's right and attempted a leg swipe in the hope of getting the Uchiha off his feet.

Reacting quickly, Itachi jump into the air and evaded the clone's leg swipe and then kicked the clone hard in the face, causing it to puff away.

No soon had he dealt with the clone, the real Naruto appeared behind him and attempted to hit him with a straight forward punch that was enhanced with his super human strength.

Seeing Naruto out of the corner of his eyes, Itachi easily ducked under the punch and then hit the blonde with a reverse elbow to the chest, followed by a reverse heel kick to the face. That sent the spikey haired blonde flying backwards.

But as soon Itachi had kicked him away, Naruto recovered and formed a single one handed hand-seal and cried "Kai!" activating a small seed below Itachi, which Naruto had dropped when the elder Uchiha kicked him away.

When Naruto activated the seed, the small seed burst opened and several dozen vines wrapped himself around Itachi, pinning his arms to his body and preventing him from moving.

After vines had wrapped themselves around him, Itachi noticed several buds around the vines, which began to bloom around him.

"What is this?" Itachi asked calmly as he looked up at Naruto, who hand landed back on his feet and was now smirking.

"A new Jutsu that I've been working on for a few months and have only just mastered" replied Naruto. "I call it **Rīchi no Shushi** (Leech Seeds)." (A)

"**Rīchi no Shushi?**"

"Just before you kicked me away, I drop a small seed, which I had created from my body" explained Naruto. "…When activated the vines from the seeds will wrap themselves around the nearest person to them and restrain them."

"Also…"continued Naruto, "Once an opponent is sufficiently subdued, the vines would siphon the person's Chakra and use it to fuel the buds on the vines, filling them with Chakra, causing the buds to bloom into flowers. This has the added benefit of weakening the person further and limiting their ability to fight back, your also the first person I've ever used it on."

"I see…an impressive technique, I can understand why people hail you as a gifted and talented Shinobi" replied Itachi, who showed no sign of concern. "But I would advise you to take a closer look at yourself Naruto-san."

"Huh?" said Naruto not fully understanding until he looked at himself and suddenly found himself wrapped up in his own vines, which were draining him of his Chakra and siphoning them into their buds, which were already blooming.

"What going on?" Naruto asked, who couldn't understand what had happened, since one minute Itachi was right in the front of him wrapped in his vines. The next, the teen was gone and now he was wrapped in the vines. "How did you do this?"

"Heh, it's simple brat, you were under one of Itachi's Genjutsu, which caused you to be caught in your own Jutsu"

"But when?"

"From the first moment you looked into Itachi's Sharingan, you were caught in his Genjutsu, which caused you to be captured in your own Jutsu" answered a grinning Kisame, who stood a few feet away from Naruto.

-Naruto OST Hidan Theme-

At that moment Naruto looked up at Itachi, who was still standing up on the tree branch from earlier, indicating that he had never moved from his spot.

As Naruto looked up at the elder Uchiha, the sun began to shine through the tree leaves, given Itachi a heavenly like appearance as the light shone around him.

"This battle is over" said Itachi as he looked down at him from the tree branch, "You've lost."

In that instant, Naruto fully understood the gap between him and Itachi, who seemed to tower over the Senju heir.

He also now understood what it was like to face against a true master of the Sharingan and why it and the Uchiha were so revered.

"_Th-This guy…he's on a completely different level…I can't even touch him!_" Naruto thought with fear. "_It's as if he isn't even trying_."

As Itachi looked down at him with his calm emotionless eyes, Naruto began to feel like an ant, who was looking helplessly up at a giant that was preparing to crush it, somthing that not even Orochimaru was able to make him feel .

Unlike the Snake Sennin, who toyed with Naruto in the forest of death and took some of his hits. Itachi avoided and blocked all of Naruto's attacks with ease, as if he wasn't even trying.

-End Naruto OST Hidan Theme-

After about a minute or two, Naruto collapsed onto the ground, as the vines continued to absorb his Chakra and siphon them off into the buds, which had nearly fully bloomed.

"_Damnit, I need to do something, otherwise I'm finished_" thought Naruto as he tried to struggled to free from himself from his binds, but was too weak to do anything.

Realizing what was happening to Naruto, Itachi quickly jumped off the tree branch and made his way over to the blonde and cut the vines off him, knowing that if the vines absorbed all of Naruto's Chakra, he would die.

But as soon as he freed the blonde from the vines, Naruto using the last of his remaining strength and tried to punch Itachi. Who caught effortlessly caught the punch and lifted Naruto up so that he was looking directly into the blonde's blue eyes.

"Enough, I've grown tired of this" said Itachi, who then activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and said_ "_**Tsukuyomi**."

No sooner had Itachi said this Naruto immediately found himself in a completely different world with a red moon hanging over him casting a red light throughout the world, and a cloudy atmosphere, giving the world a blood-red appearance.

Moments after arriving in the world Naruto saw Itachi appear in front of him.

"What's going on, where am I, is this some kind of Genjutsu?"

"Yes, this is called **Tsukuyomi **which allows me to create an illusionary world where I can do almost anything to my opponent for however long I wish" explained Itachi. "In other words, in this world, I am god."

Before Naruto could respond, he quickly found himself bound to a cross, which seemly appeared out of nowhere.

"What are you going to do to me torture me?" Naruto asked as he tried to struggle from the binds, he even tried to summon the Kyuubi's Chakra, but for some strange reason could not.

"No, something much worse" Itachi replied.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked and immedtiately got his answer, when his mother suddenly appeared in front of Itachi.

"Kaa-chan?"

"Naru-chan…" replied Tsunade before Itachi brought up his Kunai and slit Tsunade's touch, causing her blood to spill out before Itachi dropped her on the ground.

"KKKAAAAA-CCCHHHAAANNN NNNOOO!" roared Naruto as he struggled against his binds, but could not break them.

"Starting now, I will kill everyone you care about for the next seventy-two hours straight."

After dropping Tsunade onto the ground Shizune appeared in front of Itachi who then slit her throat and dropped her to the ground like Tsunade.

"NNNEEEEE-CCCHHHAAANNN…! YOU BASTARD!" yelled Naruto who once again tried to break free of his binds.

After Shizune, Itachi continued with systematically killing everyone Naruto cared about, from Jiraiya, Kushina, Yamato, to the Sandaime and all his friends.

Once Itachi was finished a distraught Naruto looked down at the bodies of all the people he cared about. Who stared back at him with their dead eyes, asking him why he didn't protect him, and why he just stood there and watched.

"NO, NO, NO, PLEASE STOP IT, PLEASE!" pleaded Naruto as tears began to form in his eyes.

"What is wrong Naruto-san, there are still seventy-two hours and fifty-nine minutes left" said Itachi, before he started the process all over. "I wonder how much longer your mind will be able to last?"

"NNNOOOO!" cried Naruto as he watched everyone he cared about being killed by Itachi over and over again.

After what seemed like an entirety in the illusionary world, but was only a few seconds in the real world. Naruto let out a horrified scream, much like Sasuke did, before Itachi dropped him.

"_First your brother, and now this kid… and people say I'm a sadist_" Kisame thought with another shark-like grin.

"Please, Please, Stop!" begged Naruto as he grabbed hold of Itachi's leg, "…no-more."

"Well I'll be, the kid is still conscious; I thought for sure he would have been knocked out after experiencing **Tsukuyomi**?" commented Kisame as he walked over to his partner. "Guess he's tougher than we thought…Although you should be more careful Itachi, you know how dangerous it is if you use those eyes of yours too much."

Itachi of course remained silent and pushed his hair aside as the wind blew it into his face.

"Well, looks like we can finally leave with the kid" Kisame said, but before Itachi respond to Kisame statement. The surrounding Water suddenly erupted into a large swirling water sprout around Naruto, forcing both Akatsuki members to jump away from the Senju heir.

Moments after the water sprout erupted, several crescent shape blades of water erupted of the swirling vortex and flew towards Itachi and Kisame at high speed.

Acting fast, Itachi skilfully evaded the Water blades, while Kisame used Samehada to slice through the speeding Water blades.

"_**Senkai no Mizu**_ (Swirling Water) _and __**Bunkatsu Mizu**_ (Splitting Water)" Itachi thought recognising the two techniques.

Once Water sprout died down and flooded the surrounding ground with Water again, the two nuke-nins noticed a new arrival standing between them and Naruto.

This person was a medium tall woman, with long red hair that fell down to her back and wore black Shinobi pants and a green Jonin jacket and carried a long Katana.

"Just great another nuisance" said Kisame with a slightly annoyed tone.

"It's been a while hasn't it Kushina-taicho, or would you prefer Kitsune-san?" Itachi asked when he saw his former ANBU captain who was glaring angrily at him.

Itachi had of course already guessed who it was when he first saw **Senkai no Mizu** and **Bunkatsu Mizu**, since Naruto did not have his Katana and was too weak to even use the techniques. Hence it could be only one other person, given how the sword style was only known by two people, counting Naruto.

"You know her Itachi?" Kisame asked.

"Yes, her name is Uzumaki Kushina, my former squad captain when I first joined ANBU, she was also an old friend to my mother."

"Oh, so this is the infamous Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury)" Kisame remarked with an interested look, since Kushina was well known to the Shinobi of Kiri. Not only because she was one of the last remaining members of the famed Uzumaki Clan, but also because of her unique sword style.

"Itachi!" hissed Kushina angrily, "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here after what you did!"

"Heh, looks like your village hates you about as much as my village does."

"Kushina-sensei" said Naruto who was struggling to stay conscious and glanced up at his teacher. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, since I wanted to talk to you about something" answered Kushina without taking her eyes of the two Akatsuki members. "That's when I found your clone carrying an Sasuke, where it told me what had happen."

As Kushina stared at her opponents, the red head could not think of a worse situation, since as Itachi former captain, she knew how skilled the Uchiha teen was. Who became the youngest ANBU captain in the history of Konoha, at the age of only thirteen, something that had been unheard of until then. He was also a true master of the Sharingan, with few rivals even when his Clan was still alive, and she had no doubt that Itachi had only gotten stronger since then.

She was also very familiar with Kisame's reputation, given the couple of run-ins she had with certain Kiri Shinobi over the years.

From what she had heard, Kisame was easily the strongest member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū and wielded Samehada, the strongest of the seven swords of Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū.

Also according to rumours she had heard, Kisame possessed superhuman Chakra levels, surpassing even Kage level Shinobi, which gave rise to his other moniker O o Motanai Bijū (Tailed Beast without a Tail).

All in all, given who she was up against, Kushina did not like her chances, even if it was one on one.

Originally she had gone looking after Naruto to talk to Naruto about her remarks back before the preliminaries and wanted to apologies for what she had said and tell Naruto that she had not meant what she said. But when she met with Naruto's clone when it was carrying Sasuke, she quickly raced over to help him.

"Kushina-sensei…B-Be careful…D-Don't look into his eyes" mumbled Naruto slowly who was fighting hard to stay awake.

"Don't worry I know" said Kushina, as she held her Katana up in a sideway angle over her head and used the side of the sword to act as a mirror and let her watch both nuke-nin.

It was a technique which Kushina had developed in the event that she ever came across her former subordinate. Since for the Sharingan to cast a person into a Genjutsu, they must have direct eyes contact.

It was of course difficult to fight like this, but with enough training and practice one could get use to fighting this way.

"You're going to pay for not only what you did to your Clan, but also for attacking my student!" Kushina spat angrily, while at the same time thinking. "_His eyes are still the same as before, but then again he's a true heir of the Sharingan…_" as she stared at Itachi.

"You should know that I've already sent word to the Hokage" said Kushina. "So you have two choices. Either you both leave now or stay here and fight, where it won't be long before your surrounded by ANBU, and believe me neither you will want to be here once Tsunade-sama arrives and finds out you attacked her son."

"Your concern is unneeded Kushina-san, for we will already have left Konoha by the time the ANBU arrive" replied Itachi. But then notice his partner lifting his massive sword from his back and walking towards Kushina.

"Kisame what are you doing?" Itachi asked when he saw his partner walk forward.

"Sorry Itachi, but you had your fun with the kid, now it's my turn"

"We should not waste any more time than we already have Kisame, you heard Kushina-sana, and we did not come here to fight a war."

"Heh, Don't worry so much Itachi, this won't take long."

"Do not underestimate her Kisame, if you fight her head on, it won't be without serious cost."

"Well let's just see how good she really is?" said Kisame and he raced towards Kushina, who also moved forward so to make sure that Naruto wouldn't get caught in the fight.

Within seconds the two Shinobi clashed sword, where a battle for dominance erupted between the two.

"I going to enjoy shaving you up" grinned Kisame as he used his superior strength to push the woman back.

"_Shit, this guy's strength could rival Naruto's_" Kushina thought as gnashed her teeth in frustration and struggled to hold Kisame back, where Kisame's sword began to shave her left shoulder.

Realizing that in a battle of strength she would lose, Kushina quickly decided to change tactics.

Using Kisame's own momentum against him, Kushina lifted her Katana in a diagonal angle and took a step to her right, causing Kisame to fall forward and his sword to slide down to the ground. After which she then kicked the former Kiri swordsman in the back of his leg, causing the blue skinned man to fall to his knees, where Kushina then head butted him in the nose, and breaking it in the process.

"Damn you…" growled Kisame before he was forced to leap back to avoid a lethal sword slash from the red headed Jonin.

"Tsk, not bad…" Kisame said as he wiped the some of the blood from his nose away with his right sleeve. "But then again, I shouldn't expect anything less from the famed Buraddi Shinku no Ikari. I even heard that you had a run in with two old friends of mine a while back, maybe you remember their names Kushimaru and Jinpachi?"

"I remember them, and they deserved what they got!" retorted Kushina as she narrowed her eyes angrily. Since this was not the first time she had gone up against a member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū.

About a year ago, back when she was still in ANBU, Kushina had been assigned on a protection mission for the Fire Daimyo's son during a trade talk with the Daimyo of Umi no Kuni (Sea Country).

Not long after the talks began, they were interrupted by Munashi Jinpachi and Kuriarare Kushimaru, better known as the Hijō Konbi (Heartless Pair) due to their collective cruelty towards their targets and opponents.

The two had been hired by an unknown to interrupt the talks and kill the Fire Daimyo's son, preventing any new trade links between Hi no Kuni and Umi no Kuni. It was only recently that the learned that the now deceased shipping magnet Gato had been the one who hired them, in the hope of keeping the new trade links from happening, which would have reduced his shipping business with Hi no Kuni.

But the two Kiri-nin's attempt was halted by Kushina, where after a long hard battle; she defeated and killed the two infamous Shinobi.

Afterwards Kushina became recognized as a skilled and powerful Shinobi Swordswoman in Kiri and the rest of the Shinobi world. Not only because of her defeat of the two swordsmen, but also for her unique sword style.

"Oh I've no doubt they did, but still, I sort liked the two of them, they knew how to have fun, even if they were two idiots who spent most of their time arguing with one another."

"Enough talk" snapped Kushina, where she channelled her Chakra into the blade of her Katana and drew some of the Water around her. She then swung her blade in upward angle and yelled "**Bunkatsu Mizu****!**" creating a crescent shape blade of Water, which travelled at phenomenal speed towards Kisame. Who split the speeding Water blade in half with his massive sword.

But as soon as he had done this, Kushina appeared right underneath him with her sword in mid-swing.

"_What the…?_" said Kisame, who was shocked by Kushina sudden burst of speed and realized that the woman had used the water vblade as a distraction so that she could catch him off-guard.

Acting on pure instinct, the former Kiri Shinobi jumped back and narrowly avoided the horizontal slash, which left a large horizontal cut on his cloak, directly above the one Naruto made earlier.

"Shit she's fast" muttered Kisame, before Kushina sped towards him and attempted a left handed slash, which Kisame narrowly blocked with his sword.

But no sooner had he done this, Kushina used her **Nagareru Mizu** (Following Water) technique and switched her sword from her left hand to her right behind her back with lightning fast speed, slashing Kisame left arm. Who avoided having his arm cut off, by moving to his right at the last second.

Seeing this, Kushina quickly spun around and preformed a spinning kicked, which Kisame somehow blocked with his injured arm and pushed the red haired woman back several meters away.

After landing back on the Water covered ground, Kushina saw Kisame racing towards her.

With only seconds to act, Kushina quickly dipped the tip of her blade into the Water and cried "**Mizu no Kagayaku **(Glittering Water)" as she swung it across the ground and created a small thin wall of Water in front of her.

Moments after Kushina created the wall of Water; Kisame swung his giant sword and slashed right through the Water wall and "_Kushina_" revealing that she had been a reflection created by the light and Water.

Realizing he had been tricked, Kisame quickly bescanned the field for the red headed Jonin, but as he turned around he suddenly saw a long blade burst out of his chest.

Glancing back, the former Kiri swordsman saw Kushina standing behind him, holding the sword.

But just when Kushina thought she had killed the former Monster of the Mist, "_Kisame_" reverted into Water, revealing he had replaced himself with a Water Clone.

Moments after realizing that Kisame had replaced himself, Kushina jumped backwards, allowing her to avoid a powerful down ward slash from Kisame. Who appeared directly above her.

After evading Kisame's attack, Kushina raced towards the shark-like man and used her **Mizu no Atsuen **technique in the hope of catching Kisame off-guard. But this time Kisame was ready and knew what to look out for from his scuffle with Naruto earlier on.

So when he got glimpse of Kushina switching her Katana from her right to her left hand, he knew what to do and stopped the attack by catching Kushina left wrist when she was in mid-swing.

"Heh, I gotcha now" grinned Kisame as he brought Samehada down Kushina.

"Don't be so sure of that!" Kushina retorted before she kneed the taller man hard between the legs, causing the man's eyes to widen slightly in pain before halting his attack and buckling over slightly.

"Hmph, Kushina-taicho has always been unorthodox when it comes to fighting" Itachi remarked, after seeing Kushina kneed his partner in the groin. Who then followed it up with another head-butt to Kisaime's face and a spinning heel kick that sent the former Kiri swordsman's skidding across the Water covered ground.

"You're going to pay for that" Kisame growled and he struggled to get back up onto his feet, while ignoring the pain from bewteen his lega and from his nose, which was bleeding again.

"_Damnit this bitch is tougher than I gave her credit for, the speed of her attacks are on a completely different level from that kid. No wonder she was able to defeat both Jinpachi and Kushimaru?_"

Before long though Kisame's frown turned into a grin and licked the blood from his bleeding nose, "_Things have gotten a lot more interesting._"

"_For such a big guy, he sure moves fast_" Kushina thought as she stared at her blue skin opponent, before glancing at Itachi and then the barely conscious Naruto.

"_I need to finish this fast, as the longer this last the more likely Itachi might decide to intervene and there's no way I can take the both of them on by myself._"

Wanting to finish this quickly, Kushina raised her Katana up to her face, so to have the flat side facing her. She then began to gather up the surrounding Water around her, creating a small whirlwind of Water droplets around her.

"This is where it ends" said Kushina with a deadly look, where she then brought her left middle and index fingers and ran them across the side of the blade.

"_What's she up to?_" thought Kisame who readied his bandage sword.

"_Is this another move for the __Arasuijin no Mai_ (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess)?" Naruto thought when he saw the whirlwind of Water droplets surround his teacher, given how he was unfamiliar with the technique.

"_Could this be…?_" thought a curious Itachi, who raised his left eyebrow.

But before he could warn his partner, Kushina raised her Katana over her head and yelled "**Jinsoku Mizu **(Swift Water)!" as she swung it down to the ground.

No sooner had she done this, a powerful invisible Wind-like vortex erupted from Kushina blade and flew towards Kisame at frightening speed.

Sensing danger from the attack, Kisame quickly swung his sword down and sliced through the attack, where the only thing Kisame felt from the attack was a gentle breeze that blew past him.

"Heh, nice try, but petty little attack like that won't work on me" said a grinning Kisame as he slowly walked towards Kushina.

"Are you sure about that?" Kushina asked.

"Huh?" said Kisame, who stopped in his tracks before his cloak burst into shred and a shower of blood exploded from his body hundreds of small cuts appeared around him. Causing the the former Kiri-nin to fall ground, where his blood mixed in with the Water.

"B-But how?" gurgled Kisame as more blood formed in his mouth before she spat it out.

"I believe I told you not to underestimate her Kisame" said Itachi, who appeared in front of his comrade and prevented Kushina from finishing him off.

"What was that attack?" asked the wounded Kisame.

"That technique she just used on you was **Jinsoku Mizu**" answered Itachi.

"You know it?"

"I've heard of it back when I was still in ANBU" replied Itachi. "The technique involves the user drawing the surrounding moisture in the air and any other Water source to create hundreds if not thousands of small spinning blades of Water, which are too small to see by normal eyes and can shred an opponent to pieces. From what I have heard of the technique, it comes in two forms, one for close quarters and one for long range, which is what she used on you. Given the width of the attack, and the number of Water blades, which makes the attack up, even your sword cannot protect you from harm."

"Heh, Guess she got me good with that one" replied Kisame, who then stood back up, shocking both Kushina and Naruto.

But what was even more shocking to the two was that all the cuts on Kisame's body were now healed, where were it not for his shredded clothes and the blood the covered his body. One would think that he hadn't been wounded at all.

"_What the hell?_" thought Naruto, "_Did he use some kind of medical Ninjutsu?_"

"_I beginning to understand why they call him a monster_" the red headed Jonin thought to herself as she stared at the former Kiri swordsman. Who had a large shark-like grin, as he heaved up his massive sword onto his shoulders. "_But how on earth did he recover from his wounds so quickly, even though he didn't receive a direct hit from my __**Jinsoku Mizu**__. He should've been out of action from the wounds he received._"

"You should consider yourself fortunate Kisame, from what I have heard, Kushina-san once used that technique to wipe out an entire platoon, made up of twenty Kumo Shinobi, shredding them into pieces" said Itachi. Who knew if it were not for Samehada's unique abilities, Kisame would either be dead or at the very least incapacitated from his wounds.

"Well you needn't worry I finish this quickly" replied the former Kiri-nin as he tore off his now ruined cloak, revealing a dark sleeveless shirt paired with matching pants, which were also torn up slightly from Kushina'a attack. With the shirt and pants, he also wore a simple waist guard, with striped arm and leg-warmers.

"No, we have no-more time to waste, we will take her together and end this quickly" stated Itachi. After which the two nuke-nins readied themselves.

"Just great back where we started?" muttered Kushina angrily as she too readied herself.

Not wanting to give her opponents anymore of an advantage Kushina went on the offensive first.

Once she was close enough, she attempted to remove Itachi's head from his shoulder with a horizontal slash, but missed when the Uchiha teen sidestepped the slash.

Seeing an opening Kisame brought up his own sword and swung it at Kushina's head, but before his sword could reach the red headed woman. Kushina ducked underneath the large sword and rolled forward. After which she then turned around and fired a Chakra Chain from her left free hand, which wrapped itself around the former Kiri swordsman.

"What the…?!" cried Kisame before Kushina pulled on the chain and off his feet and swung him around into a nearby tree.

Moments after doing this, Itachi appeared behind her and preformed several high speed hand-seals before yelling "**Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni **(Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson)!" After which he unleashed a volley of shuriken with one hand, and at the same time, exhaled a blast of fire, which infused with the shuriken.

With only seconds to act, Kushina quickly dipped the tip of her Katana into the Shallow Water and created a small wave of Water to extinguish the flames around the Shuriken and then deflected or dodge the projectiles with little damage.

But no sooner had she dealt the Shuriken, the red headed Kunoichi was sent flying by a strong double kick to the face.

Recovering quickly, Kushina preformed a mid-air flip to land on her feet, but was forced to move again when Kisame appeared above her, and tried to spilt her in half with a powerful downward slash from his sword.

Seeing that he missed the Konoha Kunoichi, Kisame looked over to where the former ANBU captain had landed and saw her kneeling in front of Naruto. She then stabbed her Katana into the ground and was started to form a series of high speed hand-seals before slamming both her hands into the ground.

"What she up to now?" Kisame thought with a frown and quickly got his answer, when several dozen Chakra Chains erupted from the ground and began to wrap themselves around him.

"Shit!" cried Kisame before he used his sword to cut through the Chakra Chains, but no matter how many he cut, several more would burst out of the ground to take their place.

Realizing he was in a hopeless situation, Kisame tried to move away from the Chains, which quickly followed after him.

At the same Itachi also found himself under assault from several Chakra Chains and was forced to move away.

"There's nowhere you can run" said Kushina where she had her Chains pursue the two nuke-nins wherever they went.

To make things even more difficult, they were confined to the clearing thanks to Kushina. Who used her Chakra Chains to create a barrier around them.

As the two Akatsuki members continued to dodged the various different Chakra Chains. They soon found themselves trapped with the backs to the barrier and facing several dozen Chakra Chains that were about to impale them.

Seeing the situation that they were in, Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, knowing of only one technique that could save him and Kisame in time.

"Kisame move back" warned Itachi before he said "**Amaterasu! **(Heavenly Illumination)" were a massive blast of pitch black flames erupted from his right eye.

"Within seconds, black flames enveloped Kushina's Chakra Chains and destroyed them.

"Impossible!" cried Kushina, before saw the black flames heading straight for her and Naruto.

Quickly realizing the danger she and Naruto were in, Kushina wasted no time in cancelling her few remaining Chakra Chains along with the barrier and took out a scroll from her pouch.

She then quickly opened it up, revealing it to be blank.

Placing the scroll on the ground, Kushina formed three quick hand-seals and slammed her hand onto the ground and yelled "**Fūka Hōin** (Fire Sealing Method)**!**"

After shouting this, a large seal appeared on the blank page of the scroll.

Moments after the seal appeared, a large pale blue vapour emerged from the seal, and quickly enveloped the Itachi's black flames, (just as they were about to hit Kushina), and sucked the flames into the scroll.

Once flames had been sucked into the scroll, a symbol for seal appeared in the centre of the seal. After which, Kushina immediately rolled up the scrolls and tied up tightly so that it would not be unsealed.

"Well I'll be...! Never thought I'd see the day where someone actually stopped you **Amaterasu**!" Kisame remarked with an impressed look. "She's even better than you said."

"Indeed" the Uchiha prodigy replied, "But then again I would expect nothing less from someone of Kushina-senpai's calibre."

"That was too close" muttered Kushina, as she started to pant heavily, since her last attack had used up a lot of her Chakra and beginning to feel the strain of the battle.

Seeing that Kushina was nearing her limit, Kisame decided to move in for the kill and raced toward the red haired woman with remarkable speed.

After crossing half the distance between himself and the two Konoha-nins, Kisame lept into the air and swung his massive bandage sword down on Kushina's head. Who wasted no time in grabbing her student and Katana and jumped from their position, narrowly evading the large sword, which made a large hole in the muddy ground.

But moments after avoiding Kisame's attack, Kushina was hit in the chest by a kick from Itachi, causing her to drop Naruto, who finally lost consciousness.

Recovering quickly, Kushina brought up her Katana to block several Shuriken which had been thrown at her by Itachi. Who used them as a distraction to allow him to move in close on Kushina, who barely managed to block his Kunai stab, resulting in a battle a dominance between the two.

As the two continued to struggle with one another, Kisame maneuverered around Kushina and attempted to shave her across her back with his sword.

By using the flat side of her sword as a mirror, Kushina was able to see Kisame approaching her from behind and countered by creating several more Chakra Chains. That sprung from her back and shot at Kisame, forcing the nuke-nin back.

After which Kushina had the Chains maneuver around her and attack Itachi from both sides, forcing the former ANBU captain to leap back.

Once she forced the two Nuke-nins back, Kushina retracted her Chakra Chains and preceded towards Itachi, hoping to press her advantage and attack Itachi before he or Kisame could strike back.

Within moments Kushina was right in Itachi's face and after ducking under his Kunai slash, she sliced the raven haired teen in two with on clean slash, severing his lower body from his upper body.

But as soon as she had cut Itachi in half, "_he_" exploded into a murder of crows, which flew around her until they moved to attack her and turned into a dozen Shuriken at the last second and piercing her arms, legs, sides and back.

"_Ack! Damnit somehow he was able to cast me under a Genjutsu when I accidently glanced into his eyes, right before I cut him_" Kushina thought as she fell to her knees and pulled out the Shurikens from her body. But before she could pull them all out, the real Itachi appeared in front of her and attempted a reverse heel kick to her face.

Acting fast Kushina jumped back, avoiding the kick by a hairs breath.

But no sooner had her feet touched the ground, Kisame appeared behind her and shaved her back with his shark scaled sword.

"AAAgggaaaaa!" cried Kushina in pain as she felt the sword shred through her flak jacket and her skin.

After final hitting Kushina with his sword, Kisame followed through with a strong kick to her left side. That sent the red headed woman tumbling across the ground and landing in a small crumpled heap near the unconscious Naruto.

"Well it was fun while it lasted, but I guess this is where it ends" said Kisame with one of his trademark shark-like grins.

"It would seem so" said Itachi, who walked over to his partner.

"So what should we do with her?" asked the former Kiri swordsman as he glanced at his partner.

"Kill her" replied Itachi without any remorse, "Given her abilities she could pose a dangerous threat to our plans later on."

"Heh, my pleasure" replied Kisame as he heaved his sword back onto his shoulders

At the same time as the two Akatsuki members were talking, the barely conscious Kushina slowly dragged herself over to Naruto.

"_I can't let them take him_" thought Kushina, knowing she needed to protect her student at all costs.

Once she was close enough to Naruto, Kushina used the last of her strength to create several Chakra Chains, which sprung from her bleeding back.

Before either Itachi or Kisame could do anything to stop her, Kushina's Chakra Chains formed a small barrier around herself and Naruto, preventing them from getting to the two Konoha Shinobi.

"Shit we got sloppy, she's formed a barrier around herself and the brat" said Kisame with an annoyed frown. When he tried to push his hand through the small barrier, but was pushed back.

"It would seem so" replied Itachi while staring at the barrier with his Sharingan, "…And it would seem that she has erected a powerful barrier at that, it will not be easy to break."

But before either men could make any attempt to bring down Kushina's barrier. The two nuke-nins sensed a powerful presence above them.

Looking up they quickly saw a shadowy figure falling towards them like a meteor.

Acting fast, both Kisame and Itachi jumped away from the barrier, where as soon as they did a large explosion erupted, filling the clearing with a cloud of dust.

"What the hell is it this time?!" Kisame asked as he and Itachi landed on a large tree at edge of the clearing.

"Trouble" replied Itachi with blank expression.

When the dust cloud finally began to dissipate, the two Akatsuki members soon saw a large newly formed crater right in front of Kushina's barrier, with a single figure standing in the middle of it. One whom both Kisame and Itachi recognised instantly, since this person was none other than the famed Slug Princess of Konoha, Senju Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama" said Kushina as she looked up to the elder woman.

"Kushina…how's Naruto?" Tsunade asked without taking her eyes of the two Akatsuki members, who jumped off their tree and stood in front of the female Sannin.

"He's fine, he's just unconscious…" replied Kushina, "But I think Itachi used some kind of Genjutsu on him."

Nodding to this, Tsunade then glared angrily at the two nuke-nins.

"You're going to regret what you did to my son!" snarled the furious woman.

At the same time, Jiraiya and the Sandaime appeared out of the forestry and flanked Tsunade.

Upon arriving at the scene, a large frown appeared on the Sandaime's face when he saw the Uchiha traitor. "_Itachi…what are you doing here?_"

"_This could be trouble_" thought Jiraiya, who knew how dangerous both Itachi and Kisame were, and that was just when they were alone.

"Well this certainly complicates things, the Sandaime Hokage and two members of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja)" Kisame remarked with a slight frown before griining a little.

"Agreed" replied Itachi as he stared calmly at the three Kage level Shinobi.

"You two sure have got a lot of guts showing your faces here" said Jiraiya with a serious look.

"Jiraiya-sama" said Itachi as he turned to the famed Toad Sage. "I'm assuming that you were the one who told Naruto-san of us?"

"Heh, Guilty as charged" the white haired man replied with a smirk.

"Looks like things have gotten a lot more interesting" said a grinning Kisame. Who looked eager at the chance in taking on three such famed Shinobi and lifted his sword off his shoulder and pointed it at the three Konoha Shinobi.

But before anyone could make a move, Itachi spoke.

"That's enough Kisame, we're leaving…We did not come here to start a war; any further fighting would be pointless."

"But what about the kid?" asked Kisame, since the only reason they had come to Konoha was to kidnap Naruto.

"We'll leave him…for now."

"Tsk, and just when I was to enjoying myself" Kisame remarked with a disappointed look as he hung his sword onto his back.

"Neither of you are going anywhere!" cried Tsunade as she charged at the two Akatsuki member with startling speed, and hit Itachi right in the face with an enhanced punch.

But as soon as her fist made contact with Itachi's face, the former Konoha-nin and his partner exploded into murder of crows, which quickly faded into nothing, revealing that the two had just been illusions.

"_Genjutsu!_" Tsunade thought in surprise, before it was replaced with an angry look, "_…I was careless._"

"Phff, that Itachi brat is good, he must have somehow caught us in his Genjutsu the moment we arrived" said Jiraiya with a frown, before galncing around for any trace of the two nuke-nins.

At that moment Shizune arrived with a large group of Shinobi, which included Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, Yamato and Kurenai, along with two four man teams of ANBU lead by Wolf.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama are all of you unharmed, where are the intruders?" Wolf asked

"We're fine, but the intruders are gone, all of you quickly, go after them, they couldn't have gotten far!" Tsunade ordered.

Nodding, the majority of other Shinobi quickly took after the two nuke-nins, leaving Tsunade Jiraiya, Shizune, Yamato and the Sandaime alone with the wounded Kushina and unconscious Naruto.

"They won't find them, those two aren't your run of the mill Shinobi and won't be caught so easily" Jiraiya commented. Who knew that even in the unlikely event that the pursuing Shinobi caught up to two Akatsuki members, they would be unable to capture them, they were just that good.

Once the other Shinobi left, Kushina lowered her barrier and allowed herself to fall into bliss oblivion, after finally losing consciousness.

After Kushina lowered her barrier, Tsunade raced over to her son to check on her vitals, leaving Shizune to tend to Kushina injuries.

"How's the kid?" Jiraiya asked.

"He's fine" said Tsunade after examining her son. "His injuries are mainly superficial, but what worries me is the mental state."

"What do you mean?" Yamato asked.

"He's in a coma" answered Tsunade who angry look upon her, "…Caused by mental strain from being under a powerful Genjutsu."

As Tsunade lifted up her unconsciousness son, she silently swore she would make Itachi pay, knowing he was culprit for her son's state.

"How is Kushina?" the Sandaime asked in concern.

"Not good I'm afraid" answered Shizune, as she continued to work of the former ANBU captain. "She received several injuries, the most serious in the back and is almost out of Chakra. I'm stabilizing her now, but she needs to get the hospital soon."

"Then you should go, Yamato and I will join the pursuit teams, the rest of you should bring Naruto and Kushina to the hospital" said the Sandaime. "We'll talk on what we should plan next later."

Nodding to this two Sannin and Shizune, took off with Kushina and Naruto, while Sarutobi and Yamato went off in the opposite direction after the pursuit teams.

* * *

Outside Konoha, the two Akatsuki members raced through the surrounding forestry, making sure that they left no tracks for the pursuing Konoha Shinobi to follow.

As they raced through the treetops, Kisame glanced over at his partner "Why did we have to retreat? We could've…"

"No we could not" interrupted Itachi. "If we had taken on all three of them on by ourselves, in all likelihood we would've lost. Even if we had somehow won, it would not have been without serious cost to us, especially when you consider the fact that more Konoha reinforcements were on their way and would arrive at any moment. The best course of action was to retreat."

"Besides…Naruto-san's capture is not essential to our plan as of this moment. So we can afford to leave him be for now and wait for another time to retrieve him, one that is more favourable to us."

"Also, I must rest myself somewhere for a while; I used **Tsukuyomi** twice and was then forced to use **Amaterasu**" Itachi replied, who looked a bit worn as he deactivated his Sharingan. "It was more tasking than I had anticipated."

* * *

Later that night after a long meeting with not only Jiraiya and Tsunade, but also the Konoha Elders, Homura, Koharu and Danzo, over the infiltration of Kisame and Itachi. The Sandaime Hokage finally arrived home.

After checking on Konohamaru, who was fast asleep in his bed, the elder Sartuobi entered his living room and took off his Hokage hat and sat in his soft armchair.

Enjoying the silence in the room, the old Hokage closed his eyes and went over everything that happened today in his head.

Thankfully both Naruto and Kushina would recover, but given her injuries, Kushina would have to stay in the hospital for a bit longer.

Naruto was still unconscious and wouldn't wake up for at least a day or so, since Tsunade wanted to give him time to rest and bring him out of his coma slowly, allowing her to treat the mental trauma.

As the Sandaime continued to go over everything that happened today in his head, he was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by the sound of tapping of something on glass.

Turning to where the sound came from, Sarutobi saw a small black crow tapping on the widow to his living room.

Cautiously, the Sandaime walked over to the window and opened it, allowing the small bird to fly into the room.

After circling the living room once, the small bird landed on the Sandaime's shoulder and dropped a small slip of paper, which it had been carrying in its beak.

When the Sandaime caught the slip of paper, the crow took off and flew out the window and disappeared into the night sky.

Once the bird had left, the Sandaime opened up the slip of paper and read what was on it.

When he finished reading the slip of paper, the Sandaime's face turned ghostly white and he found his hand shaking slightly and his knees going weak.

The note only had three words on it, and yet it had a paralyzing effect on the fabled Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi) and filled him with such fear and dread, that he needed to sit down.

As the Sandaime tried to digest what he had just learned, the old Hokage knew what this meant for Konoha and how it placed the village in far greater danger than anyone realized.

"_Kami help us all_" the Sandaime thought as he glanced down at the note again, which simply said

"_Uchiha Madara lives_."

N/A.

Well that's it for another Chapter of Hope of the Senju Clan; I hope everyone enjoyed, Naruto connecting with Gaara, the introduction of the Akatsuki and the Sandaime learning that "_Madara_" lives.

Now as some of you may know the next Chapter will finally reveal the pairing for the story, so people can finally stop bugging me about it after every Chapter.

Again I hope everyone has enjoyed the Chapter and please don't bother asking me to update quick. Quality Chapters for quality stories take time and I refuse to be rushed, so they will take as long as they will take.

Another note, the summon polls has been closed now before anyone asks me which polls won, I will tell you now that will not be reveal which summons won until Chapter forty, which is why I will I tell everyone now, not to bother asking me, since I will not tell. The only thing I will give you that the summons will be slightly different from what people guess, but will still be of the same species that won the poll.

Also please scroll down further if you wish to read the two Omakes I have come up with.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now in regards of my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

**Author's Note:**

(1). Go to my profile and to my Hope of the Senju Clan section for an image of what Naruto's new home looks like

(2). Go to my profile and to my Hope of the Senju Clan section for an image of what Naku looks like.

(3). Go to my profile and to my Hope of the Senju Clan section for an image of what the bracelet looks like.

(4). For information on this kitten go to Chapter twenty-five and for an image of the kitten go to my profile on the Hope of the Senju Clan section. There you will find the link for the kitten on number nine.

(5). Go to my profile and to my Hope of the Senju Clan section for an image of what Naruto's Chain earing looks like.

(6). For a more detail brief on this technique go to the bottom of Chapter thirty, this technique will be number one in the offensive section of the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) Sword Style section.

**Custom Jutsu:**

(A). **Mokuton: Rīchi no Shushi** (Wood Release: Leech Seeds): A special technique Naruto developed with the help of Yamato after leaving the hospital. The technique involves Naruto creating a small seed from his body and dropping it near an opponent. When activated the seed will burst open, creating several large vines, which move to grapple and ensnare an opponent. Once the opponent is sufficiently subdued the vines would siphon the person's Chakra and use it to fuel the buds on the vines, filling them with the opponent's Chakra and causing them to bloom into flowers. This has the added benefit of weakening the person further and limiting their ability to fight back, making it a very effective technique for capturing people. But if the person is left in the binds for too long, the vines will drain all of the person's Chakra and kill them.

**Omake: 1**

"Why me? There are plenty other Shinobi who are strong enough, better yet why not the pervert over here?" said Tsunade as she pointed to Jiraiya who was leaning against the widow.

"Me Hokage…hah!" laughed Jiraiya at the idea.

"He's right Kaa-chan, you would make a much better Hokage than him" said Naruto.

"Besides..." continued the boy, "Knowing Ero-sennin he'd probably make up a bunch of crazy ass laws, like having all the Kunoichi from the ages of eighteen to thirty-five having to wear scantily clad outfits and have the Icha Icha series become required reading for all Shinobi. Not to mention, spend all his time using the Hokage's crystal ball looking at girls in the hot's spring and the changing room."

"AAAHHHH! Why the hell didn't ever think of that?!" cried Jiraiya is disbelief, realizing what he could do as Hokage. "Hold on Old man, I change my mind I'll become Hokage!"

Two weeks later after becoming Hokage, Jiraiya was overthrown after a massive revolt of the Kunoichi populace. Resulting in the former Hokage and his followers in being beating to an inch of their lives and strung up on the Hokage momument by the leader of the female revolt, Tsunade, who replaced him as the new Hokage.

Thus marking the shortest ever reign of a Hokage in the history of Konoha.

**Omake: 2**

As Naruto walked away, he suddenly and turned when he heard Gaara call out to him.

"Will you be returning tomorrow?"

"Yea sure"

"Good, I believe by then I will be ready, for there are some things I would like to know about you."

"Sure I would be happy to tell you anything you want to know" said Naruto who then saw Gaara nod.

Not long after Naruto left the room, Gaara slowly reached over to the book that Senju heir gave him earlier, which read Icha Icha Paradise. Unaware that Senju heir had accidently picked up and given him the wrong book.

The next day Naruto was surprised to find and unconscious Gaara lying in a pool of his own blood with a perverted smile on his face.


	35. Chapter 35

**Naruto: The Hope of the Senju Clan**

**Chapter Thirty-five: Engagement**

**This story was inspired by the Story Senju Naruto by Baal of Yarns**

"_Thinking/Writing"_

"**Jutsu**"

"**_Animal talk/Thinking Jutsu_**"

**Special thanks to ****Agent-G**** for little use parts of his story Political Alliance to help make this Chapter**

**Previously on Hope of the Senju Clan**

_Once the bird had left, the Sandaime opened up the slip of paper and read what was on it._

_But as soon as he did, the Sandaime's face turned ghostly white and he found his hand shaking slightly and his knees going weak._

_The note only had three words on it, and yet it had a paralyzing effect on the fabled Kami no Shinobi _(God of Shinobi)_ and filled him with such fear and dread, that he needed to sit down._

_As the Sandaime tried to digest what he had just learned, the old Hokage knew what this meant for Konoha and how it placed the village in far greater danger than anyone realized._

"**_Kami help us all_**" _the Sandaime thought as he glanced down at the note again, which simply said_.

"**_Uchiha Madara lives_.**"

-Iwagakure-

Sitting in his office, nursing the migraine that slowly beginning to form in his head, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki (Ōnoki of Both Scales) finished reading the reports he received from his granddaughter Kurotsuchi and her partner Akatsuchi.

"_I'm getting too old for all this shit!_" the elderly Kage thought to himself, before looking up at his son Kitsuchi, who was sitting in front of him. (1)

"Is it as bad as Kurotsuchi said?"

"Worse" replied the aged Kage, after Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi returned, they immediately came racing into his office, and ranting about Suna betraying Konoha, the Senju heir drawing water from plants and the air and creating trees.

It was only after he got the two to calm down and start from the beginning and talk more slowly that he got a better understanding of what happened during the Chunin exam.

When the Tsuchikage learned of Suna betraying Konoha and joining with Otogakure (Hidden Sound) to attack Konoha, he was pleased, believing that it presented an opportunity for his village. Not only to avenge their defeat at the hands of Konoha in the Third Great Shinobi World War, but to also expand their influence and perhaps finally replacing Konoha as the strongest of the Shinobi nations.

But his mood almost immediately shifted when Kurotsuchi told him of the abilities Naruto showed during his battles in the finals.

At first Ōnoki was sceptically of his granddaughter's tale, but with Akatsuchi backing her up, he was forced to admit that what she said might be true and had them both write up a detail report on what they saw in the Chunin finals. He also had his spies send him a report of what happened in Konoha.

After reading both reports, Ōnoki was finally forced to admit that Naruto possessed the legendary Bloodline limit of his ancestor, the Shodai Hokage.

"_It's not enough, that he possess, his Mother's monster's strength and the Nidaime Hokage's talent for Suiton Jutsu, but to have Mokuton as well…Just what sort of freak of nature did that brat Tsunade give birth to?!_"

"So it's true then, Senju Naruto possesses the Bloodline limit of the Shodai Hokage-sama?"

"Yes…" grumbled the irritated Ōnoki, "And if that wasn't enough, it would seem that brat has also inherited the Nidaime Hokage-sama's talent for Suiton Ninjutsu. Allowing him to draw moisture from both their air and plants, he also seemly has an unnatural talent for Futon Ninjutsu, where during his battle with Kumo's jinchuriki, he created a Wind version of the Hyuga Clan's famed **Kaiten** (Revolving Heaven). After only witnessing it a few hours ago, when he fought a member of the Clan."

"Impossible!" cried a stunned Kitsuchi, "No child could do such a thing, it would take years of training, for even the most gifted of shinobi, to do that…if it's even possible."

"Not only is it possible…" replied the short Kage, "But it's true, our spies in Konoha have confirmed Kurotsuchi's story."

After learning of what his daughter had said was true, Kitsuchi could only stare at his father in stun disbelief, still not fully believing it all. But after a while, he was finally forced to accept the truth.

"Do we know Konoha's current level of strength?"

"Not exactly, both Konoha and Suna have suffered some damage to their forces and Konoha has suffered a great deal of damage to the village itself. But we do not yet know how weakened they are. The only thing we know for certain is that Konoha was able to push Suna and Oto's forces out of their village and inflict heavy losses on them. Shortly after Suna surrendered, and announced that they had been tricked by Orochimaru, who disguised himself as the Yondaime Kazekage after secretly killing him and his guards."

"Tsk" scoffed Kitsucihi with disgust, "I always said Suna was full of idiots, the fact that they couldn't tell that their own leader had been replaced proves it."

"Hmph," grunted the Tsuichikage, who just nodded in agreement.

"I have also learned that both Konoha and Suna are now in talks and are trying to reform their previous alliance. Furthermore, there is a rumour that Kiri is trying to form an alliance with Konoha as well."

"Then we have to attack now, before Konoha can form an alliance with either of them, or worse both of them!" stated Kitsuchi.

"We will, but not yet, I won't make the same mistake Suna and Oto made, and underestimate Konoha, especially since they are about to have a new Hokage."

"A new Hokage?" repeated a confused Kitsuchi.

"It's seems Sarutobi has finally decided to retire and from what I have heard, it would seem that he has selected his former student Senju Tsunade to take his place as the Godaime Hokage-sama."

Upon learning this, Kitsuchi frowned, since he knew that complicated matters. "What should we do then?"

"First we must gather more Intel on Konoha and probe their defences, even if they reform their alliance with Suna, it will be a while before both villages are at full strength. The same can also be said for Kiri, given from what our spies have told me, Kiri's military strength has been weakened from their constant infighting."

"Also…" continued the Tsuchikage, "I have an important mission for you."

"What sort of mission?"

"A mission that involves that brat Senju Naruto" answered Ōnoki, "I want you to select a team to capture or kill him. Also given the boy's Bloodline limit and abilities, I am placing him as a B-rank threat in our bingo book, with an engage with caution warning."

"With all due respect, isn't that a little extreme, he's only a boy."

"A boy, who not only possesses one of the most powerful Bloodline limits in existence, but who also defeated two jinchuriki all on the same day" an angry Ōnoki retorted. "If that brat is already this powerful, imagine what he would be like in ten or twenty years' time, when he fully matures? Not to mention in forty years' time, we could be facing an entire family of Mokuton wielders."

"But if we kidnap or kill the boy, his mother would more than likely have Konoha declare war on us."

"I would rather have us fight Konoha now, where we would at least stand a chance, than face the second coming of a Shinobi like Senju Hashirama, later on. Besides, if we can somehow capture the boy, the benefits later on, could out way the costs."

Nodding to this, Kitsuchi silently thought about who he would choose for the mission. His two best candidates were of course his daughter Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, who were not only skilled Shinobi, but had watched the Senju heir battle and knew how he fought.

"It won't be easy; we would have to wait until he is outside the village to even have a chance. But even then it is likely his mother would have one of Konoha's top Shinobi watching over him."

"I am aware of that and will have our spies try and monitor his movements and wait for an opportunity when he is outside the village on a mission."

Nodding again in agreement, Kitsuchi then asked his father if he had a picture of the Senju heir, wanting to at least know what his target looked like.

When the Tsuchikage showed him a picture of Naruto, he of course saw the resemblance between Naruto and the Yondaime Hokage. He had face the man once before, during the Third Great Shinobi World War, and barely escaped with his life, although he lost his entire platoon to the man.

"I must admit the resemblance between him and Kiiroi Senkō (Yellow Flash) is uncanny, if didn't know any better I would swear the two were father and son."

"Impossible" said the Sandaime Tsuchikage, "There is no way he and the boy's mother would get together, if they had, we would have known about it, not even Konoha could keep something like that hidden."

Agreeing again with his father, Kitsuchi just nodded, since the idea the Yondaime Hokage and Tsunade having a child together was ludicrous, not to mention frightening, since there was no tell how strong their child would be if such a union happened.

After accepting the mission, Kitsuchi quickly left the room, leaving his father alone in his office, where the old Kage looked down at the spare photo he had of Naruto, and like his son, remarked on how similar Naruto was to the Yondaime Hokage. A man, who was feared, hated and respected by the majority of the Iwa, given the large number of their Shinobi he had killed during the war.

Even the Sandaime Tsuchikage had to grudgingly respect the former Hokage, since he fought the younger man once before and was nearly killed by him thanks to his famed **Hiraishin no Jutsu** (Flying Thunder God Technique).

Eventually after a few more minutes of staring at Naruto's photos, he put it away, since he had better things to do now. But before doing so, he made a mental note to later have his Intelligence unit investigate the identity of Naruto's father, as he didn't like have gaps in his information, especially on a possible threat to his village.

-Sunagakure-

In the heart of the dessert of Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country), fortified by high walls of rock, was Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village), home of the Shinobi of Suna.

Things hadn't been going well for the village Hidden in the Sand lately; they were still rebuilding their forces after the failed invasion on Konoha with Otogakure (Hidden Sound Village). But it wasn't totally their fault, as their Kazekage had been secretly replaced by Orochimaru, the bodies of the real Kazekage and his guards had finally been found and the funeral had been held for him and their fallen Shinobi. The village mourned the losses that had been suffered and the shame at how they had been manipulated.

In the centre of the village was the Kazekage mansion, the largest of all the structures in Suna, which was where the members of the Suna council had gathered and were discussing the future of the village.

In a large room with statues of all the past Kazkages against one wall, there was a wide round table with all the council members sitting around it. They were discussing candidates for who the future Kazekage would be and how to deal with the loss of manpower in their recent conflict with Konoha. They were in for some rough times as they had to keep up appearances that they weren't as weak as they were. Knowing that another village might decide to take advantage of their weakened state, and like all Shinobi villages they needed the income from the people who hired them, which seemed unlikely given recent events.

Those who paid well went to the villages with the most strength, and a weak village didn't get as much business, nor did it last long.

Many of their remaining clients had lost fate in their skill, and were thinking of taking their business elsewhere.

This was of course no great surprised to the council of Suna, since who would trust a village of Shinobi with missions, when they couldn't tell that their own leader had been replaced by an enemy and then be used to attack their own ally?

But that was a matter for another time as most of the council was firmly cement in trying to re-establish their alliance with Konoha, whom they had betrayed.

Among the members of the council were the Gokyōdai (Honoured Siblings), the two most revered Shinobi Elders in all Suna.

Showing how serious the Suna council was taking the situation. Given how the two elder Shinobi had retired and had disconnected themselves from the outside world, and rarely entered the village or attended council meetings.

As the Suna council continued to discuss the recent events, one of the hottest topics of discussion was the new heir of the Senju Clan, Senju Naruto. The Young Gennin who had defeated their ultimate weapon Gaara in single combat, and participated in the defeat of Orochimaru, when he battled his former sensei the Sandaime Hokage and his former team-mates Jiraiya the Toad Sage and Tsunade the Slug Princess.

"I still can't believe that Gaara of all people was defeated" muttered a council member, who like many had believed that Gaara was unbeatable.

"Well he did so get over it," an elderly council man in robes spoke. "Right now we need to focus our attention on re-establishing our alliance with Konoha. Even though they did suffer losses, they still came out on top, despite being caught off-guard and being outnumbered two to one."

"Agreed" said a middle-aged female council member. "If we don't do something soon, we could find ourselves in a war that we can't hope to win, given our current strength. Right now, our forces have been greatly weakened and we are without a leader, while Konoha still has theirs and has two of the three Sannin with them as well."

"They might think we're planning to attack them again," another member said sombrely. "After our attack on them, I wouldn't be surprised if certain members are pushing to declare all-out war on us and wipe us out in revenge."

Many of the council members nodded their heads in agreement, since it was a strong possibility. Even though most of them were certain that Sandaime Hokage would be against such action, it was possible he could be forced to, if enough people pushed for it. There were factions in Konoha that would push for war and they were led by the Sandaime's former rival, Shimura Danzō of the renowned Shimura Clan.

Danzo was well known to the Suna council not only for his aggressive policies in Konoha, but also for being a formable Shinobi in his prime. He was also known for being a borderline fanatic when it came to the safety of Konoha, where he and his ROOT division would perform less than respectable missions for the sole purpose of "_protecting_" Konoha.

"I still find it hard to believe that they were able to repulse the attacks by two villages," the same council member from earlier said.

"Give it a rest," said the same annoyed council member from earlier, "We were led to believe that they were weak and we were proven wrong and got our asses handed to us by them. So now we have to think of a way to make a solid alliance with them."

"It wasn't just because we underestimated their strength" the female council member from earlier said. "We also never took into account that the teams and representatives from Kiri and Kumo would assist the Konoha forces."

"Indeed, that is a troubling matter," spoke another female Elder. "Do you think it's possible that they are forming an alliance with Konoha?"

This comment naturally struck a spark of concern among many of the members of the Suna council. If Konoha had indeed allied itself with both Kiri and Kumo, they would stand little to no chance of surviving should they attack.

"Kiri is a possibility, ever since the coup d'état and death of the Yondaime Mizukage-sama, the village's power has dwindled and allying with Konoha could help it recover. But Kumo is unlikely…" a different council member answered. "The Yondaime Raikage-sama is a proud man and would not ally with anyone unless he had to. Given how Kumo has one of the largest Shinobi forces. I can't see it allying with Konoha, especially when you consider their long standing rivalry with one another. But still I believe it would be in our best interest to look into the matter just in case they have."

The other council members of course nodded in agreement, since it was better to be safe than sorry in the Shinobi world, as cautious was a needed asset in their world.

"Well if they really aren't allying with Konoha, why did they help them when we attacked?" asked one of the younger council members.

"According to the report from Baki, it seems the Mizukage-sama, Raikage-sama and their guards were drawn into the fight when their Genin. Who had made it to the finals, attacked both the Oto Shinobi and ours" the Elder replied.

"Really? And why would Genin from Kiri and Kumo assist the Shinobi of Konoha?" asked Ebizō, who was rather intrigued with the matter.

"Although we're not entirely certain, according to Temari-san's report from the battle, it seems that the Genin from Kiri and Kumo have some kind of relationship with Tsunade-sama son, Senju Naruto and went to assist him" answered the elder.

"That brat again" a frowning Chiyo muttered, as she stared at the picture of Naruto in front of her. "I still can't believe that Slug girl of all people had her own brat?"

"Yes, it also seems that the boy's mother is in line to become the new Godaime Hokage, as it seems that given the recent battle. The Sandaime Hokage-sama has decided to retire from his position" a council member added.

"She would be the perfect choice" said another female council member.

"Indeed, Konoha will have a new and powerful leader if she takes the position. She's has the lineage given how she is related to the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage-samas and is a legend herself. With her as a leader, their village will soon start to rebuild itself and we still haven't agreed on a new Kazekage" said her fellow council member as he read the reports.

"This is troubling, how could things have turned out so badly for us?" one of the council members asked. "Even with the appearance of Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, and the involvement of both the Raikage-sama and the Mizukage-sama, we might have stood a better chance had Gaara released Shukaku in the centre of the village as planned."

"Clearly Suna has fallen far, since we have retired" Chiyo remarked. "This would never have happened back in our day."

This comment of course angered many of the council members, but none of them tried to debunk her. Not only because she was a renowned and respected Shinobi in their village. But also because there was a hint of truth in what she had said. Orochimaru took advantage of their desperation and desire to return to their former glory, as well as their bitterness towards Konoha, and played them like fools.

Thankfully though, Chiyo's brother Ebizō intervened by changing the subject away from how Suna had been used by Orochimaru.

"How exactly did this Senju Naruto defeat Gaara?"

Welcoming the change of subject, one of the council members quickly answered. "According to the reports, Gaara was injured in his match with Uchiha Sasuke and was taken away by his brother Kankuro and sister Temari to be healed. They were then followed by Uchiha Sasuke, Senju Naruto and several other Genin, where he was eventually defeated by Senju Naruto, even after he released Shukaku."

When the other council members heard this many of them where naturally concerned.

"That still does not explain how a young boy, a Genin no less defeated a fully released jinchūriki?" Chiyo asked who was still frowning.

"The boy is no ordinary Genin, which should be obvious Chiyo-sama, given his pedigree and the fact that he was trained by both his mother Tsunade-sama and his godfather Jiraiya-sama."

"Are you serious?!" one of the female council members asked, who like everyone else in the room was shocked by the news that two members of the Sannin were training one boy. They of course could understand Tsunade training him, given how he was her son. But they never expected that her team-mate Jiraiya would train him as well, not to mention that he was the boy's godfather.

"What exactly are his skills?" asked Ebizō.

At this question the council member turned to his aid, (a young woman with short brown hair), and signalled her to begin her report on Naruto.

"According to the accounts given to us by Temari-san and Gaara-san himself, after Uchiha Sasuke could no longer damage him. Gaara-san turned on two Konoha Kunochi, who had followed after Uchiha Sasuke. But before he could kill them, Senju Naruto arrived. He then became enraged that he attacked the Kunocihi and battled Gaara, where he completely overpowered Gaara with inhuman like strength and high speed and used several Water attacks to weaken Gaara's Sand defence."

"Wait! Are you saying that the boy possesses the same superhuman strength of his mother?" a council member asked, who like many people, was stunned by this news.

"Yes, he first showed the ability during the preliminaries, where he used his immense strength to defeat another Konoha Genin," the female aid answered. "And before that he battled and defeated the granddaughter of Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzo the Salamander) and used an unknown Wind technique. That according to Baki-san was at the level of an A rank technique, he then also performed an advance Chakra flow technique to increase his sword's cutting power."

"How is that possible? A Genin shouldn't have the Chakra levels that would allow him to use techniques that high!" another council member said.

"We're not entirely sure, but our guess would be that he somehow possesses high Chakra reserves, and has precise control over it, like his mother. Given how he is able to perform and skilfully use medical Ninjutsu and use his mother superhuman strength technique."

When the aid finished, many council members frowned, even though it was no surprise that Naruto was skilled in medical Ninjutsu. The fact that he could use his mother's superhuman strength and had both high Chakra reserves and precise control over it was very concerning to them.

Before any of the council members could make any comments to the news, the aid continued with her report. "Also according to reports the boy is skilled in using the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) fighting style, which was created by his sensei Uzumaki Kushina. Furthermore according to Baki-san's and Temari-san's reports, the boy is able to draw large amounts of Water from both the air and the surrounding plants."

When the council heard this a stir erupted among many of the members, who were astonished by the news.

"Wait! Are you saying that the boy possesses the same high affinity for Water as his ancestor the Nidaime Hokage-sama?" one of the elders asked in surprise.

"Yes, he showed the ability when he battled the female jinchūriki from Kumo, where he drew out large amounts of Water to use some of the techniques of the Arasuijin no Mai style. He then showed it again when he produced large Water attacks to weaken Gaara's sand defence. But still, from reading the reports, it's obvious that his affinity is not at the level of the Nidaime Hokage-sama. But it is highly possible that he could one day reach the Nidaime Hokage-sama's level with enough training."

After the aid had finished, many of the council members began to mummer amongst themselves, as they knew what this could mean. Especially if Naruto should ever reach his ancestor's skill level in Suiton Ninjutsu.

After a few minutes one of the council members signalled the aid to continue with her report.

"During his battle with Temari-san, Senju Naruto also showed to be skilled in Doton Ninjutsu and showed impressive tactical skills. He also showed the ability to adapt to different situations in his battle with Gaara-san and his other matches in the Chunin exam. He even found a way to counter the Hyuga Clan's **Kaiten** (Revolving Heaven) technique and found a blind spot in their Byakugan, when he battled a member from the Clan."

"Incredible" muttered one of the female council members, since to counter the Hyuga Clan's famed ultimate defence was no small feat for anyone, more so for a Genin.

"Furthermore during his battle with the female jinchūriki from Kumo, he revealed a Futon Jutsu that was based on the **Hakkeshō Kaiten**, which he created after analysing it in his battle with his earlier opponent from the Hyuga Clan."

"That's impossible! Especially for a boy his age…" said one of the younger council members in disbelief.

"Indeed" remarked Ebizō with an amused look on his face, as he found Naruto to be rather interesting.

"It was even reported that he is capable of using hand-seals with just a single hand and is skilled in using Fūinjutsu and Genjutsu. Also according to Temari-san he showed the ability to perform Konbijutsu (Collaboration Techniques), where he combined a Water technique with a Wind and Lightning to make them stronger."

After hearing this, there was a great deal of excited muttering among the council. Many of course couldn't believe that a boy Naruto's age was already this skilled and powerful, especially since he revealed that he could use four separate nature types.

"Although as remarkable as all that is, the most surprising thing about the boy is that he possesses the Mokuton Bloodline limit of his ancestor the Shodai Hokage-sama" the aid finished.

As soon as she said this, the entire council exploded with cries of disbelief.

"How is that even possible!" Chiyo cried, who like everyone else was stunned by the news. "The Shodai Hokage-sama's Mokuton powers are a mutation, not an actually Bloodline limit. Neither Slug girl or anyone else in the Senju Clan has ever possessed Mokuton!"

"Clearly that is no longer the case" her brother Ebizō replied with some amusement in his voice. "It seems that the Shodai Hokage-sama's blood runs true after all."

"No wonder he was able to defeat both Gaara and the Kumo jinchūriki" a council member spoke.

"Actually he didn't use his Mokuton Bloodline to defeat Gaara. He only used his Mokuton powers to restrain and capture Gaara and his siblings, after he overpowered Gaara with his immense strange and other jutsu" the council aid explained, which made many other council members even more worried. "It also stated in the reports that his Mokuton Bloodline limit is a bit different from his ancestor the Shodai, where he is able to create and control plants."

"This is very troubling if that boy becomes even half as powerful as the Shodai Hokage-sama, he'll become a formable enemy" another council member said. Even though he knew that Naruto had already become a formable threat in his own right.

"Clearly Konoha has not only been hiding his existence, but also his abilities and have been training him secretly. I mean until recently we didn't even know he existed and then out of nowhere he appeared showing skills and abilities far beyond any ordinary Shinobi, let alone a Genin. Furthermore he is being trained by two members of the Sannin" an elder council member spoke.

"But what I don't understand is how the boy became so skilled in Mokuton. Until him, there has never been another Mokuton user."

"The reason is because there is another Mokuton user in Konoha, honoured council member, his name his Yamato" the council aid replied.

"WHAT?!" yelled many council members together.

"Wait! Are you saying that there is another member of the Senju Clan alive and possesses the Shodai Hokage-sama's Mokuton Bloodline limit?!"

"Actually no, this person is not a member of the Senju Clan, at least not in the traditional sense. According to Baki-san's report, during the attack on Konoha and when he was facing this Yamato person. He revealed his ability to use Mokuton, where Orochimaru's spy Kabuto revealed that before Orochimaru was force to flee Konoha. He inserted the Shodai Hokage-sama's DNA into a large number of children in the hope recreating his power. This Yamato person was the only person to survive the experiment and possess the Shodai Hokages-sama's Bloodline limit."

"How do you know that this is true?" asked one of the female council members, "For all we know he was lying."

"I don't believe so" Ebizō said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. "He would gain nothing by lying about that and it would make sense. If he really was a member of the Senju Clan, Konoha would've revealed him long ago, just as they have with Tsunade son."

When the council heard this, most of the members muttered for several minutes before nodding in agreement, since it did make sense.

"Well regardless, the boy is obviously a hidden ace for Konoha and they have been planning all this for a long time," one member said after thinking about all of this. "There is no way that this is all one big coincidence. What are the chances that the heir of the Senju Clan, who possesses the Shodai Hokage-sama's Mokuton Bloodline limit, would just appear right when Konoha is hosting the Chunin exam with the last surviving heir of the Uchiha Clan entering it as well?"

"Agreed, the boy is clearly a genius. A natural talented Shinobi just like his mother and his forefathers and with Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama teaching him, there's no telling how strong this boy will become. Hell he has the Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury) Uzumaki Kushina and the only other Mokuton user alive teaching him as well," One older council member said pointing to his copy of the reports. "If what we already know of this boy is any indication, he could be the next Kiiroi Senkō, or worse, he could become as legendary as his ancestor the Shodai Hokage-sama."

"Aren't you being a little overdramatic?" a younger council member asked, "He still just a boy."

"Of course not!" the elder council member shot back. "Think about everything we have just heard, the fact that Jiraiya-sama trained Kiiroi Senkō and Jiraiya-sama was taught by the Sandaime Hokage-sama. Who in turn was taught by the boy's ancestors, the Nidaime Hokage-sama and the Shodai Hokage-sama. Not to mention the boy's mother was taught by the Sandaime Hokage-sama as well, and is the descendant of both the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokage-samas and is about to become Hokage herself. He literally has the blood of Hokages flowing in his veins. When you add all that up, and everything else, there's no telling what the boy will learn and if he's already this strong, imagine what he'll be like as an adult?"

When the councilman was finished, there was silence in the room, since the thought of another Shinobi as powerful as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash), or worse as powerful as the Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi) Senju Hashirama, was a frightening thought.

Even as allies the Kiiroi Senkō was a name respected and feared by many Shinobi, especially those who knew or remembered the man. But as great as the former Yondaime Hokage was, the Shodai Hokage was on a completely different level, for he was a man of near mythical proportion. His prowess in battle was said to be almost fairy tale-like, much like the existence of the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths), which was why people often referred to him as the Kami no Shinobi. Even to season veteran Shinobi like Chiyo and Ebizō, the Shodai Hokage was a man to be feared and revered and was easily the strongest Shinobi of his time. Stronger than his former rival and co-founder of Konoha, Uchiha Madara, which he proved on several different occasions. The most prominent being their last battle where he fought and defeated both Madara and the Kyūbi no Yōko (The Nine-tailed Demon Fox).The fact that they could be seeing a return of a Shinobi of that calibre was terrifying to say the least, since no Shinobi in the last sixty years had ever close to matching him. If Konoha ever decided that they were a threat, a war would erupt, which could be very devastating to them. Everyone remembered how brutally the Iwa Shinobi had been beaten in the last Shinobi war.

"I agree" spoke the council member whose aid had read the report on Naruto. "Also according to rumours, the boy assisted his mother, Jiraiya-sama and the Sandaime Hokage-sama in defeating Orochimaru. When he revived the Shodai Hokage-sama and the Nidaime Hokage-sam with the **Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei** (Summoning: Impure World Resurrection). Temari-san's and Gaara-san's reports also both state that the boy already can summon not only the Toads, but also the Slugs. In fact both Gaara-san and Temari-san describe the ones he summoned, stating that both were the size of small mountains. The Slug was said to be predominantly white with three blue streaks, while the Toad was all red and had on a vest with scars on the body and carried a Tanto. After reading this, there can be only be one Toad and Slug I can think of that fits both these descriptions."

The councilman of course didn't have to say their names, as everyone knew the chief of the Toads Summons and Queen of the Slug Summons just by their descriptions. There weren't many summons that could even come close to their size.

It seemed even more likely that both Jiraiya and Tsunade were training Naruto as their new protégé, a new Shinobi that could rival if not surpass Jiraiya's last apprentice, a Hokage in the making.

The fact that Naruto had be allowed to sign the contracts for both the Slugs _and_ the Toads, something that had been unheard of until now, clearly showed that he was already well on his way there.

"To think that he is this strong already and would be allowed to make a contract with two such summons" Chiyo muttered while shaking her head in disbelief, since she had never heard of such a thing happening before.

"_What short of monster did you give birth to Slug-girl?_"

"This could be bad for us," one of the older members of the council spoke, while feeling his age at the moment. "If they have such a Shinobi in the makings, one I might add trumped our own ultimate weapon, we must re-establish our alliance with them and prove our sincerity for continued peace with them."

"How? We've already agreed to some restitution to help them rebuild the damage to their village. Not to mention agreed to several other terms that favour Konoha" a council woman, who was sitting to his left, said.

Nodding his head the council member continued, "Yes but I do have an idea. It is unusual and highly unorthodox. But it might kill two birds with one stone and even be highly beneficial to us if things go right later down the road."

"What are you talking about?"

"Simple, we put in for an alliance through marriage."

"You're saying you want a marriage of state?" the council woman asked.

"Yes, if we can arrange this with Konoha, we can strengthen our new alliance like never before. If they agree, this new alliance will be built upon the union of two people from our respected villages. Both they, and any children that they may have later on, will become a symbol of unity between us and Konoha."

"That...might…work," another council member said thinking about it. Arrange marriages after a war was common practice between nations. But for Shinobi villages it was unheard of, due to fears that one village would steal secrets from another.

But still it had the potential to solidify an alliance with Konoha and make sure that another incident like before wouldn't happen again. "Would Konoha actually accept such an unusual proposal?"

"There's a strong possibility they would, since I'm certain that there are many who want to avoid a war as much as we do, especially since the other villages are watching use careful for any signs of weakness. This proposal could secure a lasting peace and alliance between our respected villages. I'm also certain that the Sandaime Hokage-sama and the Konoha council would see the benefits in agreeing to this, especially if we offer something of great value."

"But who should we ask for and who would we pick in return?"

"I believe the obvious choice would be Senju Naruto, the boy is clearly strong and has a long and noble lineage. Not to mention he has become a hero to his village after his actions in the invasion and his mother is about to become the new Hokage."

After hearing this suggestion most of the council muttered in agreement, since Naruto was indeed the ideal candidate.

"And who would we chose?" a younger female council member asked. "It would have to be someone around his age as well as someone capable and of high standing. Konoha will not let the heir to one its founders marry just anyone."

For several minutes names were thrown out as to whom could it be, but when someone suggested Temari, it caused a bit of talk.

"I don't think we should give her up," someone said. "She's one of our most prominent Kunochi; she's also the eldest child of the Yondaime Kazekage. Plus if the boy is as powerful as the reports say, then any children they could have would be just as strong if not stronger."

"Agreed", another person said. "I've also heard from her younger brother Kankuro-san. That she and the Senju heir are not exactly on friendly terms, due to some incident that happened between them in the preliminaries and how she lost to him in the finals."

"Even if that is true, Temari-san is a loyal Kunoichi and would follow any order we gave her, regardless of what we asked of her. Besides the fact that she is one of our best Kunoichi and the daughter of our late Kazekage, shows the Konoha how serious we are in making this alliance work. Not to mention what better symbol of unity can there be between our two villages, than having the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage-sama marry the son of the new Godaime Hokage…that's why it's such a good idea and can't fail."

"No it isn't, we wanted to ensure peace, not give another village a family of powerful Shinobi while weakening ourselves at the same time!"

"Hear me out!" the council man said. "First it would give Konoha incentive to accept the offer and yes it would create that. But they would have family here in Suna, making it harder for them to fight against our village. And if the boy really does become as powerful as we think, and becomes Hokage, the marriage would create strong ties between him and our village and we could rest easy."

This made the council think on matters further, since it was possible if it did happen. Not to mention, having strong ties with a powerful and influential Clan like the Senju Clan was always a good thing to have, since it would be something that could benefit their village greatly in later years.

It was also possible that maybe at a later time, that one of their children could be married off to someone in their own village. That way it was possible that Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit could be passed on and be started in Suna as well.

Naturally after hearing this, the rest of the Suna council were in favour of the idea. If everything worked out the way they hoped, their village would benefit greatly. They would have a strong alliance with the strongest Shinobi village, possible strong allies in the future and perhaps stronger Shinobi for them later down the road too.

Once everything was settled, preparations were made to send an official proposal to Konoha at the earliest convenience.

-Several Days Later, Hokage's office-

Currently sitting his offices with several empty bottles of Sake next to him, the Sandaime Hokage poured himself another saucer full of Sake and took a long deep gulp.

"_I must have truly done something horrendous in a previous life to deserve something like this?_" the Sandaime asked himself, as he poured himself yet another saucer full of Sake to give him courage to face what could very likely be his end. It was bad enough that he had just recently learned that the most dangerous man in the history of Konoha, if not the Shinobi world, Uchiha Madara, was still alive and possibly leading the Akatsuki. But what was being asked of him now by the council, made the old Hokage think that facing Madara wasn't so bad after all.

"Kind of early to be hitting the bottle, isn't it old man?" asked the familiar voice behind the Sandaime.

Turning around the Sandaime saw his former student Jiraiya walking through an open window.

"I'm afraid I in no mood to talk Jiraiya, so unless it something important, I will ask you to please leave me be?"

"Ouch! Nice way to greet someone old man" Jiraiya replied, mocking tone, "So what's up, this isn't like you?"

"It matters little Jiraiya, tell me how is Naruto doing?" the Sandaime asked since it had been ten days since the Akatsuki's attempted to capture Naruto, and the Sandaime had been concern for the wellbeing of his surrogate grandson.

Sighing at the mention of Naruto, Jiraiya glanced out the open window overlooking Konoha.

"The kid is tough, I'll give him that, but what he went through when Itachi used** Tsukuyomi** (Moon-Reader) on him, is something no-one should go through, let alone someone his age. From what he's told us, Itachi forced Naruto to watch as he systematically killed all of us, along with everyone the he cared about. After which he started over again and again for three days straight in that world, it's nothing sort of a miracle that the kid didn't lose his mind in there."

"Tsunade's doing her best, and eased the effects of the Genjutsu, but as you know trauma like that takes time and never fully goes away."

"Indeed" replied the Sandaime with a tried sigh, "…poor boy."

"Tsk, save your sympathy sensei, because if you ask me that Itachi brat needs it more than the kid. If he's as half as smart as people says he is, he'll stay as far away from Tsunade as possible, since he's jumped right up to number two on her hit list with what he did to the kid."

"I swear the things she said she would do to him, after she heard what he did to Naruto, they would make even that brat Ibiki turn green" finished Jiraiya who shuddered slightly at the memory of what Tsunade said.

"What of Sasuke, how's he?"

At the mention of Sasuke, Jiraiya face took a slightly grim look.

"That's a tougher call to make, that kid tends to bottle everything up inside" answered Jiraiya, who was now frowning. He knew that it was never a good idea to bottle stuff like that up, since it was only a matter of time before they eventually burst out.

"Shortly after Tsunade woke him up from his coma, the kid left the hospital and returned to his home. Tsunade tried to get to stay so she could monitor him more, but he refused, stating he was fine. She then later sent Shizune to check up on him, but he sent her back, telling him that he was okay.

"But neither you nor Tsunade are convinced that he is?" the Sandaime asked, where he saw his former student shake his head.

"No, more than likely that kid went through a similar kind of trauma that Naruto went through in that illusion, and you never come out quite right after it."

"My advice is to have someone monitor that kid and see what he does. He has more reason to hate Itachi than most, seeing him again and then being put under that Genjutsu probably had a negative effect on him and it might just push him over the edge, if it hasn't already.

"You think Orochimaru might make another move on Sasuke?" Sarutobi asked.

"I would be surprised if he didn't" answered Jiraiya with a large frown. "It would be just like him to try and take advantage of a situation like this."

"Knowing Orochimaru, he would probably use Sasuke's drive for revenge for his own benefit and offer him special training and more power to help him kill Itachi."

"Yes, you're probably right" said the Sandaime after thinking everything over and scratched his chin. "I'll have the Barrier team remain on high alert and have ANBU increase their patrols around the village, just in case Orochimaru sends some of his followers to infiltrate the village and make contact with Sasuke. I'll also have Kakashi have a talk with Sasuke and keep an eye on him just to be on the safe side as well."

Finding this acceptable, Jiraiya nodded and decided to move on to another matter that had him curious.

"So Sensei, how about you tell me what is bothering you?"

At this the Sandaime sighed tiredly, since he didn't really want to tell, but after several more minutes of pestering from the Toad Sage. The old Hokage final broke and decided to fill in his former student.

Once the Sandaime finished his explanation Jiraiya turned ghost white and stared at the Sandaime in disbelief.

"Has the council lost fucking their minds?!" the old Toad Sage cried, "Do they have any idea what Tsunade will do to them once she hears about this; she's liable to spatter them all over the village."

"The council or more specifically the elders believe that this is the best for Konoha."

"But why did you even agree to this, neither the council nor the elders have the power to do something like this?"

"The elders found an old law written up by the Shodai Hokage-sama that allowed them to do this."

After reading the paragraph that the Sandaime indicated, the former student of the Sandaime shook his head in disbelief.

"Geez, it's just as well the Shodai's is dead, if he was alive now, Tsunade would kill him for sure, so who's the poor sap that going to tell her? Jiraiya asked. "…because if you're looking for someone count me out, as hime is just as likely to kill the messenger as she is the person who decided this, once she hears it."

At this the Sandaime just looked at his former student with a saddened look, indicating he was that poor soul.

"Sensei don't tell me…?"

"I'm afraid so, the council believes that Tsunade might take their ruling better if she heard it from me."

"Hah, more likely they're hoping to use you as human shield."

"You're probably right, that is why I have decided to call for a general meeting of the council, and have Tsunade and Naruto attend" replied the old Hokage. Since there was no way in hell he was going to tell Tsunade this, while in a room alone with her, thereby taking the full brunt of her wrath. If he was going down, he would be taking the whole damn council with him, for getting him into this mess.

"Heh, well that should be one hell of a show" replied Jiraiya with a smirk, before he joining his teacher in having a few drinks, believing that no-one should drink alone, especially since it could be their last.

-Later in the Council Chambers-

After receiving a summons from the Hokage to attend an important meeting with the council of Konoha, Tsunade and Naruto made their way to the council chambers in the Hokage's mansion.

Upon arriving they were surprised to see that Sasuke waiting in front of the large double doors that lead to the council chambers.

When asked, Sasuke explained that like them he had received a summons from the Hokage asking him to attend an important meeting with the council, which of course raised their suspicious. But before they could ask Sasuke anything more, the large doors to the council chambers open.

The council chamber was a large room with wooden walls and floors and rafter-like ceiling. Above on the highest parts of the walls, near the ceiling of the room were a row of small rectangular shape windows, which flanked the room and allowed light into it.

Directly in front of them, at the opposite end of the room were the Hokage and the Konoha council. The group were all sitting behind a large long table which stretched from one end of the room to the other.

Starting from the left were the heads of the six major clans of Konoha, the Hyuga, the Inuzuka, the Abrume, the Nara, the Yamanaka, the Akimichi and Elder Koharu.

From the right were the four Civilian council members, who represented the Civilian populace on council. After them there was the head of the ANBU division and Elder Danzo and Elder Homura, with the Sandaime sitting in the middle of the two sides.

No sooner had the female Sannin and the two Genin entered the large room, the large double doors behind them closed.

As they walked closer to the council, the group also noticed Jiraiya leaning against the wall to their right with his arms fold and a knowing look.

This of course made the three even more suspicious of why the Sandaime and the council had called them here. But before they could even ponder on the matter further, their thoughts were interrupted by the Sandaime, who look to be a bit nervous.

"Ah, Tsunade, Naruto and Sasuke, I'm so glad that you all are doing so well on this lovely day. Especially after that rather difficult situation last week and the time it took you to recover an…"

"Cut the crap Sarutobi-sensei and get to the point of this meeting!" rounded Tsunade, who was getting annoyed with how the Sandaime was avoiding telling them why they were here.

"Ah yes…well the thing is that...eh…the "_council_" has come to a…eeemmm…decision regarding Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun…"

"What sort of decision?" asked Tsunade narrowing her eyes in suspicion and had a feeling that whatever it was she wasn't going to like it, especially given how nervous her former teacher was.

"Well you see…em…the "_council_" believes that given Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's unique status as the last male heirs of their respected Clans and holders of their Bloodline limits…The "_council_" has decided to…eh…I mean, they have decided to…to…to…" said the Sandaime. But no matter how much he tried he couldn't find the nerve to say it, in his younger years he had fought countless battles without hesitation or fear. Taking on Shinobi of great skill and power and yet at this moment he was petrified and didn't know what to do.

Even now, as his former student stared up at him with her cold honey coloured eyes, that seemed to look into his very soul, he could not find the nerve to say the words needed.

As Tsunade continued to stare at him, the old Hokage found himself sweating bullets, knowing that once he told Tsunade what the council had decided, a calamity would be unleashed onto the village.

Seeing how her former team-mate was struggling with telling his former student what the council had decided, Koharu decided step it.

"_Men can be such cowards?_" the old woman thought with annoyance before speaking.

"…The council has decided that given how that both Uchiha Sasuke and your son Senju Naruto are the last surviving male members of their respected Clans in Konoha, as well as the last wielders of their respected Bloodline limits. That they are to be placed under the Clan Restoration Act."

"The Clan Restoration Act?" repeated Tsunade in confusion, which was shared by Sasuke and Naruto. "What sort of law is that, I've never heard of it?!"

"Allow me to explain" answered Homura. Before taking out a large scroll, which Tsunade recognised as the Charter of Konoha, which list the right and laws for Civilians, regular Shinobi and Shinobi Clans.

After opening the scroll the former team-mate of the Sandaime moved his finger down, until he found the paragraph he was looking for.

"It is stated, that in the event of a Shinobi Clan, who possesses a unique Bloodline limit that is vital to the continuation and security of Konoha, is on the verge of dying out, where there is only one surviving male heir and no others capable of reproducing offspring. Then that heir falls under the Clan Restoration Act, which states that they must reproduce with multiple different women, so to continue his Clan's Bloodline and ensure its survival."

After Homaru had finished the reactions varied, Jiraiya had to bite down hard on his own lip so not to burst out laughing at the looks he was seeing on the three Shinobi's faces.

Sasuke's eyes widen in disbelief, where his eyes were almost as big as a Hyuga's eyes.

Tsunade and Naruto's were just as big, and their jaws literally hit the floor, but just as quickly their shocked looks turned to anger.

Following the announcement the, the council chamber exploded with the deafening roars of the two blondes. Who shouted "WWHHAATT?!" in perfect union and were glaring murderously at the council members.

Seeing the look the two Senju were giving them, many of the council members were unnerved with how similar the mother and son were, as both of them held the same intense murderous rage in their eyes, that spelled unholy wrath.

"Are you telling me, that you want "MY" son to marry multiple women, just so that he can help produce more Mokuton users?" Tsunade asked angrily, daring any of the council members to answer.

Whether by bravery or foolishness, Furyoku Kagato decided to answer Tsunade.

"W-W-Well to put it bluntly, yes" the nervous man replied, before he gulped in fear when the angry Tsunade stared right into his eyes.

"WELL YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!" roared Tsunade, causing many of the council members move further back into their seats in fear, as they felt a massive surge of Killing Intent erupt from the Senju mother. "THERE'S NOT A SNOWBALL'S CHANCE IN HELL THAT I WILL LET YOU TURN "_MY_" SON INTO SOME BREEDER!"

"Tsunade, this is bigger than what you want, this is what Konoha needs!" replied Koharu, hoping to get the blonde woman to see reason.

Sadly though for Koharu, Tsunade was not in a reasonable mood.

"I DON'T CARE WHO IT IS FOR, HE'S "_MY_" SON, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO BE USED IN ANY OF YOUR SCHEMES!"

"You tell them Kaa-chan!" Naruto yelled as he backed his mother up, "You can take that so-called Clan Restoration law thing and shove it, as I want no part of it."

"Kid!" cried Jiraiya as he stepped forward and made his presence known, "…What are you doing? Don't you realise what you're being offered and how many men would kill to be in your shoes? Don't throw it away!"

If looks could kill, the one that Tsunade and Naruto were now giving Jiraiya would have sent the white haired man straight to the afterlife and leave no trace of him.

This of course proved without question that Naruto was indeed Tsunade's son, the two were too much alike for them not to be, as both Senju's had the exact same look.

At the same time the council members glanced at Jiraiya who was now huddled in the corner behind them, having flashback of a previous traumas, saying he was sorry over and over again and saying he would be quite.

After seeing the "_mightiest_" of the Sannin cowering in fear, large sweat drops appeared on the back of the Hokage and the council member's heads.

Quickly though, the Hokage and the council turned their attention back to the two fuming Senju, who looked like they were about to blow their tops and smash some skulls.

Realizing that they were only moments away from a wide spread massacre, the Sandaime quickly tried to take control of the situation.

"Tsunade, Naruto, please calm down, there is no need for violence."

"THE HELL THERE ISN'T, YOU LOT ARE TRYING TO TURN MY SON INTO SOMEKIND OF BREEDER!" roared the furious Senju mother.

"Don't tell me, you're actually with them on this Jiji?" an equally furious Naruto asked, as he looked up at his surrogate grandafther.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but this goes above my head, as it is written in the Konoha charter and is therefore law."

"Then as the newly appointed Godaime Hokage, I'll change the law!" responded Tsunade angrily, since she refused to let this happen without a fight.

"You're not Hokage yet Tsunade" spoke Danzo, gaining everyone's attention, "…and you will not be officially recognised as the Godaime Hokage until the Jonin council cast their votes, which will not happen until next week."

"Besides…" added Homura, as he joined the conversation, "even the Hokage does not have the power to change the Konoha charter. At least not without a majority vote from council, which you'll won't gain. The Clan Restoration Act is vital in maintaining Konoha's military strength in the future."

Growling angrily Tsunade then screamed, "WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS FUCKING LAW!" wanting nothing more than to wring the neck of the person who created the law.

Tsunade was also angry because she knew that the reason the majority of the council voted to enact this law was because they were hoping that they could somehow arrange marriage contracts for their daughters with her son. She was also certain that other members on the council were hoping to use this law to arrange marriages with Kunoichi or woman that they found "_appropriate_", allowing them to have a strong influence in the new Senju Clan.

"That would be your grandfather the Shodai Hokage-sama" replied Koharu.

"WHAT?!" cried Tsunade, but before she could say anything more, Naruto suddenly yelled "That's what he meant!"

Turning to Naruto, Tsunade immediately gave her son a confused looked look, not understanding what he was talking about.

"Remember that talk I told you about with Hashirama-jiji, well during it he told me to have "_fun_"right before I went back."

"_That certainly sounds like the Shodai Hokage-sama_" the Sandaime thought, since he was one of the few people who knew that the Shodai Hokage was in fact a closet pervert.

Unaware of Naruto's near-death experience and his meeting with his deceased family in limbo, the members of the council shared confused looks. But before anyone could ask what the blonde boy was talking about, their attention quickly turned to his mother. Who let out another massive burst of Killing Intent and looked ready to kill as she roared "THAT BASTARD… I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Eh, Tsunade-sama, the Shodai Hokage-sama is already dead" said a nervous looking civilian council member.

"I DON'T CARE! SOMEONE USE THE **EDO TENSEI** (Impure World Reincarnation) AND BRING HIM BACK, I'LL BEAT HIM UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF HIM!" rounded the pissed-off mother.

In that moment the Sandaime was again thankful that his former teacher was dead, knowing that is he was still alive. He would suffer probably the worst beating any man could ever suffer…at the hands of his own granddaughter.

But still the Sandaime could not help but remain concern for his deceased teacher, since if anyone could bring someone back to the dead, it would be Tsunade.

At the same time Naruto was silently cursing his perverted ancestor and swore that the next time he met him, he would plant a chakra enhanced punch right into the former Hokage's face.

"_Damn you Hashirama-jiji, I so hope that Mito-obaasan and Ise-obaasan kick your ass for this_" Naruto thought angrily. Before glaring at the council "I refuse."

"Excuse me?" Homura asked, raising his right eyebrow.

"I refuse to go under this Clan Restoration thing, and I be used like some kind of horse stud!"

Pleased to hear this, Tsunade looked up and smirked at the council, but her smirk just as quickly faded when Danzo spoke.

"I'm afraid that would be impossible, Naruto-san, since this is law and as a Shinobi of Konoha you're obligated to follow the laws of Konoha. Even if you and Sasuke-san were refuse to marry or procreate with anyone. The Clan Restoration Act states that you would both be required to donate sperm, where the council would then select suitable candidates to implant sperm into."

"THE FUCK YOU WILL!" shouted Naruto, who was furious at the very idea, since he refuse to allow his Clan be rebuilt this way, let alone his future children be born in such a manner.

Naturally many of the council were shocked and slightly angered by the blonde's boy's language and show of disrespect. But they wisely held their tongues, knowing that both mother and son were on the verge of completely losing it, where one wrong word could result in the two blondes going berserk.

"Then we'll leave!" retorted Tsunade, since she refused to let her son be used by the elders and the council in one of their schemes.

"That would be unwise Tsunade, especially given recent events" spoke Danzo. "As you know, your son is the first natural born Mokuton user to be born since your grandfather the Shodai Hokage-sama. That alone is a cause for great concern, especially for the other Shinobi villages, who will certainly come after him, given its unique powers and abilities to restrain and control Biju and your son has proven he can do this during his fight with Kumo's jinchūriki."

"Your son has also shown to be a highly gifted and skilled young Shinobi" continued Danzo "…given his defeat of not only Suna's jinchūriki. But also of Hanzo's granddaughter, the Kazekage's eldest daughter and Hiashi-sama's nephew Hyuga Neji, who is praised as a prodigy in the Hyuga Clan. If you and your son left the village the new Hokage would be forced to declare both of you nuke-nins and send Hunter-nins after you. And with everything your son has done in both the Chunin exam finals and the invasion, he will be the target for knapping or assassination. He poses too great a threat to the other villages, for them to simply ignore, especially if he were to mature further into his abilities. This means that you and your son would be wanted by "_all_" five major Shinobi nations and the smaller nations as well, and would be constantly on the run, where you would both be eventually killed or captured. If you wish your son to survive, you'll need the protection and support of Konoha."

Growling angrily, the famed Slug Princess glared furious at the old War-Hawk. Who simply stared back at her and showed no emotion, although inwardly was smirking to himself, since he knew he had Tsunade now.

"_With this a new Senju Clan be formed, one stronger than the previous one_" Danzo thought. "_And if the boy's children do inherit his Mokuton Bloodline limit, Konoha will have an entire Clan of powerful Shinobi capable of controlling Biju. The only problem is that the boy has been poisoned by Sarutobi's idealistic nonsense and if he is to create and new stronger Senju Clan and become the Shinobi we hope he becomes. He must be purged of those foolish beliefs and come to realize the true nature of a Shinobi and what it takes to protect a nation._"

As the elder Shinobi glanced at Naruto, he knew that turning Naruto towards his way of thinking would not be easy, especially with Tsunade watching him so closely. But still Danzo was a patient man and was willing to wait for the appropriate time, knowing that it would all be worth it in the end.

"_Damn that bastard!_" Tsunade thought angrily, since she knew Danzo had them. But still she wasn't ready to give up just yet and although he couldn't change this law as of right now, she could at least minimise the damage until she could do something about it.

"If we do agree to this, as both Naruto's mother and head of the Senju Clan, I will evaluate each and every candidate who wishes to become my son's wife. And if I do not find them acceptable, then I will reject them instantly and make sure they never go near my son again."

No sooner had Tsunade said this, the blonde woman was pleased to see that several of the council members frowning, knowing she had complicated things for them.

These council members of course knew that arranging a political marriage with Tsunade would be extremely difficult to say the least, which was why they had planned to have some of their daughters try and get close to Naruto and slowly seduce him. But now that Tsunade had positioned herself as overseer for all of Naruto's potential brides, she could easily use her position as both Clan head and Hokage to prevent their daughters from marrying Naruto.

"That is your right" replied Danzo, "…But you should know that your son must either be married, or at the very least engaged to at least four different women by his eighteenth birthday. Given how that in the minimum, anymore is entirely up to him, since there is no written limit. If he is not then the council will take it upon itself to _arrange_ appropriate wives or candidates."

"Also…" continued Danzo, "your son must have or be expecting at least one child by his twenty-first birthday. If not, then he will be required to donate his sperm where the council will choose from a select group of Kunoichi to find the most suitable candidates to bear his children."

"Fine" replied an irritated Tsunade, while at the same time thinking "_I be damned if I ever let either happen,_" before glancing at her son, who simply stared at the council.

Normally Naruto would have blown his top after hearing that his mother had given into the council's demands. But he knew that she had only done it to buy time until she could do something about this law when she became the Godaime Hokage.

"Do you have any objection in being put under the Clan Restoration Act, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"It matters little to me" replied Sasuke, since he didn't really care either way, and if it helped him rebuild his Clan later on, then he had no issue with it.

"Very good" said Homaru, who seemed pleased that they would have no objections from Sasuke.

"If that is all, we'll take our leave" said Tsunade in an irritated tone. But just as she and Naruto turned to leave the council chambers, they were stop by the Koharu, who called out to them.

"Stop…! There is still something that you and your son need to know."

"What?!" asked Tsunade in slightly raised voice, as she was struggling to reign in her temper and completely demolishing the Hokage mansion.

"During our negotiations with Suna, its council made a rather unusual offer in the hope of rebuilding their alliance with us."

"What sort of offer?" Tsunade asked, not liking the way things were going.

"They offered a marriage of state between us and them?"

"They did what?!" shouted Tsunade in disbelief, since an arrange marriages between Shinobi villages was unheard of.

"Yes and they have selected your son to be the betrothed for the one that they have selected, and we have accepted" said Koharu.

"THE FUCK YOU HAVE!" roared Tsunade, "You're overstepping your authority. The council does not have the power to accept such offers, especially without my consent."

"Yes, that is true, which is why we're asking you to accept Suna's offer" answered Homura.

After hearing this Naruto looked at the Hokage's advisors as if he was mad, and couldn't believe the nerve the three Shinobi Elders had.

"You just forced us to accept a law that turns me into a human breeder and now you're asking me to accept a marriage proposal from Suna to a girl I don't even know?"

"To put it bluntly…yes?" replied Danzo.

"And why exactly should I even agree to this?" asked Naruto, while his mother glared murderously at the council and was a hairs breath away from wiping out the entire council.

"For Peace" answered the Sandaime with remorse in his voice, knowing what he was asking of Naruto

"What do you mean?" asked Tsunade, who was barely controlling her temper.

"Suna used several political manoeuvres to arranged things in such a manner where the engagement is the cornerstone to the new treaty. If we were to refuse it, it would take several more months to renegotiations to establish a new treaty with them and we cannot afford that. Several of the other Shinobi villages are already watching us, looking for any weaknesses to exploit and could attack at any time. By reforming our alliance with Suna the other villages would be more hesitant in attacking either of us."

"It is also possible" continued the Sandaime, "That Suna may take offense to our refusal and reignite the war."

"Why do we even need Suna, I thought we were planning an alliance with Kiri?" retorted Tsunade.

"That will take even longer, as we have only just begun discussing terms for a new treaty, and the other villages may decide to attack us before that can happen. That is why we need to reform our alliance with Suna, it can buy us the time we need to form our new alliance with Kiri" responded the Sandaime. "Once we've established our new alliances with both Kiri and Suna, we'll have a solid deteriorate against any attack from the other villages.

After hearing this Tsunade had to admit that what her former sensei was suggesting had some merits. Despite being weakened by various incidents, Kiri, Suna and Konoha were still major powers and by forming an alliance, the three villages would make up for their individual weaknesses and pose a powerful force to anyone. In fact only a fool would risk taking on all three villages by themselves.

But still, despite understanding what her teacher was trying to do, Tsunade did not agree with the plan, especially with how it involved offering up her only son to some "_tramp_" from Suna.

"Suna claims that building this new alliance on the union of two people from our respected villages could help improve relations with each other and at the same time make them stronger. Since both your son and his betrothed, along with any children that they may have later on will become a symbol of unity between us and Suna. They're also hoping that this marriage will help ease the tension and resentment that has now built up in Konoha after their invasion" said Danzo.

Now normally Danzo would be all for wiping out Suna for its betrayal and attack on Konoha. But given the damage done to the village and the loss of manpower, a war with Suna would be costly, where they would be weakened even further, presenting a very tempting target for the other villages. Who would just sit back and watch the two of them fight and wait and see who won and then finish them off.

"How do we know that this isn't some scheme made up by Suna in the hope of stealing Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit?" Tsunade asked, knowing that this would not be the first time that one village tried to steal another's Bloodline limit using underhanded means.

"That possibility has occurred to us" stated the Sandaime, "…but they have stated the Suna's candidate would live and stay in Konoha upon the marriage and become an official citizen and perhaps a Shinobi of Konoha while giving up all rights in Suna. This leads us to believe that Suna's offer is genuine, or at the very least their desire for peace."

When the Sandaime finished, Tsunade and Naruto could not help but feel slightly betrayed by the Sandaime, for supporting this proposal.

Seeing the hurt and angry looks that Tsunade and Naruto had, the Sandaime could not help but feel like trash. He did not like having to ask Naruto this, especially after he was forced to accept the Clan Restoration Act by the Shinobi Elders, who blindsided them all with it. But there was little he could do, especially right now, given how he was about to retire and the elders were acting within the law.

He and Tsunade had been so focused on the outer threats, like the other Shinobi villages and the Akatsuki recently. That they had forgotten about the threats from within.

They had of course expected something similar to this from some of the other Shinobi Clans, like attempting to arrange a betrothal contract for one of their daughters with Naruto and were ready for them. But they had not counted on the elders pulling a stunt like the Clan Restoration Act.

Thinking back to what was happening now; Sarutobi knew that if they wanted to establish this new alliance with Suna in time and avoid a possible new war, they needed to accept the treaty. He had faced a similar decision in regards to Hyuga Hizashi after the incident with the Kumo Head Ninja, where to prevent war and maintain the treaty with Kumo, he had to sacrifice one of their own.

But still, the Sandaime was not so eager for peace with Suna that he would simply offer up the boy he considered to be a grandson in all but blood without giving him an loop hole.

"Naruto I know that we are asking you a great deal, but I will ask you to at least consider it, not only for the sake of peace, but also because this is not permanent."

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade demanded.

"When Suna proposed this, I argued that an arrange marriage such as this would not work if either you, the young girl they selected or both of you were against the marriage, where it would have the opposite effect to what we hope it will achieve. So a compromise was made, where the marriage would be held off until you both were of legal age. During this time, your betrothed will become the official ambassador for Suna in Konoha, allowing for the two of you to get to know one another. While at the same time allow for better communication between both us and Suna."

"If by then…" continued the old Hokage, "The two of you or even one of you is still against the marriage, then it will be called off without affecting the treaty."

After hearing this both Tsunade and Naruto calmed down a little, but were still angry with what was being asked of them and stared coldly at the Hokage and the council.

"Why me, why not Sasuke?" asked Naruto as he glanced over at the young Uchiha next to him, who had remained surprising quiet and watched everything play out.

At the mention of his name, Sasuke raised his right eyebrow, but again remained silent, choosing to listen to the Hokage's response.

"The Suna council specifically asked for you, since it seems that you made a rather large impression with them and the rest of Suna with your defeat of Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand Waterfall)."

"Tsk, I beat" scoffed Tsunade.

"So Naruto-san, will you consent and agree to the marriage?"

"HE WILL DO NO SUCH THING…!" roared Tsunade has she stomped her right foot on the floor, causing the building to shake a little and a large dent and number of cracks to appear.

As Tsunade continued to rant to the council about how she would allow her son to be used a bargaining chip, Naruto began to think over everything that was said, he also then remember the Nidaime parting words. "_To be a true Shinobi of Konoha and to be a good Hokage one day, you must be willing to do things you don't want to do...and do what is best for Konoha. Being Hokage is not an easy thing...The Hokage is responsible for the safety of Konoha and everyone who lives in it...therefore you must think of the village first and yourself second._"

Remembering those words and the difficult decisions that both the Shodai and the Nidaime had to make when they were Hokage, Naruto knew what he had to do.

"I'll do it"

"WHAT?!" yelled Tsunade turning and looking at her son in shock.

"I'll do it" repeated Naruto.

"You made a wise choice Naruto-san" spoke Danzo, "On behalf of the council we…"

"I'm not doing it for you or the council" rounded Naruto as he stared coldly at one eyed man. "I'm doing to avoid a war from breaking out, if agreeing to this thing keeps another war from breaking out it's a small price to pay. But once I'm of age I'm cancelling everything."

"That is your right Naruto and we will not object to it…" spoke the Sandaime, but before he could say anything more, Naruto spoke again.

"If that's all I would like to excuse myself"

"Naruto, you don't have to do this, we can find another a way!" Tsunade cried, as she wasn't going to let the council trying and manipulate her son into doing what they wanted.

"It's fine Kaa-chan, like the Sandaime said, I'll end this once I'm of age, so there is no harm done and this way at least we can avoid war and no-one will have to get hurt" replied the blonde boy.

This of course did not settle Tsunade, ever since the incident with the Akatsuki, Naruto had been haunted by the images he saw when under Itachi's **Tsukuyomi**. She had of course eased the mental trauma of the Genjutsu to the best of her abilities and even had Inoichi, who was an expert on the mind, to seal the memories off. But even then, Tsunade knew that the damage done to her son would not be undone so easily.

The _Yamanaka_ had explained to her that even though he had sealed off the memories of the event. There was a strong possibility that Naruto would have flashbacks of the event from his subconscious, since the mind was funny that way.

Not long after, Inoichi was proven to be right where on more than one night; Naruto had woke up screaming from nightmares of watching everyone being killed. Other times Tsunade had found her son twisting and turning in his sleep, mumbling their names and begging Itachi to leave them alone.

After the incident with the Akatsuki, Tsunade also noticed a sudden change her son's personality, especially when he saw the state Kushina was in, where he blamed himself for what happened. Believing that if he had been stronger he could have done better and prevented what had happened.

Tsunade and the other had of course tried to convince him he was not at fault, and that the ones to blames were the Akatsuki. But Naruto would not listen to them and seemed to feel like everything that happened was his fault.

She also noticed that Naruto seemed to be more reluctant if not afraid to fight, it was as if he lost something after his battle with Itachi.

During a spar with him, Tsunade had seen him hesitate and freeze suddenly as if he was afraid.

This was of course something that worried Tsunade, since hesitation was something that could get a Shinobi killed, especially in a fight.

"_Damn you Itachi!_" Tsunade thought angrily, as she swore that the next time she saw the elder Uchiha, he be dead. "_And damn the council for using Naruto like this!_"

Knowing that there was little she could do right now, given how Naruto had accepted the proposal, Tsunade decided to hold in her anger and frustration for later. But it did not mean she had given up, as she planned to watch the Kunoichi that Suna selected closely, where if she didn't like her or if she tried anything suspicious. The Senju Mother would kick the girl out of the village faster than Naruto could eat ramen, treaty or no treaty. She also planned to make sure that Suna held up their end of the deal when Naruto became of age and cancelled the marriage, and not try any other tricks to make the marriage happen.

"Do you know who Suna chose?" Naruto asked, since if he was going through with this charade he thought he might as well know who was his _betrothed_ was.

"Actually you already know her; in fact you fought her in the Chunin exam finals. Her name is Temari, the elder sister to Sabaku no Gaara."

"FAN-GIRL?!" shouted Naruto in surprise.

"Eh, yes that would be her" answered the Sandaime, while the elders and some of the council members gave him disapproving looks. "The Suna council believed that she would be a fitting match for you, given how she is the daughter of the now deceased Yondaime Kazekage and your mother is about to become the Godaime Hokage."

Upon hearing this, an annoyed Naruto began to grumble about how he should have seen this coming.

After a few more minutes, three Shinobi were finally allowed to leave the council chambers, but before the large doors to the council chambers could open. Tsunade frustration final got the better of her and shattered the double doors with a single punch. After which the two Senju left the council chambers more annoyed and frustrated than they were when they first entered.

Like his mother Naruto was frustrated over the whole event, but managed to reign in his temper better than his mother, since he had decided this himself. But what irritated him the most right now was the fact that his _betrothed_ was _Fan-girl_ (ie Temari). Although he knew it didn't matter in the long run, since he would be calling off the engagement in about five years' time. It still irked him that for the next five years he would probably have to spend time with her, and given how she was the type that would probably hold a grudge. He knew that hanging out with her would be a barrel of _fun_.

At the same time, the young Senju could not help but wonder what his _fiancé's _reaction to the news would be… if she didn't know it already.

**-**A few days later in Suna**-**

"I'M TO BE WHAT?!" An angry female voice cried from the Kazekage's Mansion.

The yell was so loud that it was heard clear halfway across Suna.

Inside the Kazekage mansion was a small audience chamber which was currently occupied by the only daughter of the late Yondaime Kazekage, Temari. With her in the chamber was her brother Kankuro, in his usual all black outfit only the hood was down and his brown hair was free, although he still had on his purple face paint.

Next to him was his younger brother Gaara, who Kankuro cast a look at.

The red headed boy was stoic as ever, with the only difference being that he was currently reading a book in his hand and only looked up from it when he heard his sister's angry yell.

Ever since that fight with the blonde haired Senju, he had changed. He wasn't ready to kill at the drop of a hat, in fact the usual terror that people normally felt around him had greatly diminished.

After his return, most people expected him to be on a killing spree, filled with bloodlust and rage over his defeat at the Senju heir's hands.

But amazingly Gaara had been relatively calm and quiet, ever since they were released from Konoha and allowed to return to their village. He could also be often seen sitting by himself reading the book that Senju Naruto had given him before they left Konoha.

Even more miraculously, some people said they saw Gaara smile, a small one that could barely be seen, but a smile none the less.

Kankuro of course just couldn't figure out what happened to his brother during their time as prisoners of Konoha. Sure it was the first and only time Gaara had been defeated but there had to be something more to it. Gaara had for years been unstable and now he seemed to be calm and controlled. He wasn't sure what was more creepy, the old monster Gaara that would kill you if he suddenly felt like it, or this new calm and collect Gaara that you didn't know what was going on in his head and who actually smiled from time to time.

He even couldn't figure out why his younger brother was so interested in the book that he was reading, since this was the sixth time he had read it.

Gaara was rarely seen without it and kept it close to him at all times, never letting it out of his sight. From what Kankuro knew about it, the book called "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi." It was an old book and wasn't even a very popular one from what Kankuro had heard, and yet his bother couldn't get enough of it. He kept reading it over and over again.

Eventually though the puppet user decided to let the matter go for now and enjoy the show in front of him before he missed it.

They had all been called into the room by their Jonin-sensei Baki. The man had looked a little nervous about something when they entered, which was odd since the man was hardly the nervous type. But they soon learned why he was nervous; apparently the Suna council had entered into an agreement with Konoha, something about an arranged marriage to smooth things over with them.

Naturally they had been surprised by the news at first, sure they had heard of arrange marriages between other nations and even certain Shinobi Clans, who were from the same village. But they had never heard of an arrange marriages between Shinobi villages.

But after the news sunk in and as they thought about it more, an arrange marriage between Konoha and Suna did make sense, regardless of how unusual it was.

It was obvious that the Suna council was hoping to not only mend fences with Konoha. But to rebuild their alliance with their former ally, and make it stronger, as well as create a lasting peace between them.

Even though it was caught off-guard and was outnumbered, Konoha had won and was in better shape than their village was from what they had heard.

Temari had of course asked what this had to do with them, where Baki then told her that she was the one that the council had put forth for the arrange marriage.

That was when the yelling started and Kankuro started to snicker, since he knew that the only thing that came close to Gaara's temperament was his older sister's and in some ways it was more terrifying.

The tall blonde haired girl actually looked like she wanted to reach for her large battle fan on her back and beat her sensei over the head with it and then go to the Suna council and do the same thing to them.

"Temari, this is an order by the council, I had nothing to do with it. I was just told to tell you of what is going on and to help prepare you."

"So I get no say in this?! Why the hell are they sending me anyway?" She demanded.

"Because you are the eldest child of the Kazekage, so it's fitting that you're sent as a message that we wish to end hostilities with Konoha. You're a symbol for the village that we mean peace and want to reforge the pervious alliance and make it stronger."

After hearing this Temari grounded her teeth as she fumed, she couldn't believe this was happening to her. Of course it made a bit of sense, but that still didn't mean she had to like it.

"So I'm the sacrificial lamb is that it?"

"Not really, but you get the idea. Despite how we were tricked by Orochimaru we still all went against the alliance we had with their village. We were in the wrong and we need to repair our relationship with their village, since both of our forces are hurting and it will take years to get back the strength we've lost. In that time we both can't afford a war with each other as that would invite others to put a dagger into our backs when we aren't looking. Also it is rumoured that Konoha in is talks with Kiri and preparing to form an alliance with them. If that happens before we rebuild our alliance with them. Konoha may decide to end their talks with us and leave us to defend ourselves against the other villages, and I need not tell you how vulnerable we are right now."

When Temari thought about it, she knew that there were a few powers out there that would love to see either Suna or Konoha taken down.

If war did break out, and even if there was a winner, that winner would be weakened further. With two of the great Shinobi powers weakened, she could easily see the smaller Shinobi nations attacking them, wanting to expand their boarders and power. She could also see larger nations like Iwa, attacking them, hoping to wipe out a couple of rivals in the deal as well. It would mean all-out war and it was very likely that her village would be destroyed in the conflict given their weaken state.

Thinking about all of this, she gripped the top of a nearby chair in frustration. As daughter to the Kazekage, she had been trained in diplomacy and to think in the big picture. She could see the logic in what the council was trying to do, regardless of how unusual it was and did love her village.

The problem was, she didn't like the idea that she would have to leave her home and her family behind. Especially given how it seemed that her younger brother was slowly regaining his humanity, where he actually started having civilized conversation with them.

He even seemed to be trying to win the people over, where she recently saw him helping a child get her pet cat, who was stuck up a tree.

She looked at her two younger brothers, with her father now dead, they were the only family she had left in the world. But if a war started then how could she live with herself knowing that she could have stopped it. Yet by doing this, she could very likely be sentencing herself to a loveless marriage with a person she doesn't even know.

"I hate this," she whispered out to herself.

Baki sighed and walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, but it's your duty to do this, this is the greatest mission that you will ever take for this village, Temari. As you know, the life of a Shinobi is for their country and for their village. Our personal lives come second to them and at times we are asked to do things of great difficulty as well. But there is some good news in this."

"What do you mean?" the girl asked.

"It seems that the person who you are to be engaged to and his family are of similar minds with you. They don't agree with the idea of an arrange marriage but see the need of it for continued peace. So the Sandaime Hokage-sama decided to make compromise, since neither of you are of marrying age, you will both remain officially engaged until both of you are of legal age. During that time you will be given the rank of Chunin and become the official ambassador for our village and travel back and forth to Konoha. This will also allow you and your _betrothed _to get to know one another. In the event that either one of you or both of you do not wish to marry when you both reach legal again, the engagement will be dissolved, but the treaty will stay intact."

"But why would he do that, since the marriage is supposed to improve relations between us and them?" Temari asked, even though she was grateful for this possible escape from the arrange marriage. She did not understand why the Sandaime Hokage would make this compromise.

"According to the council, the Sandaime Hokage-sama argued that the marriage is a symbol of unity and if you and the person you're engaged to are against the marriage. Then the whole point of the marriage would be nothing more than a sham and would have the opposite effect of what we are hoping for. This is why you will be given the ambassadorial position for Konoha, since not only does it allow you and your _betrothed _to get to know one another and possibly warm up to the idea. It will also allow for better communication and understanding between our two villages, where it is possible even if the marriage doesn't happen, the new alliance will still be strengthen and avoid another disaster like before."

When Baki finished explaining everything, Temari took the seat she was next to and sat down and then brought her hands to her face and went over everything she had been told in her head.

After a minute or two the Suna Kunochi spoke "Who is it that I'm to be engaged to?"

"I do not know yet, the council said that they would tell you themselves once they have arrived" Baki answered.

After hearing this, Temari leaned back into the chair and let out another long sigh, where she began to wonder who the council had chosen for her to marry.

She of course figured it had to be a Shinobi from a family or a Clan of high standing, since her village wouldn't let just anyone marry her. Not to mention the Sandaime Hokage had gone to great lengths to make this compromise suit not only her, but her suitor and his family.

That of course meant that the person's family or Clan had to have a great deal of political clout in Konoha and she could only think of a few Shinobi Clans and families that had that kind of standing in the village.

As Temari thought who could be her new _fiancé_, the blonde teen was suddenly brought out of her train of thought when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she looked, she was surprised to see that it was Gaara, who had closed his book and put it in his side pouch.

Despite the fact that his face was void of any emotion, there seemed to be a hint of something in his eyes.

"If he hurts you…I will kill him" he said simply.

Now normally this wouldn't be anything new with Gaara, but there was a difference.

Gaara killed only for himself, never for other people. By saying this, he was basically telling her, (in his own strange way), that he would be looking out for her and that if whoever she was engaged to hurt her, he would be there to help and protect her.

Now normally such gestures would annoy Temari, since she was a capable Kunoichi who could handle herself in a fight and didn't like the idea of men always coming in to save or protect women, making women seem weak and helpless.

But given how this was Gaara and how she had never known her brother to offer anything like this before, she decided to let it go, for in a strange way, she was touched by the offer.

She even smiled at him and for a moment Gaara seemed to be pleased that he had successfully comforted his elder sister.

"Thank you Gaara."

"Yeah well you're our big sister what do you expect," Kankuro said while smiling at her, since like Gaara if he found out that the guy that his sister was to be engaged to was hurting her in any way. He would probably pull a Sasori on him. (2)

Gaara nodded, "Family is important, you are important and I will not let anyone harm those precious to me."

When Gaara said this, Temari found that she couldn't speak; she didn't trust herself not to choke at his words. Gaara had not once ever said that they were precious to him. She had no idea what had changed her baby brother, but for the first time in years Gaara had acknowledge her as his sister. To the surprise of everyone, she hugged the younger boy and to her own surprise his Sand did not try to stop her.

Gaara was of course shocked by the gesture and he was trying to make sense of the feelings he was getting.

The warm embrace of his sister reminded him of when he was in his Sand, but this was different. This was warm and he felt something nice growing inside of him, the closest thing that he could think of that could describe this feeling was something his Uncle Yashamaru told him before he betrayed him.

"_Could this be what Yashamaru-oji and Senju-san talked about… could this be what it like to care and love someone?_" the Suna jinchūriki thought.

He wasn't sure what to do, but something told him to hug her back, and slowly reached up with his arms and wrapped them around his sister.

The only time he could remember being hugged in his life by someone was when he was younger, by his Uncle Yashamaru and when he hugged her back it felt nice for some reason. He was still getting use to all these new emotions and feelings, since for most of his life; he lived for only himself and loved only himself.

But Naruto had showed him where real power came from, and although the Senju heir had not suffered the same kind of harshness in his life. He was like him in many ways and yet he hadn't turned into a monster. He had beaten back the darkness, thanks to the love and support of his family and had shown Gaara that he didn't have to live in darkness.

Gaara was forever thankful for Naruto to opening his eyes to a new world and right now he suddenly started to understand where Naruto got his strength from. He also now understood what Naruto meant when he said "_When a person has something important they want to protect, that's when they can become truly __strong_".

The feelings he had with his sister hugging him made him want to protect her and Kankuro, he would do anything to protect them and it felt nicer than anything in the past.

Standing only a few feet away from the two Sand siblings, Baki watched on as the two hugged one another.

He was of course surprised by what had happen and could not help but smile slightly at the sight. Whatever happened to change Gaara from the time between his capture, to when he was returned to Suna, had also healed the rift in this family.

Baki was of course not the only one who was touched by the scene, as Kankuro too was touched.

When Temari looked over at her younger brother, she smiled and said "Kankuro are you crying?" when saw her brother rubbing his eyes and his face paint smudging.

"N…N...No of course not, real Shinobi don't cry, I-I-I just got something in my eye t-th-hat's all" Kankuro replied as he quickly rubbed his tears away so they wouldn't be seen, although ruined his face paint even more.

Before Temari could comment, the Sand siblings saw several members of the Suna council enter the chamber, forcing Gaara and Temari to quickly let go of one another.

When the council members entered the Chambers, the Sand siblings immediately notice that the Gokyōdai (Honoured Siblings) were with them.

Kankuro was of course very familiar with Chiyo, since she was the former leader of the Puppet Brigade and a legend among puppet users, second only to her GrandsonAkasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand).

As Temari watched the council members walk towards her, the blonde haired girl thoughts turned back onto who her _fiancé_ would be.

She figured that her _fiancé_ would be someone close to her own age, since her Sensei had stated that the marriage would wait until both were of legal age.

The first possibility was the Uchiha Clan heir, Uchiha Sasuke, although Temari did find him attractive and had a sort of bad boy appeal to him. Not to mention his Clan helped found Konoha which would give him a lot of clout.

The problem though with Sasuke was that there was something off about the Uchiha heir. She had seen it when he fought Gaara

He was strong, there was no question about that, given how he was able to fight toe to toe with Gaara and defeated her with little trouble before that. But still there was some sort of darkness surrounding him, something that reminded her of Gaara, (before his sudden change), and it frightened her and made her want to stay away from him.

The second possibility was Hyuga Neji from the Hyuga Clan, who was seemly the nephew of the Hyuga Clan head. Like Sasuke, Temari had to admit he wasn't bad looking and he was clearly strong given his fight with Senju Naruto and was from the esteem Hyuga Clan. A Noble and powerful Clan, who were well-known and highly revered not only in Konoha, but in the rest of the Shinobi world. In terms of status in Konoha, the Hyuga Clan was second only to the Uchiha and Senju Clans.

But the thing that turned Temari off Neji was his personality, which didn't really seem all that great. Not to mention his type of arrogance got old real fast.

The third possibility was her former opponent Nara Shikamaru, who defeated her in the Chunin finals, although technically she won the match. It was only because he forfeited the match, something that still annoyed her, since she didn't like to win that way.

The reason she thought he might be a candidate was because Shikamaru was the heir of the Nara Clan. Who were famed tacticians and used a unique brand of Ninjutsu and were highly respected in Konoha.

A fourth possibility was Inuzuka Kiba, son to the head of the Inuzuka Clan. The Inuzuka Clan was a well-respected Shinobi Clan. Who were regarded not only as excellent trackers, but also fierce fighters, especially when working in conjunction with their canine partners.

Temari remembered the boy mainly because of his fight with the Kumo jinchūriki Nii Yugito and how he was defeated by her in the preliminaries.

She of course hoped that Kiba wasn't the one she was engaged to, since Kiba was a loud mouth, which was something she didn't like in a guy.

The fifth possibility was Aburame Shino, heir to the Aburame Clan, a renowned Clan in the Shinobi world, who were said to be skilled in the art of espionage and were dangerous adversaries in battle.

A fact they proved when they lead Konoha to a crushing victory over Iwa when the rival village attempted to invade Konoha. They even dealt a devastating blow to the Kamizuru Clan, who founded Iwa and led the Iwa force in their invasion, where they lost many of their members and fell into decline.

Shino had also proven himself to be a capable Shinobi where he fought her brother to a draw, where both of them were left unable to continue fighting. But despite his skill and his high standing, Temari was serious hoping he wasn't her _fiancé_.

The reason being that she had heard the stories of how the Aburame Clan let bugs live inside them and she was grossed out by the mere idea of it.

The sixth possibility was Akimichi Choji heir to the Akimichi Clan head. Although not as revered as other Shinobi Clans, the Akimichi were a respected Clan from Konoha. Who were well known for their long standing relationship with both the Nara and the Yamanakan Clans, where they would form the famed Ino–Shika–Chō trios, making them into formable teams in battle. Other than that, Temari didn't really know much else about Choji, she had seen his battle with the Oto-nin Dosu and was far from impressed by him and how quickly he lost. She was also hoping he wasn't her _fiancé_, since she would prefer a guy who was a bit fitter or at least had a little less weight.

The seventh possibility was a person she didn't know, since there were still plenty of other Shinobi in Konoha who came from well-respected Shinobi Clans and families.

The eighth and final possibility, which was also her least favourite thought, was Senju Naruto, who she had fought and lost to in the Chunin exam finals.

Naruto definitely had the status and lineage since he was heir to the Senju Clan, who many regarded as the Strongest Shinobi Clan in the world during their time and were revered in Konoha.

His ancestors where the first two Hokages and were the main founders of the village and trained the Sandaime Hokage. Who in turn trained Naruto's mother Tsunade the Slug Princess, who was now to become the next Hokage, if the rumours she had heard were true. He was even being trained by his mother's team-mate Jiriaya the Toad Sage, who had trained the Yondaime Hokage and was regarded as the strongest of the Sannin.

When Temari thought about Naruto's lineage and who had trained him, she could easily understand why he was so strong. Yet even now she found it hard to believe that he had defeated her younger brother, who she had always believed was unstoppable. She was especially surprised at how he completely overpowered her brother.

Even when he released Shukaku, Naruto was still able to match him, move for move, where he summoned the trade mark summons of his mother Tsunade and Jiraiya, and used them to defeat the Shukaku.

Despite the fact that she found Naruto to be attractive, (physically wise), the main problem the Suna Kunoichi had with the spikey haired blonde was how he got right in her face and pissed her off. Especially with that annoying nickname he called her.

She was also angry over how easily Naruto had defeated her in the Chunin exam finals in front of everyone and had talked down to her, where it was as if she wasn't even a challenge to him. But these were only some of the reasons why didn't like the blonde boy which was why she was seriously hoping that he wasn't her would-be _fiancé_. Not to mention the fact that she didn't know how her brother would react to such news, since after the battle, Gaara had sworn vengeance on blonde haired Senju.

Yet before they left Konoha, Gaara seemed to be almost on friendly terms with her fellow blonde, as if they had reached some sort of understanding. But whenever asked by her or Kankuro, Gaara would refuse to answer.

Eventually, Temari was broken from her train of thought when she heard one of the council members speaking to her.

"Good afternoon Temari-san" spoke one of the senior council members as he faced the daughter of their late leader,

"Good afternoon honoured council members" Teamri replied respectfully.

"Since you are here, would we be correct in assuming that your Sensei Baki has finished explaining the matters of your engagement to you?" one of the female council members asked.

"Yes and with respect honoured council members, I would like to skip the pleasantries and get to the heart of the matter, which is to know the identity of the person I am supposed to be _engaged_ to?" the young girl asked as she used the word engaged reluctantly.

"Of course my dear" replied Ebizō with a small smile. "The person we hope you will one day wed is Senju Naruto, heir to the Senju Clan and son of the soon to be Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade…"

When Temari heard this, it took every ounce of her willpower to not scream in frustration, "_FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK…FFFUUCCKK! Why out of all the people in Konoha did it have to be HIM! Hell even the Hyuga prick Neji or that lazy arse Nara would've been better than that smart mouth._"

When Gaara and the others heard that Naruto was Temari's fiancé, both Gaara and his sensei raised their left eyebrows, while Kankuro had to fight hard not to laugh. He knew how much the blonde Konoha-nin pissed off his older sister and was already beginning to pity Naruto, knowing how his sister would probably make his life with her a living hell.

Either not noticing or ignoring Temari's displeasure of their choice, Ebizō continued to speak. "Ignoring the boy's lineage, we believe that Senju Naruto is the perfect candidate to be you fiancé, due to his great skill and abilities as well as his Bloodline limit Mokuton. The council also believes given how you are both the children of our villages respected leaders, it will help heal some of the wounds of pervious events. Not to mention both of you are highly skilled Shinobi in your own right."

When Ebizō finished, Temari had to bite down hard on her own tongue, so to keep from yelling out.

She of course knew she shouldn't be surprise by the council's choice, since as Ebizō said; Naruto was now the son of the new Hokage and was the one who defeated Gaara in the recent failed invasion. He also had the Mokuton Bloodline limit of the Shodai Hokage, the most revered Bloodline limit in all of Konoha, which was said could challenge even the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan Bloodline limit.

This of course made him the ideal candidate; she was also betting that the council was hoping that if they did go through with this marriage. That one of their children would have Naruto's Bloodline limit and that the child may decide to go to live in Suna later on or at the very least they would have close ties with Konoha.

Before Temari could comment on the news, the former Puppet Brigade Commander Chiyo spoke. "Also we thought you should know given that the boy is the last surviving male heir to his Clan with no other living relatives other than his mother, who is passed the child bearing age. Konoha has enacted the Clan Restoration Act on him."

"What law is that?" Temari asked, as she had never heard of such a law and guessed it was one privy to Konoha.

"It's a unique law that the boy's ancestor, the Shodai Hokage, created where in the event that a Clan with a unique Bloodline limit, that is vital to Konoha's defence, is on the verge of dying out with only one male heir remaining. The boy is required to either marry multiple times or impregnate multiple women so to secure the Bloodlines limits continuation."

"Wait! Are you saying that they're giving him a harem?!" Temari asked in outrage at the thought of her being part of it.

"To put it bluntly, yes" Chiyo answered simply.

"_Lucky bastard_" Kankuro thought, as Naruto was basically living every guy's wet dream.

"Although from what we've heard" Chiyo continued, "The boy and his mother are violently against the idea and tried refuse it. But were eventually forced to accept it, since the law requires that he either marries multiple women or he impregnates women of the council elders choosing through other means, once he is of age."

When Temari heard this, her angered and outrage lessened, although it didn't mean she had to like it. The only good thing about this whole situation was that once she and Naruto were of age they could cancel the whole marriage thing without incident."

Once the council members had finished, they bid good-day to Temari and left the chambers.

After the council members had left, Temari sat back down in frustration so to digest the whole situation.

Seeing his sister like this, Kankuro decided to get his younger brother's opinion on the matter, since he had kept quiet, (as usual), throughout the entire affair.

He was also curious of Gaara's opinion on the possibility that the Senju heir may one day become their brother-law.

"So Gaara, what's your take on all this?"

"I approve" Gaara replied in a dead tone.

"W-what!" Temari asked him in surprise as she had half expected her brother be furious at the suggestion.

"He's a good choice," Gaara said in the same dead tone.

"B-but...after what he did?" Temari asked him. She honestly didn't get this at all, of all of them, Gaara shouldn't even like the boy after he defeated him and she remembered Gaara swearing revenge against the blonde.

But after being released from Konoha, he had been a changed person, and for him to actually accept all this, didn't make any sense to her.

Not to mention that there was a chance he would marry not only her but multiple other girls.

"Gaara?" Kankuro asked the younger in confusion.

"He's a good person," Gaara simply said "As for the Clan Restoration Act, although I don't approve. I understand Senju-san situation and know he would not agree to such a ruling unless he had no other choice in the matter."

Once he had finished the red headed Genin took his book out again and began to walk away from his sensei and his siblings, leaving them just as confused as before. But before he could leave Kankuro suddenly spoke up.

"Gaara, I don't get it, I remember you saying you would kill the guy the next time you saw him. But when we left Konoha, you acted like you were friends, I thought you hated him?"

For a minute or two, Gaara did not respond to his elder brother's question and continued to read his book. But eventually he spoke without looking from it.

"I did at the beginning, but during my imprisonment in Konoha he came to visit me every day to talk."

"What did you talk about?" Baki asked with some concern, fearing that Gaara may have said something that would put their village in danger.

"We talked about many things; we talked about our pasts, our villages, what we had in common and what he did not have in common. We talk about what we liked and what we disliked, we spent hours just talking about anything that came to mind."

"And that's all you did, he didn't ask about any of our secrets or weakness?" the boy's sensei asked.

"No" Gaara replied in a dead tone, "He was not interested in anything like that, he said he only wanted to get to know me and to understand why I had so much hatred for others."

"That's all he did just talk to you about different stuff and why you acted the way you did?" asked Temari in disbelief.

"Yes, He opened my eyes and made me realise how foolish I was being, he showed me where true strength comes from. He even gave me this book as a gift to read, saying that it inspired him in many ways, I owe him a great debt" Gaara answered. As he did indeed feel that he owed Naruto greatly, not only for making him see that he did not need to be a monster. But also for being the first person to truly be willing to try and understand him and to just talk and listen to him as a person. He was even the first person to give him a gift and to say that he wanted to be his friend, something Gaara had always believed he could never have…until recently at least.

"Did you talk about anything else?" Baki asked.

"Yes, although what he told me was given in confidence and I will not betray his trust" Gaara replied, after which he excused himself from everyone and left the chambers to read his book in peace.

When Gaara left, his teacher and siblings were left even more bewildered than they were before, as they weren't sure how to make of all this. They simply couldn't believe that by just talking and listening to Gaara, Naruto had somehow helped Gaara regain his humanity.

As Baki and Kankuro digested all this, both of them couldn't help but wonder, just who the hell was Senju Naruto.

While at the same time, the blonde haired Kunoichi near them thought, "_Maybe you aren't as bad I thought Senju?_"

N/A

Well that it for another instalment for Hope of the Senju Clan, I hope you enjoyed it, especially now that you know the type of pairing is. Now before any of you ask, who will be in Naruto's harem, don't bother, since simply telling you will spoil the development of the story, so you'll just have to wait and see.

Now as for the next Chapter, that will have an interesting development, where Naruto will finally be made Chunin along with two other people, who you'll just have to guess, (where if you are right, I will tell you).

There will also be a little surprise for him from the Fire Daimyo and a new arrival, who will help Naruto come to terms with what happened after his battle with Itachi and knock a little sense into him.

Also given recent events in the Naruto story I have changed a few things in the previous Chapter and in Chapter three. Now nothing has really changed in the story and the plot remains the same, I just done some modifications

Just to note again, the summon polls has been closed now before anyone asks me which polls won, I will tell you now that will not be reveal which summons won until Chapter forty, which is why I will I tell everyone now, not to bother asking me, since I will not tell. The only thing I will give you that the summons will be slightly different from what people guess, but will still be of the same species that won the poll.

As always please read and review as I like to hear all your opinions on the Chapter or on the story in general. Please note that I will answer all your reviews since I believe that authors should reply to their reviewers. Also note that any suggestions for the story are welcome and will be listen to and I will tell you what I think of them.

Now in regards of my grammar and spelling mistakes, although they may be a problem for people, I'm afraid they cannot be helped and I'm doing the best I can with what I got.

Another thing to note is that flames are not welcome here, as I force no-one to read my stories and if you don't like them then don't read them. Also please note that all flames will be ignored, deleted or the flamers will be flamed back.

**Author's Note:**

(1) Although it is not confirmed, it's very possible, given how the Sandaime Tsuchikage and Kitsuchi's look alike and neither have the lava bloodline limit. This of course leads me to believe that Kurotsuchi received her Bloodline limit from her mother.

(2) This means that if Kankuro believed that Naruto was hurting Temari, he would kill Naruto and turn him into a Human puppet.

**Omako:**

"_Damn you Hashirama-jiji, I so hope that Mito-obaasan and Ise-obaasan kick your ass for this!_" Naruto thought angrily.

-In the Afterlife-

Currently in the otherworld, one Senju Hashirama found himself hogtied to the ground, with his wrists and ankles tied behind his back and a ball gag covering his mouth.

Before the former Hokage could even begin to wonder how he ended up like this, a pair of black leather boots appeared in front of him.

When he looked up he saw that the boots belonged to his beloved wife Mito, who had her hair down and was wearing a rather revealing dominatrix-style outfit, made entirely out of leather.

The boots were long, and went all the way up to her thighs and were linked to a garter belt, which hung just above a pair of tight black tongs. She wore a pair of leather arm warmers on each arm, which travelled up past her elbows and carried long brown whip in one hand and a large black bag in the other.

Her top consisted of a black leather corset that was spilt open and held together by a small metal ring and some string, barely covering his wife's rather ample cleavage. The corset stopped short above her midriff and was held up by leather straps, which was linked to a choker around her neck. (Author's Note: Please go to my profile and onto the Hope of the Senju Clan section for a link to the picture of what this outfit looks like).

Now under most circumstances Hashirama would be rather turned on by his wife's current attire. But given the evil glint he saw in her eyes, any conjugal thoughts were almost immediately replaced with fear.

"Hello Hashirama-kun…" greeted a smiling Mito, as she looked down at her husband, who struggling against his binds and trying to speak through his gag. "Now I'm sure I don't have to explain to you why we are here like this, given what you did to poor Naruto-kun?"

Gulping audibly, Hashirama slowly shook his head and eyed the whip in his wife's hand with fear.

Seeing her husband eyeing the whip in her hand, a menacing grin slowly formed on Mito's face, "Oh don't worry, I'm not going to use this on you" said Mito as she held up the whip, causing Hashirama to sigh with relief, which quickly fell when she finished with "…that's for later."

"Right now, we're going to have a little fun with some toys that I brought with me" continued the domineering woman as she opened the bag up, revealing an assortment of dangerous look instruments.

Eyeing the instruments nervously, the founder of Konoha could only shudder as he imagined what his wife would do to him with her new "_toys_."

"Now, what do you say to starting things off with this?" asked Mito as she held up a pair of metal clips, causing her husband to shake his head furiously, as he already had several ideas as to where his wife planned to clip them onto.

"Hhhhmmm…you might be right, these simply wouldn't do" hummed the red haired woman, as she placed the clips back down, and heard her husband's muffled sighs of relief.

"I think instead, we'll start off with this!" said Mito as she took out a large yellow pineapple from her bag and showed it to Hashirama, who was now sweating profusely.

"Yes, I think this will do nicely…" said Mito as she smiled down at her now petrified husband, "And I'll give you a little clue as to where this goes…it is a place where the sun never shines."

No sooner had she said this, Mito saw her husband's eyes widen in horror, when he realized what she planned to do.

Seeing Hashirama struggle vainly against his binds, Mito smiled evilly at the former Hokage as he begged mercy, and moved around the man.

Hearing her husband's muffled screams of panic and pleas for mercy was of course music to Mito's ears, where once she was behind him, she ripped off his pants in one quick fluid motion.

After ripping of the Shodai's pants, Mito grinned evilly, "Don't worry Hashirama-kun… this will hurt you a "_lot_" more than it will hurt me," right before she rammed the fruit into her target, where the muffled cries of the Shodai Hokage could be heard throughout the void, along with his wife's manic laughter.


End file.
